•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

•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•As the night progressed, I began to notice Gianni was acting strangely.I was trying to move on from the fact that he told me he was sleeping around.I tried to get some sort of a spark back while we had dinner, but it felt rather fleeting and futile.When I went to the restroom, I noticed he pulled out his phone once he thought I wasn't there.He looked down at it with annoyance on his face before shaking his head and pocketing it.When I returned to the table I decided I would ask about what I saw, "I noticed you were checking your phone. Is everything okay?"He kept a calm expression on his face, "Everything is fine. It's the usual mafia crap. Barney can't leave me a moment of peace."I smiled, "How is Barney?"I noticed the way his jaw clenched slightly, "He is fine. He is doing better than I expected him to do. We work well together."His tone was clipped as if he didn't want to speak about Barney."I think I should get back home."I noticed the disappointment on his fac

•GIANNI•The room smelt of dampness and mildew, and the chipping concrete floor had matches of wetness from the leaking roof.I was used to dumps like this. But I would have rather been anywhere else.There was nothing in the room but a steel table and a chair; it dipped to the side slightly on the uneven flooring.Barney had arranged this place. He knew there was no reason to concern ourselves over style.We were here to get a job done.A messy job to say the least.One of our newer recruits who worked with our men in Italy sat on the chai, a deep crease on his brow and tiny beads of sweat beginning to mist over his face.He knew why he was here, although none of us told him.He was found to be stealing our product. The drugs were going missing. I stepped over to the table, his eyes stared up at me with worry in them.Barney and Luca stood on either side of the sealed door. They both knew I had no need or desire to involve either of them with this.Theft and betrayal enraged me. Bu

•KINLEY•I sat rather awkwardly on the jet.Luca offered me a cold greeting when they had picked me up before coming to the airport, and Barney offered me a brief nod.I could tell both of them were annoyed with me, not that I could blame them after what I did to Gianni.I looked over at them while they discussed strategies. Gianni wanted to go in guns blazing and rescue his men, and Luca wanted to scope the place out before making any moves in case it was some sort of trap. And Barney wanted to negotiate.I decided to throw my input in, not that my opinion was asked for."Why don't you combine all three aspects?"Gianni turned to me, his expression looked as if he wasn't sure he had heard me, "Combine the three?"I nodded, "Yes. Scope the place out to make sure that's where they're being held, and see how many of their men you are up against. Once you have that knowledge you can go in. But, instead of just rushing in there, send Barney to the bosses to discuss negotiations, that way