KINLEY Almost a week had passed since Gianni had fallen from the balcony, and I had successfully avoided him.It was a few weeks early, but I was planning on having the cast removed. It was bulky and got in the way of everything.I knee Gianni would probably disagree with it, so I got Talon to get the doctor in.Once the cast was off, I could feel my ankle was starting to feel a little better."Kinley!" Gianni's voice echoed through the house loudly and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.I limped out of my room, "What is it? Why are you shouting like that?"His eyes dropped to my ankle, "Why is your cast off?""It was getting in the way. Is that why you're shouting and carrying on like a mad man?" I asked.He narrowed his eyes at me, "No. Have you signed the change of ownership papers for the club yet?""No?" Truthfully, I had shoved them in the drawer beside my bed and completely forgotten about them until now."Why don't you get ready later tonight and I'll take you there. You can h
My feet hurt and I was uncomfortable in the dress. I was pretty sure the make up was getting ruined too. The club itself was pretty nice.There were two large dance floors around the bar area, and an upstairs area with tables where you could eat. There were also a few cages strategically hung with beautiful and talented dancers. "What do you think?" Gianni asked, placing a hand on the small of my back.We were standing at the railing on the second floor, looking down over the club."It's nice.""So, you will accept it?""Maybe." I was still feeling pretty down, and I was battling to change my mood around to anything other than this hollow feeling within."You want to leave? We will come back in the day so you can meet your employees."I nodded, "Sure."He took hold of my hand and we walked out of the club. We had only been there for a few hours but it felt like forever.We got into the car silently and drove away while I looked out the side window."Kinley, what is it?""I'm tired." I
Opening my eyes, I squinted in the darkness of the room, immediately seeing a figure in the corner. Reaching over for the light, I switched it on and blinked quickly to get my eyes used to the sudden harshness.But when I did, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.Dom stood in my room wearing tattered clothes and bloodied marks on his face.My chest seized up as I jumped to my feet, fear rushing through me at a rapid pace, "H-how did you get in here?""Your little fucking boyfriend had me brought here. He's been torturing me for days!"I jumped at the harshness in his voice, "What? No... That can't be true."He ripped at his shirt and the buttons flew in all directions, exposing his chest which had long gashes along it."I didn't know, Dom."He took a step forward and that was the first time I noticed the gun in his hand, "Kinley, I don't care if you knew. You are going to get me out of here, right now."I gulped, looking down at the gun while wondering where the hell Luca was."Okay."
"Why are you dragging me all over?!" I complained like a spoilt brat.Gianni had a few stops he wanted to make and he had taken me with to each one of them.He laughed loudly beside me in the car, "Only one more stop, and then we can go home."I shot him a glare, it was so hot and I was getting irritable.As we stepped out of the car beside a big glass building, my worst fear came true. Paparazzi!After all, he was known as a ruthless business man, and although they tried to prove his involvement with the Mafia, they couldn't.It sure as hell didn't stop them from getting pictures for articles though.Gianni grinned at them, posing for pictures and I rolled my eyes while trying to move away. The man sure had a huge ego."Where do you think you're going?" He put an arm around my waist and pulled me close to him."What are you doing?!" I hissed. I hadn't even done my hair!They snapped pictures of us and I could already imagine the seedy headlines they were planning."Mr Esposito, who i
Gianni was taking me to meet his grandfather Giovanni and I was extremely nervous. I was sure he would have seen us in the papers by now, the tabloids had made sure to put those pictures to good use.I had tried to make myself look a little more presentable for this meeting. I had gone with a simple and sophisticated black dress that fell just above my knees, it had thick straps and a box neckline.I even wore closed black heels for the occasion. "Would you stop fidgeting?" Gianni said as we pulled up in front of a beautiful villa. Even though it was well kept, I could tell it was old."Holy shit, is this where he lives?""Yes. Now, can we go in, or would you like a moment to continue worrying over nothing?""I'd much rather have a moment, but I suppose we can go in."Luca wasn't with us today, Gianni had given him a few days off to go home.In fact, none of the guards had joined us today. Not that there was a lack of guards here.I had spotted two at the main gate, and another two o
I had been wondering around the property looking for Gianni.We hadn't really spoken much in the past week after he had shot Talon, and I appreciated that he gave me space. But at the same time, I craved being around him and speaking to him.I hadn't seen him anywhere today and I spotted Talon in the kitchen.With a sigh I decided to check if he had seen Gianni."Hey."He looked at me with a frown, "Hey. You've been scarce.""Yeah. After Gianni shot you..." I trailed off."I'm as surprised as you are. But I shouldn't have disrespected you, so I guess I got what I deserved.""I don't think that makes it okay to get shot in the leg. Anyway, have you seen Gianni today?""Of course you are looking for him. Do you even want to be free from this anymore?"I frowned, did I? I wasn't sure what I wanted anymore."Kinley, do you really think he cares about you? He does not! He doesn't give a shit about you! You are nothing more than a conquest to him because you haven't given yourself up yet. T
Gianni had asked me to go somewhere with him.He was still injured, so I was surprised when we stepped out at one of the largest museums in town.I could see he was in pain from the way he winced every now and then as we walked around looking at the displays with my hand in his."Gianni, we should go back home so you can rest."He grinned from ear to ear, "You called it home. And no, I promised you a date, so you're getting a date."My heart sped up as I looked into Gianni's eyes. Why was I feeling such a strong connection between us? And why was it beginning to excite me? I found myself wanting to explore this further.I gave his hand a squeeze as we started walking around the museum, admiring the art.We made small talk and laughed together, and I was surprised that he was able to make me feel like we were the only two people there.My logical side was telling me I should have run when he had given me the option to. But even though a part of me felt this way, another part knew that
I walked into the study watching Gianni and his men going over their plan for the Morello family.The man who had been speaking stopped abruptly when I entered, but Gianni held out an arm towards me and I walked over to him."Everything okay?" He asked while pulling me to his side.I nodded and turned to look at the guns."Continue." Gianni demanded and the man glanced at me hesitantly before going on.I wanted to tell Gianni that Giovanni had called me, since Gianni had given me a phone he and his grandfather were the only ones to ever use my number.Giovanni had asked if I would like to go out for coffee and to see his boat. I quite enjoyed being around the old man so I had agreed, but I knew Gianni would appreciate if I ran it by him first.Luca was back so he would go with me, which made me feel a lot safer with everything going on.Luca was good at his job and he and I were beginning to form a friendship.I paid little attention to what was being said in the room until they bega
•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