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He said to trust him.
I trusted in him and that something else was going on.
Serena leaned against the counter. “He’s spending a lot of money, your husband.”
“He’s greedy.”
“He’s trying to piss off whoever’s money that is, and he’s trying to show them that he’s not afraid, tell him to watch out, before he’s next.” Serena dropped the towel onto the counter and looked over her shoulder. “He might still betray you, even the strongest of bonds can be broken—for a price.”
“He won’t.” I shook my head. “I know it.”
“I hope you’re right.” She left the bathroom door open. My phone went off from the counter.
Ivan
I need you to meet me, take a left by the orchard sign, walk straight until you see the poplar trees I’m waiting on the other side.
Me
Okay.
I went down the hall and used the back door to the laundry room and started my trek toward the creepy orchard. During Halloween the first two rows were haunted, Phoenix made three kids cry—he didn’t get the memo that clowns, however happy they appear—are terrifying.
He’d worked so hard on his costume too.
The fact that my dad dressed up like one too, was hilarious.
My stomach sank.
Dad.
Ugh, I felt torn between being loyal to Ivan and loyal to my Family, I felt caught in the middle constantly. I hated it.
I’d never been out this far, thankfully my phone would clearly still work if I got lost, when I saw the poplar trees, I said a prayer that all spiders would be dead and made my way through the rows.
When I got to the clearing, there were three men with blindfolds on and their hands bound.
Ivan was leaning against a tree, wiping his hands on a white towel. They were covered in blood, I’m assuming theirs by the look of blood running down all their chins and the gunshot wounds in each of their shoulders.
“Wife.” Ivan grinned. “Do you trust me?”
His eyes were wild.
Something was wrong.
I didn’t back away though the temptation was strong. He’d saved me before, this is a role he was playing, right?
“Husband.” I cleared my throat. “Did you make me hike all the way out here to show me half dead men who most likely betrayed you or did you have a picnic planned ahead?”
“You can cut the shit, Bella, it’s good for them to see what it’s really like living with a monster. I figured the best thing I could do before sending them to Hell was give them a small piece of heaven and you know what thought came to mind? I’ll let you pick one to send back, the other two, I’ll leave to you, so it’s really in his best interest to go fast, besides I want to be entertained.” He waved his gun at me. “Pick who gets to run the errand, the other two will stay with us until we get a text back from the person pulling the strings.”
I swallowed, so he needed to prove a point then, I tried to stay logical. He needed one to go back and say he was crazy—that I was crazy too, or maybe even his victim. “And my role in this is to pick who to save?”
Ivan shoved away from the tree. “Do you think that your father or uncle made that choice? Do you think they took into account wives, children, needs? Or do you think they just slaughtered and killed an entire bloodline out of rage? Nearly making one of the oldest Families in the Cosa Nostra extinct?”
Tears welled in my eyes, they weren’t for myself though; they were for the truth hidden in his own words. “There are rules.”
“Exactly.” Ivan walked up to me and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close. His smooth cologne filled my nose while his heat surrounded me. “And one thing I did discover, one thing these men want the very most… can you take a guess?”
