Page 76 of Stolen Mafia Vows
It’s a genuine question, like do you want cheese in your sandwich, or do you take your eggs well done.
“What? No!”
“No, of course you don’t. You’re still in the honeymoon phase of love.” She wriggles her shoulders to get more comfortable. “Don’t worry, it’ll pass.”
The ache inside me at the mention of Eoghan grows heavy, winding me momentarily. I’m angry that she knows all about me and Eoghan, but I’m even angrier at her flippant dismissal of our feelings as if we’re teenagers riding the crest of young love. Then I remember that he lied to me, and I construct a fence around my emotions, shutting myself off from them.
“Tell me what you want, and I’ll help you get it.”
“I don’t need your help, Emily. I’m coping just fine without you.” She gestures to the pool and the mansion with a casual wave of her hand.
“So, what am I supposed to do? Sit here and wait for you to send me back to my own life?”
“Which life would that be?” Olivia rolls onto her side facing me, supporting her chin with one hand to study me better. “The life with the family who tricked you into believing that you were just a regular girl? Or the life with the husband who used you to get close to your family?”
My thoughts get jammed up inside my head. I know that she’s right, she just said everything that I accused them of myself, but it’s different hearing someone else speak the truth out loud. It’s like reading the statements in black and white and knowing that I’ll never be able to unsee them.
I feel like one of the Lost Boys fromPeter Pan, convincing myself that I’m living my best life while suppressing how disappointed and exposed and vulnerable I feel. But she has forgotten the most important fact.
“It’s still my life. You can’t keep me here indefinitely.”
She shrugs and settles back on the lounger. “I have no intention of keeping you here indefinitely. You’re not exactly the most scintillating company, Emily.”
“Ha! I’m not here to keep you company. You kidnapped me, remember?”
“That’s only your version of events.”
“So, what’s yours?”
She smiles. “You stopped to help me fix my car. We got talking, and you came along for the ride.”
I can’t tell if she’s deluded and she genuinely believes that’s what happened, or if she’s simply trying to provoke a reaction from me.
“My family will find me. You won’t get away with this.”
I mean, it isn’t exactly a prison, but Olivia’s behavior is so erratic that I think I’d feel safer in a cell with a locked door and three meager meals a day.
“You’re sure about that, are you?”
“They’ll already know that I’m missing.”
I picture driving away from Eoghan, watching him in the rearview, drenched, shoulders hunched as if I’d sucked his life’s essence from him when I threw his Gran’s ring back. The hurt creeps in, but I push it away and focus on finding Olivia with the hood of her car raised. Where did that happen? Why didn’t Eoghan follow me?
“What about your husband?” Olivia’s question shakes me out of my reverie.
“He’ll be looking for me too.”
Her smile tells me all I need to know. I told Eoghan that we were over, because he wasn’t the person I thought he was. Do I even want him to come looking for me? Do I want to see my dad or my brothers right now?
Before I can settle my own internal debate, a man approaches the sun loungers wearing pristine navy-blue swim shorts and carrying a cocktail with a tiny paper parasol and a stick with a cherry on top. He hands the drink to Olivia, leans over and French kisses her, their tongues making sloppy sounds that draw more heat to my cheeks. His eyes seek out mine while they’re still kissing.
This must be Ilya.
“You went for a swim,” he says to me with the same accent as the bodyguards, pulling his lips away from Olivia. “You should have given her a swimsuit.”
“It was spur of the moment.” She sips the cocktail through a gold metal straw.
The man’s eyes rake my body, and I peer down at myself, realizing that my T-shirt is clinging to my breasts, and that my nipples are still reacting to the cold water. He has the same heavy brows as the other men, the same dark eyes, and chiseledjawline, but his features meld together to create a classically handsome visage. Coupled with the broad shoulders and the ripped chest, I can understand why Olivia finds him attractive.
