•GIANNI•Seven days.That is how many days had passed since Kinley had left me.I found I was fine during the times I kept myself busy running around to handle shipments. I found that it helped when I got back into the swing of things and began handling more of the business.Especially when it came to making statements.When I was threatening and hurting someone, I felt better for a little while longer.But when I got home it was the worst. When I sat down to eat dinner and she wasn't there with me, it was a harsh reminder.When I got into bed and it was empty, my heart was shattered. When I woke up and I didn't see her sleeping beside me, it felt as if a knife had been lodged into my heart.I kept asking myself 'why?', why couldn't she just stay? Why did she do the very thing she promised me she would never do?I was out of it the majority of the time., but it still didn't help take away any of the pain.Sure, it numbed it. But it was still there. Consuming me like a black cloud."Gi
•GIANNI•I was pacing the outside porch while Barney and Luca watched me with concern.Of course, while trying to find Kinley I spoke to my contacts at the airports. So I found out she had left to go to Bali.Now I was trying to formulate my plan.Both Barney and Luca thought it was a bad idea to go to her."So am I expected to sit here and do nothing? What if she ends up in danger?"Luca sighed, "Gianni. You need to calm down. She has chosen to do this for a reason. I know it's hard but you need to take a step back instead of acting like an obsessed stalker.""Obsessed stalker? This is my wife we are speaking about, Luca! My wife!""I can go up and check on her. Pretend that you and I had a falling out again?' Barney suggested."No." I didn't trust Barney."He might be on to something, Boss," Luca spoke, "Think about it. She doesn't want anything to do with me because she knows I will be reporting back to you. Barney might be a good idea."I shook my head, "No. I will give it another
•KINLEY•A week had gone by since I arrived in Bali and Billie called to let me know she would be arriving.Matius had been showing me around often, and we would meet for coffee from time to time.I called him to let him know he should join us when Billie arrived.I was sure the two of them would hit it off well.I was still hurting every time I thought about Gianni, but my therapist assured me that this was completely normal. Gianni had texted me a few times since our phone call, but I was doing better at no contact now.I would find things to distract myself with.It wasn't the healthiest of ways to deal with things, but it would just have to do for now.I couldn't do it any other way.I got dressed and ready for the day before heading out to meet Billie at the airport.It was while I was waiting for Billie that I saw a picture of me in one of the tabloids.I couldn't understand the language so I hunted the stall until I found one in English."Fuck." Gianni was bound to be pissed wh
•KINLEY•I attempted to hide the fact that was feeling like a truck had hit me and dumped a tonne of grief over me.But, apparently, I was doing a terrible job at it.That night while we were visiting a local club, Billie pulled me aside."Okay, what's going on? You seem miserable. You were totally fine earlier."I handed her my phone so she could read the text from Gianni.I didn't want to speak it out and risk the tears again.She frowned at the phone before looking up to frown at me, "What? This makes no sense. He was fighting to stay with you, and now suddenly he wants to divorce you?"I shrugged, "I don't understand it either. But, I am just going to take it a day at a time now. I like to believe that everything happens for a reason.""Speak to him! What is wrong with the two of you? Communication, remember?""Billie, can we please just drop it? I'm trying to have a good time tonight, and forget that Gianni even exists.""Fine. But tomorrow you are calling him.""I'll speak to my
•KINLEY• I walked down the street in Italy, shopping bag over my shoulder, sunglasses on my face. It had taken me a long time to feel normal. It had taken me an even longer time to feel happiness after Gianni. But I was finally there. I had finally reached a point in my life where I wouldn't think about him and our failed marriage every day. I knew he had looked for me for the first few months after I left Bali, but I assumed that was because he wanted me to sign the divorce papers. Instead of being mature about it and calling him, I didn't. I hid away until I was able to pretend my life with Gianni never happened. I smiled as I watched a family with a little boy. Seeing children always brought back a bit of a painful pang. I would wonder over what could have been. I shook my head to get the thoughts out of my mind and continued with my walk. Although I kept in contact with Billie and Matius via social media, I had never told them where I was. But now, after so long I deci
•KINLEY•I remained silent about my run-in with Luca on the drive back to the cottage.After we had dinner I decided to breach the subject."Billie, have you spoken to Gianni at all?""Yeah. I spoke to him yesterday.""Well, I saw Luca here. Did you tell them I was here?""No, you asked me not to. Luca is here on holiday with his wife, you have nothing to worry about," she placed her glass of wine down, "But, I do think you need to be fair and sign the divorce papers. It's not right to do things this way."I knew she was right, but I was being a coward, I didn't want to have to speak to him."Could you get them for me?" I asked.She glanced at Matius before nodding. I could tell that a silent conversation had passed between the two in that look. I knew it had something to do with Gianni."What are the two of you not telling me?"Billie sighed heavily and I knew this was about to be something I wouldn't like."Um, there's a bit of a fight going on between Gianni and an Irish mafia fami
•GIANNI•I sat in my hotel room running my fingertip along the rim of my glass.Billie didn't tell me Kinley was here. She didn't even warn me."Did you tell her?" I looked over at Luca and shook my head, "No. You saw us when you walked in, do you really think she would have been ready to jump on top of me if she knew?"Luca sighed and sat down across from me, "You're going to have to tell her.""Are you mad? Did you see her? She's not pushing me away now. I can't take the risk of telling her only to lose her again.""And what the fuck do you think is going to happen when she finds out on her own and realizes you kept it from her?""We will just have to make sure she doesn't find out then.""This is a dangerous game you're playing, Gianni."Luca was right, but I had no other option. I spent months waiting for her to return, I wasn't about to risk having her leave and shut me out again.Luca shook his head, "The entire problem was lack of communication. Do you really want to go down t
•KINLEY• Billie returned with Matius sometime after Gianni left. And both of them began to grill me on what happened.I told them the truth, I was as clueless as they were.When I first saw Gianni at the club, I was fuelled by lust. The truth was I thankful for Luca's distraction. I needed to take things slowly with Gianni after everything that happened.The last thing I wanted to do was cause either of us any more pain.I did enough of that."So, dinner. You need us to get out of the house tonight?"I frowned at Billie, "Why would I need you to get out of the house?"She rolled her eyes, "Aren't you going to bring him back here?""What? No. We're doing this slowly, Billie. I don't want to rush into getting back with him if it isn't the right choice."Matius sighed, "Kinley, fate brought the two of you back together for a reason.""Billie isn't fate." I shot her a look."I just gave you the push that was very much needed." She shrugged as if it was no big deal at all."Yeah, yeah. But
•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