Revenge (42 page)

Not that she noticed any of his attentions.
When she wasn’t with him, he often heard her weeping. He had to
remind her she was pregnant, that she needed to eat.

He also had to remind her to take the
prenatal vitamins they’d given her in the hospital. He’d taken to
doling one out to her each morning at breakfast. On the fourth day,
she looked up at him when he gave her the pill and said, “Thank
you. You’ve been very good about all this.”

“It is my pleasure,
signora.
”

She smiled at him. “Your English is
improving.”

He looked down, pleased she’d noticed his
efforts. He’d spent all his free time since the break-in working on
his English. It was time for him to grow up. If he ever wanted to
be
capo di società
, his English had to be impeccable.
Besides, it made it much easier to speak to the
signora
.

“Are you blushing?” she asked.

His face grew hotter, and he wished he wasn’t
so fair. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

She nudged his arm. “Stop that. I was just
paying you a compliment. You don’t need to be so modest.”

He collected himself. “I’m sorry,
signora
. I’m not used to attention from someone….” He let
that trail off. Flirting with her wasn’t a good idea.

“Someone what?”

He shook his head. “It is nothing.”

“I’d like to know.”

He blushed again, unable to meet her eyes.
“Someone so
bellissima
.”

She slowly let out a breath as she looked at
him. Finally she said, “That’s nice to hear.”

He recovered enough to look at her. “But not
wise to say, yes?”

“If Enrico heard you—” She cut off that
sentence.

“Yes, I know,
signora
. He would kill
me.”

Kate looked away from Antonio, a lump filling
her throat. She toyed with the vitamin he’d handed her. She needed
to take it, but swallowing the horse-sized pills was always a
struggle. She set it next to her teacup. When was she going to get
over Rico? It felt like an eternity since they’d last spoken. Why
did she even care? He could very well be planning her death.

And yet she ached. Her baby would grow up
never knowing its father. And she would never experience the joy of
the marriage she’d looked forward to, however briefly. She’d
thought she was marrying a good man, a different man from Vince.
But she’d been wrong. Enrico was a mobster, just like Vince.

Except… he wasn’t like Vince. He wasn’t. He
was… just in a terrible spot, wasn’t he? His anguish at letting her
go seemed genuine. But it didn’t matter. She couldn’t marry another
man she couldn’t trust. She had to be able to rely on her husband,
and she had to be able to respect and admire him. Otherwise, it
wouldn’t be a marriage, not in any true sense.

She wished she could leave tomorrow, but the
doctor had insisted on at least a full month of recovery time
before she could fly, which meant she couldn’t leave for another
three weeks. At least it gave her time to think up a plan of
sorts.

But who could she trust? Who would help
her?

She didn’t have many friends here in Italy.
Mostly she and Vince had socialized with members of the Andretti
family. Her co-workers at the orphanage all worked for Enrico, and
the glowing tones with which they spoke of him meant they were
unlikely to go against him. Besides, who among them had the
resources or the know-how to get her out of the country without
Enrico or Carlo being able to find her?

She looked at Antonio, returned the smile he
gave her. He seemed to feel genuine affection for her. He would
help her… except he would never cross Enrico. Ruggero she barely
knew, and there was no point asking. He, too, would never turn on
his boss. And no doubt they were under the same obligation as
Enrico—to kill her to keep his secret.

Aside from her co-workers at the orphanage,
there were only two other people she knew outside the Lucchesi and
Andretti families: Dottor Beltrami and Silvio Fuente. But the
doctor was clearly on Enrico’s side—he’d told Enrico about the
pregnancy with no hesitation. Besides, would he even know how to
keep her safe? She was tempted to trust Fuente since he was in the
carabinieri
, but as much as Fuente taunted Enrico at times,
Enrico had easily bought him at least once. Fuente would probably
turn her in to Enrico for a handsome reward.

So who could she go to?

She remembered something Enrico had said.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
She thought back over
what Dom had said at the hospital, why he’d said it. If he didn’t
want her and Enrico to marry, perhaps she could work with that. Of
course, he was under the same obligation as Enrico and the rest of
the Lucchesi
cosca
. But she’d run across something during
the course of her work at the orphanage that might help. A secret
she was sure Dom wouldn’t want made public. Trusting him was risky,
but what other alternative did she have? Between them, Enrico and
Carlo had her trapped.

She needed to get hold of Antonio’s cell
phone. Once she contacted Dom, he could help her figure out how to
leave without Enrico knowing. She had plenty of cash from the sale
of her rings, enough to last her through the pregnancy.

The problem was where to go. She didn’t want
to be far from her parents now that she was pregnant. But she also
didn’t want to bring trouble to their doorstep. Perhaps New York
City was big enough to hide her. Still, it might be risky being
anywhere in New York state. Carlo would be sure to look hard for
her there.

Kate sighed. How was she ever going to outwit
Carlo? If Dom refused to help, she was going to have to crawl back
to Enrico. Whether she liked it or not. Certainly he’d let her live
until the baby was born, which gave her a little more than eight
months to come up with an escape plan.

But first she had to try Dom. Unfortunately,
Antonio kept his cell phone on him like it was a precious gem. How
was she going to get to it?

She needed a distraction.

Maybe faking some morning sickness would
work, though the thought of forcing herself to throw up wasn’t high
on her list. But it was much better than ending up dead.

She waited until they had lunch. She made
herself eat a Caesar salad with anchovies. She’d never liked the
salty little fish, and her pregnancy-enhanced sense of smell made
them even more revolting. Halfway through the meal, she inhaled too
deeply and gagged. Antonio put his hand on her back, leaning toward
her. “
Signora
, are you unwell?”

