Page 17 of Unresolved

“No?”

“The O’Malley and Accardi sons-of-bitches shot and killed three of my soldiers along with one of my most loyal informants.”

I sucked in a harsh breath.“Today?”

“Yes, about an hour ago.I can’t look past such a violent and hostile act.I can’t look weak.We need to make a stand and show them who they’re up against.”

It was going to bloody and brutal.But Ethan was right, turning the other cheek would only make our family look feeble and inadequate.As the underboss I’d defend our turf with my life.“I’ll be there,” I said, even though everything inside of me wanted nothing more than to stay at my cabin with Gemma.

Either way, I’d planned to return to New York soon enough, Ethan’s order had just expedited matters.“I’ll leave shortly.”

“Good,” Ethan said in a clipped voice.“Be here by 5.00 pm.”

The call disconnected and I opened the bathroom door before directing Gemma toward the kitchen.“I’ll cook something for our breakfast.”

Did she remember how much I’d loved cooking for her?How often we’d eaten home cooked meals together?

“Then what?”she asked bitterly.If she remembered anything from our past, she wasn’t letting on.“I suppose I’ll be chained back on the bed?”

I nodded tightly.“Yes, I suppose you will.”

I took my time cuffing her to the leg of the table, and even though she sat sullenly, I couldn’t help but admire her all over again.She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.But then I’d always been enamored by her, my lust for her undeniable.

I whipped up eggs with some milk I’d recently purchased, then salted and peppered the mix while a knob of butter melted in a pan on the gas hob.Pushing some bread into the toaster, I emptied the eggs into the hot pan, stirring the mixture round and round to scramble it.

Turning off the gas, I buttered the two pieces of toast and then allocated half the scrambled eggs to each plate.I pushed Gemma’s plate in front of her even as she lifted her chin and looked away.

I hid a wry grin.“This will be your only meal for the day.It’s up to you, of course, if you want to starve yourself or not.”

I opened up the refrigerator door and pulled out a carton of orange juice, pouring myself a glass before filling a plastic cup for Gemma to drink out of.There was no need to risk her deliberately breaking the glass and using a large fragment as a weapon to cut me.

I sat opposite her and began devouring my breakfast.I was halfway finished when she grabbed hold of her plastic fork.Barely withholding a glower, she dug into the eggs and began to eat in earnest.

After I finished my breakfast, I sat watching her while I sipped my juice.

She really hadn’t changed one bit.She still wore her hair past her shoulders, the caramel shade still the same natural color.I was surprised she hadn’t dyed it to better hide from me, but perhaps after all this time she’d imagined she was safe?

Shehadlost some weight though, not that she’d had any to spare.No doubt constantly looking over her shoulder had taken its toll.Unlikely.She didn’t show any signs of ill-health.Her skin glowed a light golden color, her eyes bright without the haunted look I’d seen in so many others on the run.

I tamped down a sudden flash of fury.She’d been living her life to the fullest while I’d been driven half-mad with lovesick despair and endless questions.

“That’s enough,” I growled, dragging her half-eaten eggs and toast away from her before emptying it into the trash.She was smart enough to drain her orange juice before I took that away from her as well.

Filling her plastic cup with water, I unlatched her handcuff, then drew her with me back into the bedroom.She sat down heavily before I locked her cuff to the bedhead once again.

When I placed her cup of water on the flat top of the mushroom-shaped bedside table, she asked, “You’re leaving me?”

I ignored a sudden urge to reassure her and instead focused on the anger churning constantly inside of me as I ground out, “I am.”

“H-how long will y-you be gone?”

“Even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you,” I said dismissively.“No doubt I’ll be back before you starve to death.”

I was halfway out the bedroom door when she said icily, “How...considerate of you.I guess that phone call you took must have been important for you to leave so soon.”

I paused.“You guessed right,” I acknowledged.

She snorted out a deprecating laugh.“Let me guess...it was your wife?Areyou married now?”She ran with the idea and added, “Does the poor woman know you have another woman captive?Or is that normal behavior from her mafia husband?”She snorted harder.“I shouldn’t feel sorry for her, but somehow I do.”

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