KINLEY Looking over at Talon, I pouted, "I'm bored, how long is he going to be in there?"Talon shrugged, "No idea. We could go do something?"I chewed at my lip, Gianni had specifically told me not to move.We were in the foyer of some fancy company while Gianni was in a meeting with the CEO."I don't know, Gianni said I shouldn't leave."Talon smiled sarcastically, "And that worries you? You'll be with me, so it's not like you've run off somewhere alone. I'll even leave a message with the secretary so he doesn't worry. Come on."I glanced over at the closed door.I knew I should stay here.Sighing, I stood, "Okay, let's go."He jumped to his feet with a smile, "Give me one second," he went over to the secretary, speaking for a few moments before returning, "Let's go remedy that boredom of yours."He held out an arm and I hooked mine with his, heading to the elevator with him helping me walk.Once we left the building, I noticed that one of Gianni's guards had followed us."Why is he
KINLEY I stared at myself in the mirror after getting ready for dinner.I worse a sparkly sequinned dress that ended mid thigh, my hair I had left down and I had put on subtle make up.I hated that the cast messed up the look."Kinley?!"I rolled my eyes and left the bathroom when I heard Talon calling for me."Where's Gianni?" I asked, my eyes scanning the room."He got a business call. He asked that you meet him at the restaurant, so I'm here to get you there.""A business call at this time of night? I'm taking it that it's more along the lines of his illegal business than the legit ones, right?"Talon smirked, "Ask no questions and I will tell no lies. Come on."Once we were in the car I turned to face him, "I'm really curios, Talon. What business call would come in at eight? Is this something dangerous?""Kinley, there is no need to concern yourself with these things.""Of course there is! Have you not noticed that I am practically glued to Gianni's hip lately? If it's something d
KINLEY Gianni pulled me against his body, his grip on my hair tightening.My body betrayed my brain as I melted into his embrace.I moaned into him, my arms reaching around his neck.Suddenly the ringing of his phone distracted us.As he went to retrieve it from his jacket pocket, I was able to come to my senses.I reminded myself that this man had kidnapped me and held me captive, this was so far from healthy.His brow furrowed as he answered the call, "What do you want, Talon?"I made my way into the bedroom, leaving him to deal with his call alone.In the bathroom I splashed some water on my face, staring at myself in the mirror. What was going on with me?Was I developing Stockholm Syndrome?I ran a hand through my hair before going back into the bedroom and laying down on the bed.I was just beginning to doze off when Gianni walked in."Kin?""What?""Talon needs me to go to the club, business only I can take care of. Do you want to go with me?"I sat up, "I feel like I should pu
GIANNI I angrily swiped the access card to the hotel room, slamming the door open as I stormed in."Talon! Che cazzo pensi di fare?!"Talon stood up from the sofa,"What? Gianni, I don't understand-"My fist connected with his face, his nose instantly spurting blood, "I asked what the fuck you think you're doing?!"Talon clutched at his nose, "What the fuck, Gia?! Calm down!""Calm down?! Calm down?! Where is Kinley?!""I'm right here. Why are you screaming?"I turned, she stood in the doorway to the bedroom.I turned back to Talon, "Why did you take her from the club?"Kinley answered, "I asked him to bring me back. Why did you hit him?!" she hobbled over to Talon, her hands on his arms while she asked if he was okay.This angered me more.I wanted her to care for me like that. Why was she so quick to treat Talon in this way, but not me? Had I not done enough to show her I wanted her?Talon sat down and Kinley started wiping at the blood with tissues.I was drunk and angry.A very bad
KINLEY As I opened my eyes, the previous nights events came rushing back to me.I turned over to see Gianni was no longer in the bed, so I got up and made my wah into the bathroom to take a shower before getting dressed and making my way into the living room area.Gianni was walking around on the balcony, phone to his near and speaking animatedly.I glanced at the door, his back was turned and he hasn't noticed that I was up.Would now be a good time to try and escape?Bur where would I go to? I supposed I could find a police station and tell them that he had kidnapped me.I looked back over at him one last time before heading for the door.This was my chance to get free.But before I got to the door, I caught sight of documents laying on the table.Throwing a glance over my shoulder to make sure he was still on the phone, I opened the files.It didn't male much sense to me, but my name was printed on the documents.Going back to the first page, I began to read.But then I heard him c
KINLEY We had just returned 'home' when Talon came to me while I sat in the garden drinking a cup of tea."Hey. I wanted to talk to you, about what happened back at the hotel.""There's nothing to talk about, Talon. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell Gianni."He sat down, "Kin, you don't get it. I'm falling for you. And we both know I am a much better choice than Gianni is.""For fucks sales, Talon! I don't want either of you."Talon scoffed, "Really? Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I can't see the way you look at him? You're making the wrong choice. He is evil. He hurts people.""I am aware of that, Talon.""Come on, I want you to see something," he pulled me onto my feet by my bicep."Where are you taking me?""To show you something about Gianni. I want you to see just how evil he is."My stomach churned at his words.He pulled me out to the end of the yard, a deck stood near one of the pools.Gianni was there with a few of his men, a going woman with long black hair was on he