Kate set down the fork, shaking her head. She
wasn’t going to have to fake anything. She looked at the salad
again, seeing one of the little chopped up fish staring back at
her, and her stomach churned. She pressed the napkin to her mouth,
willing herself not to throw up here. That would wreck everything.
“Please take me upstairs.”

Antonio jumped out of his chair and offered
her a hand. He waved to the waiter and asked him to send up the
bill. Then he hurried Kate down the hall to the tiny
elevator—little more than a glorified shoe box, she thought—and
impatiently pressed the button. The door trundled open, and they
stepped inside the heavily ornamented space, Antonio stabbing at
the button for their floor. Kate concentrated on looking down. When
the elevator jerked, she felt her gorge rise and she took a deep
breath through her nose, swallowing convulsively. “
Signora
,
what can I do?”

She clutched his hand, shaking her head.
“Just get me to my room. Please.”

He put an arm around her, and she leaned
against him as the elevator crawled up to their floor. When it
opened, Antonio motioned her outside, then scooped her up in his
arms once she’d crossed the threshold. She should object, but she
was afraid to open her mouth again. The image of that little fish
head came back to her, and for a second she could smell it all over
again.

Antonio raced down the hall with her, and she
buried her face in his neck, focusing on inhaling and exhaling. He
smelled great—a light, citrusy cologne mixed with his own scent.
With her eyes closed, she could almost imagine it was Enrico
holding her, Enrico carrying her upstairs to their room…. Her eyes
snapped open. No good would come of thinking about Enrico.
Especially about having sex with him.

When Antonio reached the door to their suite,
he set her down and pulled out the key, unlocking the door in a
flash. He followed her inside. She beelined for the bathroom and
sank down on her knees in front of the toilet. Antonio hovered in
the doorway. “
Signora
, should I call
il dottore
?”

“No.” She actually wanted him to leave her
alone with her roiling stomach, but her plan wouldn’t work if he
left. “Please just stay with me.” She tried to give him a smile.
“I’ll be all right. It’s just morning sickness.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “It is
afternoon.”

She chuckled weakly. “It’s called morning
sickness in English because it’s worst in the morning, but it can
happen at any time.”

He crouched down beside her, touching her
arm. “You are ill from the baby,
sì
?”

She nodded too emphatically, and her head
felt woozy, her stomach roiling again. She forced herself to
picture that chopped-up anchovy again, its dead glassy eye staring
up at her, its companions swirling around in her stomach…. That was
all it took. She lurched forward, heaving hard, the salad coming up
in a flood of gastric acid and bile.

Antonio didn’t flinch. He gathered her hair
and held it back for her while she heaved until she felt empty and
weak. She reached up and flushed the toilet, then sagged down
beside it, Antonio letting go of her hair. He stepped over her and
filled a glass with cold water and wet a washcloth to wipe her
face. He brought the cloth and the glass over to her, crouching
down next to her. She took both items gratefully, feeling herself
flush with embarrassment. It had seemed like a good plan. Now, she
wasn’t so sure. She felt so exhausted, and after his initial
uneasiness, Antonio seemed rather calm, not flustered. How was she
going to get his phone?

Playing on her weakness seemed like a good
ploy. He’d picked her up once, maybe he’d do it again. “I’d like to
lie down, but I’m not sure I can walk to the bed….”

He smiled. “Not to worry,
signora
. I
will take you.” He scooped her up again, lifting her easily. While
he was carrying her to the bed, she slipped a hand in his exterior
jacket pocket, the one she’d seen him put the phone in that
morning.
Got it
, she thought as her fingers closed over it.
She shoved the phone under the pillow as he laid her down.

“More water?” he asked.

“No.
Mille grazie
.” She smiled up at
him. “I’d like to sleep now.”

“
Molto bene
,
signora
. I will be
in my room.”

As soon as he closed the door, Kate rolled
over and grabbed the phone. She scrolled through the contacts,
searching for Dom’s number. She jotted it down on the hotel notepad
on the nightstand, then ripped off the top sheet and stuffed it in
the drawer. She’d just dropped the phone on the floor when she
heard a tap on the door between their rooms. “
Signora
?”

She looked down at the phone and swore
softly. The display was still lit up. How long would it take for it
go dark?

“
Signora
?” he repeated, easing the
door open a crack.

She looked at the phone. Damn it! Still lit
up. She reached down to try to flip it over, but it was too far
away. “Just a minute!” she said, raising her voice. She kicked off
her shoes and hastily unbuttoned her blouse, staring at the phone
the whole time. Finally it went black.

“
Signora
, are you well?”

“Just a second.” She was rebuttoning the
blouse when he poked his head in the door. He blushed and quickly
withdrew. “What is it?” she asked, letting an edge into her
voice.

“My phone. I cannot find it.”

“Well, come in then.” She sat up on the edge
of the bed, her bare feet dangling above the phone.

He walked in, not meeting her eyes.
“
Scusa
,” he said. “I must have it. Don Lucchesi will call
soon to check on you.”

She felt a surge of warmth, which was quickly
dampened by the thought that Enrico could be checking to make sure
she hadn’t run off. Even so, she longed for information about him.
“How is he?” she asked, while Antonio checked for the phone in the
bathroom.

He walked out and immediately spotted the
phone on the floor next to the bed. “There,” he said, his face
relaxing into a smile. When he bent down to get it, she swung her
legs onto the bed and out of his way. He repocketed the phone, then
rose and headed for the door as if he hadn’t heard her
question.