Page 38 of Sacred Vow

Good-natured teasing had always been part of our friendship, but for some reason, I bristled. “You know what, Gia? Mind your own business.”

I left them all with their mouths agape and headed for the water. I walked out until the water was level with my chin and dove under.

I was a good swimmer, having grown up with a massive backyard pool. Drifting on my back with the waves gently bouncing me was just what I needed. I had just begun to relax when a hand popped out of the water beside me and clamped over my mouth.

“Shh, Vittoria, it’s Carlo,” a familiar voice said. “Don’t scream or you’ll alert your guards.”

I nodded and he removed his hand. He was on the open ocean side of my body so there was a good chance no one on shore could see his head bobbing just above the water line.

“I thought you were dead!” I blurted, then realized I wasn’t far off. Most of his face was still healing from an obvious beat-down. Light green and yellowish bruises covered his chest and arms.

Carlo laughed bitterly. “It came close. Your husband did not appreciate the nature of your outing.”

So it was my fault this had happened. “I’m sorry. Did you lose your job because of me?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m here for you, Vittoria.”

I didn’t like how that sounded and instinctively swam back a little. “What do you mean by, for you?”

He gave me one of his dazzling smiles. Beneath the swelling and bruising, he really was a very good-looking man. “I couldn’t leave you with that monster. You said you wanted to escape your husband. I came back to help you.”

Panic bubbled inside of me, but why? This was the opportunity I’d been looking for all along, the one I’d given up on ever finding, so why wasn’t I excited? I hadn’t missed Carlo describing my husband as a monster, and disagreed with that assessment, despite his punishments and moods, but then, we were still in the honeymoon phase. Perhaps what I was seeing wasn’t his true self and I should leave before being exposed to his true colors.

I could go to South America, change my name and dye my hair and finally be free from the Calogeràs, the Vitales, the whole bloody business. Maybe, just maybe, I would find my prince charming there. I wasn’t ready to give up on my childhood dream of finding the one who would make me a priority in his life before all else. For Romeo, la familia would always come first. He would look for me, yes, but eventually he would stop.

I was surprised at the flare of anger I felt when imagining my husband with another woman.

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

“I hid a burner phone in your bag at the boutique. I’ll send you the instructions. It will be random, Vittoria, as we have to move when your husband is occupied and so are your guards. It has to look like you left willingly. If we kill them, Romeo will think you have been kidnapped and won’t stop searching for you, but if you just disappear, he’ll assume you ran away like you’ve tried to before. He may not give chase, or even if he does, he knows your life isn’t in danger so he will take his time and put out feelers, but by then, you’ll be long gone.”

“I understand and I’ll make sure I’m ready when the time comes.” My heart was beating so hard in my chest and I was grateful for the crashing waves hiding it. “I better go, before they swim out here and get me. Thank you, Carlo, for not forgetting about me.”

He disappeared beneath the waves, and I quickly swam to shore. The girls were downing vodka coolers and I joined them for one, but my mind was far away, deciding what was necessary to take and what could be left behind.

Gia nudged me meaningfully. “Have a nice swim?”

“Yes.”

She leaned in close to me and whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll pretend I didn’t see that.”

I blinked innocently and used my best confused voice. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh please, girlfriend, save that for your husband. I saw Carlo out in the water.”

I gripped Gia’s arm and tugged her to her feet, cheerfully calling, “Gia and I are taking a little walk, be right back,” as I dragged her away.

Once we were out of earshot, I released her arm. Gia just looked amused at my antics. She was a mafia brat herself, but so far down the line that she had little to no supervision in the family of eight children, especially with her being the youngest.

“Look, Gia, I know you don’t take a lot of things seriously, but please, please take this situation as one of those things.”

She lost the smirk immediately. “What’s going on, V? Are you in danger?”

What could I say? If I gave away too much and she was questioned, I could see her cracking under the pressure. If I said nothing, she’d only get more curious. She might even ask questions of my own guards. I had to tell her something, and could only hope it wouldn’t bite me in the ass down the road.

“For your own safety, I can’t say much. But I’ll tell you that Carlo was beaten and fired because of that night at the club. If anyone finds out that he even talked to me again, they’ll kill him, I’m sure.”

Gia nodded solemnly. “But you won’t tell me what you two were talking about?”