NineDaniela Berni There was no way any of this was a coincidence. I didn’t believe for one second that Niccolo had ever stepped foot into Revere’s. When I had worked there in high school, he had called the place, “a shit hole.” No, Niccolo had found out about me meeting Alessandro somehow and had timed this perfectly. I had always wondered if there was someone from Boston watching me. Now, I knew for sure. Niccolo Capaldi was never going to let me go, or let me be happy. He knew that I could never say no to anything involving Giuseppe. Mr. Capaldi had always treated my family like his, even though my mom was just his maid. We never felt like staff with him. I hadn’t even known that Giuseppe was in the hospital. I’d been so startled when I saw Luca the other night, I had no idea if he had mentioned anything about his dad. Still, I had just met my father for the first time. Even though I knew everything my aunt had said about him, I was still curious. I had so
TenNiccolo Capaldi I knew that she was going to be difficult. That was why I had brought the knock out serum I used when I was having to fight off drunks in the club. Or anyone that might not be too excited about Capaldi family business practices. She didn’t even notice when I stuck her with the needle, knocking her out. “Rick!” I called. “Yes, boss?” my driver said. “Open the door for me, please. I’m going to be escorting Miss Berni to the plane, personally.” Rick glanced behind me to see me throwing an unconscious Daniela over my shoulder. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! What the fuck are you doing, sir?” “I’m getting her out of Boston, safe,” I said. “Really?” he said. “Because it looks like you just drugged her.” “Relax. It’s nothing that will hurt her. It’s the same stuff I use to knock out drunks at the club when they’re getting a little handsy.” Rick rolled his eyes. “That makes me feel
ElevenDaniela Berni I woke up with a pounding in my head. There was something soft underneath me, and I couldn’t figure out why. The last thing that I remembered was being in the car with Niccolo after he had…what had he done? My vision was a little blurry and I forced myself to sit up. I blinked a few times, and then my vision cleared. But the headache remained. I saw someone sitting in a chair across from me. “Good. You’re awake.” It was a deep, male voice that spoke. I froze at the sound of his voice. I would have recognized it anywhere. Niccolo. It took me a moment to recognize where I was. I was in my old room, in the Capaldi summer home in Tropea, Italy. “What the hell did you do to me?” I demanded. He grinned. “I knocked you out with a sedative. It’s something that I use when there are people that are being too difficult at the club.” I frowned. “You mean, the stuff that your father used to knock people out that he
TwelveNiccolo Capaldi I was out on the veranda looking at the ocean. The summer home had been in the Capaldi family for generations. My great-great-grandfather, who had started out as a merchant, had bought the villa as a wedding gift for my great-great-grandfather. It had been built in the fifteen hundreds and was rumored to have originally been a vacation home for the Medici family. Daniela was inside. I had been in there when she woke up. But I didn’t know what she was doing. It had been a day since we’d arrived in Italy and she finally woke up. I was smoking a cigarette when I heard the back door open. “Did you have to knock her out?” Luca asked. I smirked as I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Who told you?” “Rick,” he said, “and then Daniela when I came here. I gave her my phone number when I saw her that first night. She texted me so many times I am surprised my phone didn’t somehow break from the amount of vibrating
ThirteenDaniela Berni “There’s got to be a way out of here.” I watched Audrina wander around the house, looking for some kind of window or door that wasn’t blocked by a guard. I laughed. “Audrina, just drop it. You’re not going to find a way out. You know how men like them are. They’ve got the entire place covered with body guards.” Audrina took a deep breath. “I wasn’t even kidnapped. I just followed you here. How am I the one that’s more freaked out than you?” I sighed. “Because I know them. I knew the minute that I stepped foot into Boston, somehow, they would find a way to pull me back into this mess. My mother was in it. My father’s in it. You’re in it. I don’t think there’s a way to get out. I think something like this---it’s always going to touch our lives, like a shadow. You can’t shake this kind of darkness no matter how hard you try.” My best friend let out a shriek. “I’m the goddamn CEO of an upscale, fashion bra
FourteenNiccolo Capaldi The last time I had been to our summer home, it had been the summer before my senior year of high school. Dad took the whole family, including Daniela and her mother. We would spend the whole summer swimming, taking the yacht out, and having picnics. Here, I was a completely different person. There was something about Italy that made me relax a little more. And that summer, it had been particularly hot. Dad had been away on a lot of business trips leaving us alone to our own devices. Daniela usually spent most of the time helping out her mom with the house and the cooking. Somedays, though, Augusta would let her spend the day by the pool or she’d go off to the beach with Luca or go into town. One day, we all went out to the beach. There was a small path with a creaky staircase that had been built sometime in the 1920’s that went all of the way down to the shore. Daniela was wearing a white sundress, and she was tan from spending her days out in th
FifteenDaniela Berni “Daniela, please come to dinner.” This came from Niccolo, who was standing outside my room with Luca, begging me and Audrina to come out. We decided we were staying there until Audrina’s “backup” came. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but she assured me it was not her dad. That at least was a relief. “No!” I shouted from my bed. I was being immature, I knew. But I was still upset over how he’d gotten me to Italy instead of just telling me what was going on.Audrina, who was sitting next to me cross-legged, laughed. “Maybe he’ll break down the door,” she whispered.I shot her a look, and hissed, “Don’t give him ideas.”“Audrina!” Luca shouted. “Come on. I told you she wouldn’t be hurt and she isn’t! Come on out, I’ve got your favorite wine!”“Not happening!” Audrina shouted.It was my turn to laugh. Audrina hadn’t admitted that there was something going on with her and Luca. But I remembered the two of them in high sc
SixteenNiccolo Capaldi “Dad! What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded. “You should be in the hospital. I thought you were half dead.” He had gathered us around the big, dining room table inside. It wasn’t warm enough to eat out doors like we normally did. Giuseppe Capaldi was tall, and frail, with wrinkles upon wrinkles and grey hair. He used a cane to get around. My Pop was the kind of man that used to having people scurry when they saw him. In many ways, he was an imposing figure still. But after his heart attack, I was painfully aware of how old he was. And I hated the idea that he had traveled so long to get to us when it could have hurt him. My Pop laughed. “I’m a Capaldi, son. Death doesn’t come for us. We go looking for it because we’ve sent them too many souls.” “Mr. Capaldi,” said Audrina, “I’m a little confused about why you want me to be part of this conversation?” He smiled at her. “Audrina, you have always