Page 43 of The One
“A bit early for that, don’t you think?”
“Nopppe,” he replies, exaggerating the p.
“So what happened with the girl?” I ask. She must be the reason he’s all wound up.
“Not talking about it,” he mutters.
That’s a first. He’s usually all too eager to regale us with the details of his conquests.
“Where’s Antonio?” he asks, slumping back down with a weary sigh.
“Antonio? Why would he be here?” I sit up a little straighter, somewhat alarmed.
Tiero had ordered him to stay in Sicily.
“He arrived with me. Said he had more information to discuss with you about Antonelli. They used to work together before Antonelli’s promotion a while back.”
“Then where is he?” I wonder out loud, the uneasy feeling in my gut growing.
“Said he needed the bathroom. I took a detour through the kitchen for coffee, figured he’d be back before me.”
Fuck!
That can only mean one thing.
I’m up and out of my chair in seconds, rushing to the kitchen. As always, Giulia is behind the stove.
“Where is Mariella?” I ask briskly.
She looks up, startled. “Reading in the garden,” she answers with a frown on her face. “Why? Do you…”
I don’t catch the rest of her sentence. I’m already out the patio door, heading toward the old oak tree where I hope Mariella will be.
It’s not long before I hear Antonio’s voice, so enraged he’s not even trying to keep it down.
Even after two days, he’s still fuming. He’s either brave or just plain stupid to defy Tiero’s orders to stay away from his daughter. He better not do anything else reckless.
I round the corner and immediately spot him in the small sitting area beneath the three citrus trees my father planted for my mother so many years ago.
He’s towering menacingly over Mariella. My heart stutters in my chest when I see her terrified expression.
This is exactly why Tiero asked me to take the girl with me. He knew Antonio had the potential to lose control. No one who interferes with his plans ever escapes unscathed. I can only imagine that’s worse when it comes to his own family.
My insides tighten, a knot of tension forming in my gut.
“You humiliated me in front of the entirefamiglia,” he booms. “You made me a laughingstock.”
He yanks her arm so violently that her pain is obvious.
Mariella drops her gaze to the ground, her whole body slumped, as if all energy has been drained from her.
“I’m sorry, Father. It’s not like I meant to throw u—”
She doesn’t get to finish. Antonio’s hand connects with her face in a brutal slap.
She cries out, her head snapping to the side. I’m sure she’d hit the ground if he wasn’t gripping her arm so tightly.
A wave of rage surges through me, hot and all-consuming, sending a rush of adrenaline pounding through my veins. I break into a run, desperate to reach her faster.