KINLEY "I would die for you, how can I be so bad?" Gianni's words kept floating around in my mind.With a heavy sigh, I sipped on my wine while staring at the pool.Yes, I was day drinking, although it was late afternoon so I didn't feel too bad about it.I heard footsteps approaching and groaned inwardly when I saw it was Gianni.Did this man know nothing of personal space?"You want to swim?""Right, with my foot in a cast? I don't think so.""You are staring at the water with a wishful look in your eye."I smirked, "It's hot, the water looks inviting.""That is not the only thing that looks inviting," his eyes roamed my body."Do you not even try and hide the fact that you're gawking?"He say down on my lounger, dropping a hand casually on my shin, "No. Why should I? I think it is no secret I want you.""Well, maybe it was better when it was a secret." He smiled to himself, his face downward, "Why must you fight against me like this? I know I am not the only one feeling this chemi
KINLEY I knew I shouldn't, but I went over to Gianni's desk and scanned the papers scattered on his desk.I opened a few drawers until I came across a gun casually sitting there. Right besides a tint bag of coke."Right, enough snooping," I shut the drawers and high tailed it out of the room.Seeing the coke had brought back the memory of the hotel and how angry Gianni had been. It also reminded me of who the hell I was dealing with.What had I been thinking earlier, almost sleeping with him? He wasn't the type of man I wanted to be with. He was the type of man I needed to stay very very far away from!I hurried into my room and shut the door, making sure to lock it. I needed to keep my distance from Gianni, I could not allow myself to develop feelings for him. I knew he would probably be annoyed that I had returned to my own room, but I didn't care. Later that night he came knocking at my door and I promptly told him to go away and that I would not be having dinner with him. I need
•GIANNI•"Where the hell is Renato? That kid is always late to something."Kinley chuckled, "He texted me, he's just picking up his girlfriend."I shook my head, he had been talking about this girlfriend for a while now but we had yet to meet her.Today was the big day.I looked over at Luca standing in front of the barbecue.Ripley was sitting busy typing on her phone. I couldn't believe both of my kids had grown up and I had been blessed enough to see them grow.If Fin and Luca hadn't done what they did for me, I may not have had the privilege of having these years to watch my son and daughter grow into a man and woman.We invited Fin for this barbecue, but he was away undercover for work so he wasn't able to make it.I looked over at Kinley and my mind went back to that night all those years ago at the shipping yard.She had run over to me in such a panic when she heard those gunshots. She thought I was shot.In actual fact, it was Fin who shot one of the men guarding Martha.After
•KINLEY•I pulled my phone out while telling Luca the truth about what I had been up to with Hilton.Now that I was aware of the reason he was doing what he was, I was sure we could still trust him.We just needed to help him make sure Martha was safe."Who are you calling?""Fin. I have an idea that will help all of us.""Kinley? Do you have news?""I do. But I need you to meet me, and get Gianni here too." I gave him the location and hung up."Gianni is going to skin me alive, why are you bringing them here? I trusted you with this.""You trusted me for a reason, Luca. You know we would never let anything happen to Martha. I just wish you would have told us what was going on sooner. A lot of this mess could have been avoided.""Kinley, they have my wife. I couldn't risk her life. I don't even want to do this right now. If they kill her-""They won't, okay? Trust us, please."Luca looked around as if he was worried someone was looking at us, "If they find out that I'm telling you, th
•KINLEY•"So? What's the plan here?"Gianni was already in planning mode, "We tap his phone. I'll put someone on him to follow him. We can go to him with these calls, but he can play it down without any real evidence. Once we have evidence, we confront him."Fin nodded, "Got it, I'll get the tap, you have someone follow him."Gianni nodded, "Sounds good. I'll get onto that immediately. Kinley, I don't want you leaving the house unless it's with me. Understood?"I nodded, but I had no plan of listening. I still had to meet with Hilton and see if I could find anything out.I glanced at Fin and he looked away from me, he knew what I was thinking about, I could see it by the way he looked at me.Now I needed a plan to get out of the house without Gianni stopping me.And knowing Gianni, that wasn't going to be easy.I got to my feet and walked out, going downstairs where I found Luca about to leave. "Where are you off to?" I asked, fighting the urge to attack him in anger."Got a lead." H
•KINLEY•With the baby bottle in hand, I made my way to the kitchen, pausing just outside the doorway when I heard Luca on a call."Well, she didn't say a damn word to me about being there okay? No, I'm telling you the truth. I'll do my best, but I'm not making any promises. Yes, I know. Thanks for the reminder." I walked in just as he turned to look at me."I'll call you back, Martha," he cut the call and smiled at me, "Gianni on daddy duty?""Yeah. What's up? That sounded serious?""Oh, uh," he looked down at his phone with a frown, "Martha. She has some issues with her sister that she wants me to help with. She's, uh, getting herself involved with the wrong crowd.""Oh no, I hope it works out. Do you want me to talk to Gianni to give you some time off to sort things out?""No, it's nothing that serious. I just need to find out if she was at that cop bar near the precinct last night with her boyfriend."I frowned, "Cop bar? I thought you said she was involved with the wrong crowd?"
