Page 4 of Masked Hearts

Resurface. Another breath. Flip. Back in the other direction.

It’s always for safety. And I know that’s the most important thing, especially since I’d kill myself if anything happened to anyone in my family because of me. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t lonely. Sure, Nico is around, but he barely speaks more than what’s necessary. And I miss the little things like family dinners, going to Giovanni’s with Mattia before work, sketching with Val, and fuck, as much as I hate to admit it, I even miss running with Ambrose.

I resurface again, keeping my eyes closed as they’ve started to sting, thanks to the resort's overuse of chlorine. As I’m about to reach up and wipe my eyes, I hear the sound of an all too familiar click.

“Don’t move.” The French accent is thick as the words silence every sound other than my pounding heartbeat.

I struggle to blink my eyes open and take in the scene around me now. Nearly twenty men surround the pool, half with guns pointed at Nico and the other half with their weapons pointed at me.

“Can I help you?” I raise a brow at the man in front of me. By his cream suit and everyone else’s simple, black outfits, I take a wild guess and assume the fashionista over here is in charge. Calling him afashionistais actually an insult to Augustus, since the suit is as bland as plain pasta.

“No, Mr. Vitale, but I do believe I can help you,” he answers.

“Who are you?” My eyes shift slightly to see Nico already being put into restraints.

“Me? I’m not important. But my father is the leader ofLe Milieu,and he’s been looking for you ever since you killed my uncle. Ringing any bells?”

Shit.

We knew Mattheo was heavily involved with the French cartel, but we, or rather I, never knew he was the Don's brother. To be fair, I never even knew Mattheo had any family beyond being married to Valerie.

“So why are you here?”

“My father is tired of negotiations with your brother.”

I don’t blame him.

“I’m here to offer you a trip to Marseille.”

“And if I’m not interested?”

He shrugs, clearly not surprised by my resistance. “It wasn’t much of an offer, actually. More of a demand.”

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my neck before everything slowly goes hazy, and then black.

Chapter two

Theá

“You’vebeenswimminglapsthe entire morning, don’t you want to take a break?” I yell as Noelle comes up for air.

She shoots me a glare before submerging under the water again. She asked me to come out here to ‘spend time together’, but hasn’t said a word to me yet.

“Noelle, I’m going to my room since you don’t actually want to spend time together,” I say.

“God, you’re so obsessed with me,” she says with a sigh before she bursts out laughing. “I’ll be out in a second, Theá. Relax.”

I’m not usually this clingy over my sister, but I know how important it is to spend time together, especially since she usually doesn't have much free time when she’s home from college. A part of me is just glad that she should be home more, now that she’s graduated.

“You’re the one who asked me to come out here? I’m pretty sure you’re the one obsessed withme,” I fire back.

“You two argue like husband and wife.” Jacques, our chef, walks out, placing down plates of our lunch. Noelle’s taste buds never developed past chicken strips and chips when she was ten, so even now, at twenty-one, she still swears by having it for lunch every day. Jacques places down a wrap for me.

“Jacques, can we get some water as well, please?”

“Of course, Miss Auclair.”

“Food’s here!” I yell, and suddenly Noelle decides to take an interest in me.

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