•GIANNI•Once we landed in Mexico we went straight to the hotel room.Luca and I were sitting at the small table on the balcony, and despite Barnabas wanting to be involved, he stood near the railing speaking to Kinley.She laughed at something he said and I looked over at them."Boss, if you keep doing that, we're never going to formulate a plan."I knew Luca was right, but I didn't like how friendly my cousin was being. In my opinion, he was pushing it a bit too much for my liking."Gianni."I turned back to Luca, "I know, Luca. But look at him, he's practically throwing himself at her."Luca looked over at them before turning back to me, "I'm failing to see what you're seeing. Barnabas is being friendly with your wife. Would you rather he treats her badly the same way his mother does?""No. But we all know the Esposito men. He's hoping to get her into his bed."Luca sighed, "You're being jealous. Kinley would never entertain that idea and you know it. Now can you calm down and pay
•KINLEY•Gianni let me sleep while the three of them continued making plans.When I woke up I had some greek yogurt Gianni had bought me.The three of them were still on the balcony, even though it was beginning to get dark.After eating, I made my way out to them, "How is the planning coming along?""We have it all planned out. How are you feeling?" Gianni asked as he extended his hand out toward me."A little better. Are we going tonight or tomorrow?""Tonight."I knew that we all wanted this over and done with, so I wouldn't argue with that.I sat with them until it was time to leave.Originally I had felt fine about this, but now that we were actually in the car and on our way to Jade I was beginning to feel a bit queasy at the idea.As we drove, Gianni skimmed over the plan for me. We would stop near the front of the villa, and Barney and Luca would go around the back while Gianni took me through the front.To my surprise, just as we were getting out of the car, he handed me a gu
•KINLEY•When Gianni returned to the hotel, we went to the beach, leaving Barney and Luca to do their own things.He held my hand in his as we walked along the sandy shore."Do you think we should announce the pregnancy soon?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence."Soon. Maybe once I reach fourteen weeks." I was only just reaching the twelve-week mark now and didn't feel ready to make the announcement yet."Whenever you are ready. Now that this is over, I would like to tie up any other unfinished business, such as the deal with King. Barney can start handling business with the guidance of Luca, I want to focus on us and the baby more."I nodded, "I would like that. I know we still have time, but we have a lot we still need to do before the birth. We don't have anything set up, it will be nice to have you involved in that."He brought my hand up to his lips, kissing the back of my hand, "We have a trusted therapist, I was thinking about going to see her.""Oh?" This was a surpri
•KINLEY•Today was the day, and I felt sick to my stomach over it.Gianni had set it up perfectly, all King had to do was show up.I had opted to remain home, wanting no part in setting up Billie's family.Luca was pretty much ordered to stay with me too.He went to wait for me at the pool while I went to the room to change.I needed to get my mind off of things and I hoped swimming would do the trick.I had just changed into my bikini when I walked back out into the room and saw Talon standing at the door.I instantly knew someone had let him out, there was no way he could have gotten out on his own.His shirt was off, and bruises, cuts, and scars littered his bare chest. His pants were filthy and stained."What are you doing in here?"He leaned against the wall and I could only assume it was for support, he had lost a lot of weight and looked very weak."Appealing to the good in you. I need to get out of here."I scoffed, "And you think I'm going to help you after what you've done?
•KINLEY•I could never have known how terrible things would begin to go when I opened my eyes.I was just walking out of the bedroom when I heard a loud bang that sounded out.I think deep down, I knew what had happened, but a part of me didn't want to believe it.My steps were slow as I turned towards the stairs that led down to the tunnels.I didn't even have to go down the stairs though.Talon was stumbling out of the doorway, blood pouring from the middle of his chest."Oh, my God!" I exclaimed as he fell at my feet, his hands clutching at my legs as he stared up at me.Gianni walked out behind him with the gun still in his hand."Gianni!" I looked down at Talon in shock. I couldn't will myself to move. I simply stood staring at him in a mic of shock and horror as his grip loosened before he slipped to the ground face down."You killed him. I asked you to help him, and instead, you killed him." I couldn't believe this.Gianni shrugged, a cold look on his face, "I eliminated the pr
•KINLEY•Gianni came in a few times while I was in the hospital, but I couldn't face him. I didn't want to see or speak to anyone, but especially Gianni.I felt some sort of resentment towards him, I knew I had agreed with him helping King.But I still blamed him for what happened, and I wasn't sure how to change the way I felt.I was signing my forms on my way to go home when I saw Luca waiting for me.I was hoping I would be able to leave the hospital without any of Gianni's people.I pulled my cardigan on and walked over to Luca, "Hi.""How are you feeling? I'm-"I held up a hand, "Don't do that apology thing. It wasn't your fault," I sighed, "Luca, I don't want to go back to the mansion right now.""I can take you somewhere else until you're ready."I looked down at the floor, "I don't think you understand me. I don't want to go back at all."Luca frowned, "What? As in you want to leave Gianni?"I shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe? Did he tell you KIng thinks this happened because of
•GIANNI•I was losing her. I could see it and feel it.As the days passed by, she spoke to me less. She seemed to be going out of her way to avoid me.She would be asleep before I got to bed, and during the day she would leave with Luca.She would eat alone before I was done with the day.I ran a hand over my face just thinking about it. I never experienced something like this before.I was always the one who got bored and moved on when it came to women.But now I was madly in love with Kinley and I was watching her fall out of love with me.It made me feel a rush of panic. How could I allow this? I didn't want her to leave me. I needed her in my life.I got to my feet as I paced. Kinley promised she wasn't going to leave me. But, here we were.It was coming, I could see it from a mile away.I shook my head, no, I couldn't allow this to happen.I had to stop her.I had to keep her with me. I was sure I could make her love me again. Walking out, I slammed the door shut and went to lo
•KINLEY•When I opened my eyes it took me a moment to remember what had happened.I sat up, ready to start screaming again, despite my raging headache.But I didn't need to. Gianni was sitting on a chair near the door.I noticed he was still in the same clothes as the night before."You locked me in here. Who the hell do you think you are to do this to me again?"He looked over at me with an unreadable expression on his face, "You were drunk and acting irrationally.""Why? Because I refused to allow you ownership over me? Or because I asked for a divorce?"The moment I said it I saw the anger flash across his face."We are not getting divorced."I scoffed, "And once again, you think you have the right to tell me what to do," I got out of bed, "Gianni, listen to me. I don't want to do this anymore. You don't own me. You have no right to lock me up and keep me captive every time you don't get your way." Even though I loved him dearly, I knew that this was a toxic situation between us an
•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