Page 13 of Unruly Protector
Arturo gently takes the phone from my hand and answers the call, putting it on speaker before he says, “Hello, gorgeous.Caterina can’t answer the phone right now, so you get me, Arturo.With whom do I have the pleasure?”
“Donya,” my cousin croaks.She tries to hide a sniffle and adds, “I’ll try to call back later.”
“No, you won’t.It’s not nice to tell me a lie,” Arturo says with a very gentle tone.“So, instead, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong, gorgeous?Caterina is just as upset as you are and I need to know why, so I can help.”
“It’s nothing.You can’t help.No one can.I’m better off dealing with this alone.Tell Caterina not to worry about me when I’m gone.Tell her I love her and that I hope she will be happy.Tell her...even if I’m gone, I’ll always be with her.”
“Don’t do it,” I croak.“You can get on a plane.Come to me.Don’t—” I swallow a sob instead of voicing the words, “kill yourself.”
“Somebody start fucking talking,” Leandro growls.“Because I have no fucking clue what the fuck is going on.”
“Gorgeous, like I told you, I’m Arturo, the underboss,” Arturo says in yet again a soft, calm, and collected voice.“I’m taking you off speaker and then you and I are going to talk.Because whatever it is, we have the power to fix it.”
“No, you can’t.No one can change what’s already set in motion,” Donya replies in a defeated tone.
Arturo taps my phone and brings it to his ear.I lean in and tell him in a rushed, waterfall of words, “Her father is going to agree to an arranged marriage to a man who abuses women.He killed his first wife and his second killed herself.Please, I don’t know what to do.Just get her here to the US and I’ll let her disappear.She’s my cousin, my best friend.Please.”
Arturo spins on his heels and heads out into the garden.Leandro and I follow and when I glance left, my throat instantly runs dry.There’s a metal bar high up in the air and Clemente is hanging on it with two hands, doing pull-ups, wearing just his sweatpants low on his waist.He jumps down when he sees us and strolls our way.
He doesn’t stop until he’s standing right in front of me and pinches my chin with his thumb and forefinger.“What’s wrong?”
My lips part but no words come out.What is there to say?Beg.Maybe I should beg for his help.
“Her cousin has to marry some fucked-up asshole who’s already responsible for the deaths of his two other wives.”
“Can she come here?For our wedding?”I ask, finally finding my voice.
I need to get her on a plane to get her out of Italy and away from Marco.Once she’s here she can easily disappear.
“Then what?”Clemente snaps and drops his hand.“Let her run off while she’s under my protection?I don’t need the hassle.Men have started wars over less shit.”
“There is another option,” Leandro states, making all our eyes land on him, even Arturo looks up from murmuring into the phone as he steps back inside.
Clemente points at me.“I’m already set to marry this pain in the ass.Or are you offering?”
Hope flares inside me as I wait for Leandro to answer Clemente, because this is in fact the perfect solution.
But Leandro looks utterly horrified.“Don’t look at me like that.I don’t intend to wed anyone anytime soon.Only if there is a necessity and this sure as fuck doesn’t qualify.Do you know how many women in the outfit are forced into an arranged marriage?It’s like puppies and stray dogs, you can’t help or save them all.”
Anger gets the better of me and it makes me snap, “Asshole.”
Shit.I used to be cool and collected before I arrived in California.I guess that didn’t last even one freaking day into my new life with these idiots surrounding me.
“Boss,” Arturo says, breaking the tension.
Leandro throws his head back and laughs a full belly laugh.“I knew it.”
Clemente is confused and to be honest, so am I.
Leandro smacks Clemente’s chest with the back of his hand, lifts his chin in Arturo’s direction and says, “I saw the picture on Caterina’s phone.Her little cousin is a redhead.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Clemente groans.He grabs his own phone out of his sweatpants and punches in a number while he asks Arturo, “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Arturo replies without any hesitation.
My head bounces from one man to the other, completely oblivious to what is happening.
Clemente places his phone to his ear and glances at me.“What’s her name?”
