•TALON•I waited, watching until Kinley left the hospital before I went into Billie's room."What are you doing here?""Checking on you and that Esposito spawn. I see you are making progress with Kinley."She looked away, "Talon, I almost lost my child. I don't know if I want to do this anymore. Kinley is a good person, she's been nothing but nice to me. I don't want to screw her over.""But you will be doing her a favour," I could feel the anger building up in me, "You know Gianni will ruin her.""Talon! We are the ones ruining her. Leave her alone and just admit defeat. I don't want to lose her friendship over this.""What about Gianni? You love him. He should be with you, not her.""He should be with whoever he wants to be with. Yes, I want to be with him and seeing them together kills me more and more each time, but Kinley doesn't deserve to get hurt because of my selfishness. You claim to care about her, but you're okay with hurting her. How is that even possible? You don't hurt
•KINLEY•Gianni was busy in his study with a meeting, the last before our week long trip to Italy, while I packed a few things for the trip. Billie sat beside the suitcase on the bed, chewing at her thumbnail. "Please stop worrying about me, I'm going to be fine. You go and enjoy yourself."I had voiced my concerns over leaving her alone a few times. Although Gianni had assured me that Luca would be back in time to watch over her, and this did ease my mind a bit, I was still concerned for obvious reasons."I know," I paused, "Billie, can I ask you a question?""Yes." Although she said yes, I could tell she was a bit hesitant."Has Talon done anything to you? I noticed you are a bit hostile when he is around."She sighed, "No. He's just a bit obsessed with you. And I find it weird. I thought he genuinely cared about you, but now I think it's a dangerous obsession he has."Her words worried me more than I cared to admit, "Do you think I n
•KINLEY•I was just waking up when I heard Gianni walking into the cabin area of the yacht."Morning, baby.""Morning." I responded groggily."We're almost in Italy."I smiled while hugging onto the pillow, "It's pretty, but this time I want to see different places. Not just the few you showed me last time.""Last time you had a broken foot. And you hated me."I laughed, "I didn't hate you. Gia. I would never be able to hate you.""You're a terrible liar."I sat up and he eyed me as I got to my feet. Not that I could blame him, after all, I was in nothing but his shirt.He pulled me against him and I shrank away."Ew, let me brush my teeth. Morning breath is so not sexy."He laughed but kept me against him, "Kinley, we are getting married. I'm going to wake up next to you for the rest of our lives." "That does not mean you should have to deal with my morning breath."He laughed and despite my protests, kissed me, "You do not have morning breath, and even if you did, I still wouldn't
•KINLEY•Walking back into the mansion after a week in Italy felt strange. Especially since I was now married to him.I had done a great job of avoiding all messages and phone calls while we were away, but today I would have no option but to face everyone.I knew Talon was going to be the worst, or so I had thought.When we walked in I was met with an older Italian woman sitting in the living room. Her make up was perfectly done and her gold jewelery stood out against her high necked emerald dress. Gianni's body language immediately became guarded."Tia Lola, what brings you here?"She pursed her lips and looked at me, "Is what I read in the papers true?""Yes. This is my wife, Kinley. Kinley, my loving aunt Lola." I didn't miss the sarcasm dripping off his voice. I wondered why he had previously told me that Giovanni was his only family.She pinched at the bridge of her nose, "How long have the two of you known each other?""That doesn't really matter. What is the nature of this vi
I walked into the bar, my eyes scanning the area around me.I had called King and asked to meet him, this place was his idea.I couldn't see why though, it gave off an unsafe vibe.I spotted King sitting at a booth in the back and made my way over to him"Took you long enough." He remarked as I took a seat."Well, it isn't my fault you chose a place so far out.""I couldn't risk you being followed. Drink?"I shook my head. "So, what is this about?""I've changed my mind. I want to take you up on your offer.""Why now? You were completely against it, so why the sudden change?"I exhaled loudly, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Let's just say, I have a score to settle." I wasn't lying, I did have a score to settle, but it was with Talon and not Gianni.But what King didn't know, well, that was his problem and not mine.He nodded with a thoughtful expression on his face, "I suppose that makes sense. I knew this playing house wouldn't last very long. But I'm going to need you to b
•GIANNI•I sat at my desk, my mind running over what Talon had said to me earlier.On the one side, I knew Kinley would never betray me in such a way. But on the other, my insecurities were getting the best of me.From the moment I had wanted her to be mine I had wondered if it would really work out between us.Could someone as pure and loving as Kinley really be happy with a monster like me?It was like pairing an angel together with a demon. I leaned back in my chair, trying to decipher what I should do.End Talon seemed like the most plausible thing to do.But he had always had my back, and I was big on loyalty. He had been a friend to me when no one else had wanted to.It hurt me to think of killing him.But if he was coming between Kinley and me, I would have no choice but to get him out of the picture.I shook my head, no, what if she really did want to be with him rather than me? It wouldn't be fair of me to selfishly take him away from her and force her to be with me.I chu
•KINLEY•My phone kept ringing with King's number flashing on the screen.Now that Talon was out of the house, I wasn't sure what to do. I had no reason to pretend to help him anymore.Hearing approaching footsteps outside the door, I shoved my phone in my pocket just as Gianni walked in."Morning, baby. Giovanni wants to see us, I thought we could go watch a movie or something after.""That sounds great. Let me get my bag."He nodded and waited by the door while I shoved my phone into the bag and slung it over my shoulder."Luca will be joining us. After the events with Talon, I would rather not take any chances where you are concerned.""Do you think he's going to try and come back, or do something?""I don't know. I barely did any damage because I didn't want to upset you. It may not have been enough to show him how serious I am about this.""But he's been around long enough not to take any risks, surely?"Gianni shrugged, "Maybe. But he's gotten cocky, so we can't be sure."That m
•KINLEY• There was an eerie atmosphere to the mansion since Giovanni's death earlier that day.It was as if we were all walking around in a somewhat zombie state. Except for Gianni.He was fuming and focused on finding those responsible for the murder.I knew he was throwing himself into this so that he didn't feel anything, so that he was distracted from the pain he was feeling.It was hard to see Gianni like this. I could see through the act, he was ready to break at any moment.The only plus side I could see was that because he was so busy, I would have a better chance of him not being suspicious when Luca and I left to meet King.I hadn't told King that Luca would be joining us, I had a feeling that if he knew, he may just cancel and I couldn't afford that happening.I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost time to leave.I shot Luca a look before heading up to Gianni's study.He was busy writing on papers that were on his desk. An almost empty bottle of alcohol beside h
•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