•KINLEY•I sat in the courtroom biting my nails while waiting to hear if the judge was going to allow Gianni back out on bail while the investigation was ongoing, or if he would be remanded.Fin and King were seated beside me, Luca near the back.Billie was at the mansion watching the kids.I breathed a sigh of relief when the judge said Gianni could have bail.It was a large amount, but I knew we had it.I rushed to Luca to arrange the payment and waited outside with Fin and King for it to be taken care of."At least he's coming home," Fin said.I nodded, "Yeah. But we still have to pinpoint who it is behind this, and a way to stop it."Fin started pacing, "Detective Hilton is trying to take down the big fish like Gianni to exhilarate his career. I bet that if we put enough pressure on him, we can make this all go away.""But is he the type to let it all go away?" I asked.King shrugged, "If we find the sweet spot, yes. And they all have a sweet spot. We just have to find his."I nod
•KINLEY• "You should go home and get some sleep," Luca suggested. I curled my legs under me on the hard steel chair, "Not until they let me speak to him." "Kinley, come on. We can come back." "I don't want to go anywhere until I've seen him," I looked at my watch, "We've been here for hours. How long is this going to take?" "It takes as long as it takes. They may not even allow you to see him at all until he goes to the judge." "I don't get it. Barney has been dead for months. Why now? So long after his death. How did he rig it up to get the information about Talon sent to them? He was barely even involved in what happened. How did he even have the proper information?" Luca shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "Kin, this is not the best place to talk about that. Can we go across the street?" I looked in the direction of the interrogation room, "Yeah. Let's go. I could use another cup of coffee." We went across the street and ordered coffee, I also ordered a toasted cheese sandw
•KINLEY• I grinned triumphantly, Ripley had finally fallen asleep. Until Luca barged in, that is. "Kinley!" I turned to glare at him, "Could you shut up? I just got her to sleep." "That's going to be the least of your worries. Gianni was just arrested." "What?" I was almost sure I hadn't heard him correctly. "They barged in here with a warrant of arrest. Some new guy trying to make a name for himself." "What was he arrested for?" "Murder. Of Talon." This was getting more ridiculous by the second. "Excuse me? But that was ages ago. How would they even know about that?" "It looks like Barney was looking out for himself right to the end. He rigged it so that all the information was sent to this detective if anything happened to him." "That doesn't make any sense. Barney has been dead for months. Almost a year." Luca shrugged, "That's all I know. Why don't you go down to the station and I'll get a lawyer to meet you. When Billie's up and watching the kids I'll come down there
~A FEW MONTHS LATER~ •KINLEY• My eyes were blindfolded as Gianni guided my steps. "If something jumps out at me, I swear I'll kill you!" I threatened playfully, one hand on my large belly. "Relax, nothing is going to jump out at you." He stopped, his hands on my shoulders, "Okay, take off the blindfold." I whipped off the blindfold and gasped, my hands going to my mouth in shock at what I was looking at. We stood in the front yard of the mansion which had burnt down. Only now it was rebuilt. "You had it rebuilt?" I couldn't believe it. "Yes. That's what I've been busy with for the last eight months. I know you've been wondering why I've been so secretive." My eyes filled with tears as I was overwhelmed by emotions. I spun around and wrapped my arms around his neck, "Thank you!" "Anything for you, baby. There are a few changes, like Renato's room. And the nursery for Ripley when she's born. I've also made sure the place is baby and toddler-proof." He looked pretty pleased wi
•GIANNI•I sat with Renato on my lap while watching Kinley swim. A small smile played on my lips at the peaceful moment.It was nice to experience life like this, without the intense adrenaline of the mafia on my back.I texted Luca to find out how my surprise was coming along. I knew how important that mansion was to Kinley, so I had a team working on rebuilding it as close to the first one as possible."What are you smiling about?" Kinley asked as she came over, she kissed Renato on the head before reaching down and kissing me."I can't tell you or it won't be a surprise anymore. Do you want to go to dinner tonight?"Kinley nodded, "That will be nice. Should we invite Luca and Martha? I wanted to invite Billie, but I don't think that will be fair to her with the recent loss.""We can. You should call Billie, you know she won't hate you. She doesn't blame you for this. She knows and understands the way these things go, and she knows that this isn't on you."She sighed, "I know. But s