Finding Beauty in the Darkness

She beams excitedly. “I say, hell yes!”

After she gets comfortable in bed, I turn off the bedroom light and close the door so she can get some rest. Rome is standing outside my door. “Are we really holding her captive, Giovanni?”

“It’s business,” I say, just like I said to Aria. But as I say the words, I know there is no convincing anyone of this lie. I’m holding her here to ensure her safety, not to hurt her. As much as I should use her to fuck Weston over, I know I won’t do that to her. The problem is, I can’t admit any of this out loud. The woman is already running all over me. If I tell her she’s not being held here against her will… Fuck! She’ll trample right over me.

As I leave Rome to keep watch over Aria, I look for Johnny but don’t see him, so I give him a call. “Johnny, where are you?”

“Helping Cici move some furniture downstairs. What’s up?”

“Why is she moving shit around? Never mind, I’ll be right down.” I get downstairs and sure enough, Cecilia is having Johnny and Caesar move the couches around in the sitting room. “What are you doing?”

“Oh! Giovanni.” Cecilia walks around the couches and leans in to kiss me. She knows better than to do this shit down here.

“Stop.”

She gives me a small pout then looks around. “Where’s your guest?”

“She’s taking a nap. We aren’t going to have a problem, are we? Aria is going to be staying here indefinitely. You telling her you’re my girlfriend is unacceptable.” I say it loud enough for the guys to hear, knowing it will embarrass her. She needs to be put in her place.

Cecilia’s eyes widen and her cheeks turn pink, but she ignores my statement. “Will she be working here?”

The thought of Aria working here makes my blood boil. The idea of her fucking some stranger has my fists clenching, wanting to kill the fucker. Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me when it comes to this woman?

“No.” I glance around the room, now agitated. “Put all the damn furniture back the way I had it. Don’t move shit around,” I bark out before walking away. “Johnny, my office now.” I get to my office and sit at my desk, trying to calm the fuck down. Aria working here…no fucking way. Not happening.

“You okay, Boss?”

“Yeah, close the door and have a seat.” He does so then sits down and waits for me to speak.

“Where do we know the last name Torino?”

Johnny thinks for a moment. “The name sounds familiar, but it’s not coming to me. Do we have an issue?”

“I need you to look up Antonio Torino. He was Aria’s boyfriend before she was taken. According to her friend, when Aria went missing, this Antonio kid told everyone she left on her own then he disappeared shortly after. Her friend said her stuff from her dorm was completely cleared out. Now that part could have been Weston, but why would her boyfriend say she left on her own?”

“Doesn’t make sense. How long were they together?”

“I’m not sure, but when she tried to call him, his number was disconnected.”

“All right. I’ll find the kid. What do you want me to do once I find him?”

“Let me know. I want to personally handle this.” I can’t wait to see what this little punk says for himself.

“Got it. Anything else?”

I remember Aria’s request to meet up with her friend. “Yeah, Aria needs to go to the city on Saturday. I’m going to have you take her with Caesar. We need to make sure she doesn’t run and Weston doesn’t get to her.”

“Saturday is your meeting at the casino with Damian Briar.”

“Shit. There’s no point in taking two cars into the city. Let’s take the SUV and I’ll have you drop me off then take her to meet her friend. I’ll take Rome with me. I want you to stay outside the coffee shop and have Caesar inside. We don’t have any idea where Hightower is. I don’t want to take any chances, and while Aria seems to be playing nice, she can easily try to run.”

“We’ll handle it. One more thing…” I look down at my watch. It’s only been a half hour since Aria laid down but I’m already antsy to get back to her. “You said you wanted to handle that stripper’s loan yourself. She’s behind again.”

“All right, thanks. I’ll pay her a visit soon.”

After Johnny leaves, I attempt to get some work done. I check on various accounts to confirm payments are being made with the correct interest. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve needed a loan, so I can’t empathize with the people who come to me needing money, but I can’t imagine being so desperate that I’m willing to sell my soul to the devil for money. Then again, the life I live, the family I’m a part of, I probably never had a soul to begin with.