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But the baby?—
I drag in an unsteady breath, shocked to my core. Maybe this is what she was mentally preparing for and why she was in such a state. She’s going for an abortion.
She can’t be doing this alone, not without me by her side. Not without me reasoning with her first. Even if Vito is here, he’s left her in the lurch. He took how many weeks to contact her, whereas she’s known she’s pregnant for how long? If she’s going to get an abortion, she can’t be that far along, can she?
I close the email and scan through the rest of her inbox, desperate for more details. There are five messages, most of them about opening this new email account. She created this account when we came to Boston as we were lying low. No spam, no social media messages. I open her Sent folder. She sent over a hundred emails to Vito, asking him where he is, begging him to contact her.
Now, Franco is in Boston, and Vito wants to be there for her. I recall Carla’s phone and the way she clung to it earlier, as if she was waiting for something. What if Vito flew into Boston and she was starting a fight with me to have a reason to go out? What if Franco and Vito were on the same plane… God, what if Vito became one of Fiore’s henchmen to save his own skin? Who knows what happened that night after Vito left us at the Milan airport. Now, he’s contacted Carla after how many weeks, nonchalantly telling her he wants to be there for her, but he is really leading her to Franco?
Dread drips through me. Something isn’t sitting right. Vittorio Rossi never struck me as the type to have a liaison with a client or switch sides like this. His emails don’t strike me as caring for Carla either. He doesn’t even reference the nightin Lake Como where he helped us escape, looking after us—guarding us—until the last minute.
Oh my God. Steph. I need to call Steph, because my little sister has left the apartment building, pregnant and walking straight into some type of trap. I reach for my phone in my jeans pocket to dial Stephano, but I blink as a new message pops onto my screen from Carla’s number.
Carla
Don’t call your husband or his brothers. I have Carla, but it’s you I want. Come by yourself, and she’ll live. Bring your friends, and she dies.
I read the message again and again as my fingers tremble so much, the screen blurs. Carla. He has Carla and is messaging me from her phone.
Franco?
Carla
Why did you run from me, amorina? You didn’t even give us a chance. Now I need to make you a widow so I can make you mine.
My stomach turns.
What do you want?
Carla
I want you as a fair exchange for your sister.
Why?
I’m not even sure why I’m asking. I’m dealing with a madman. A madman who has my sister.
Carla
You know why.
The billion euros stuck in secret Swiss bank vaults.
Leave her the fuck alone. She’s pregnant!!!!!
I send the message and press the dial button. He doesn’t answer the call but kills it.
Seconds later, my phone rings. It’s a video call from Carla. I answer, and the camera’s image comes on. I cover my mouth to muffle my scream. My little sister, the one person I’ve promised to protect no matter what, is blindfolded and gagged, tied to something I can’t see in the dark image. Her body sways as if they’re driving, but I can’t be sure in what type of vehicle as it’s too dark. I recognize her from her hair, her earrings, and the tiny scar on her chin where she ran into a glass door as a kid. She’s moaning, making what sounds she can through the gag.
“Sweet sounds, aren’t they?” Franco says, but he doesn’t show his face. “Let’s hope my hand doesn’t slip and end motherhood prematurely.”
The scalpel appears in the frame, the hand holding it tattooed with snakes, and my body locks in fear.
“You have five minutes,” he says. “We’ll pick you up outside the apartment building’s entrance. Get into the white van without causing a scene, or my hand might slip.”
He presses the scalpel to Carla’s neck, and a small drop of blood leaks from her skin.
“You know what will happen to her when you’re not there,amorina. And unlike your insignia, I won’t stop until you’re here. I’ll cut her so much, not only won’t you recognize her, but she’ll bleed to death.”
