Bella (A Sagatori family saga-A Mafia Romance Book 5) (6 page)

I nodded. “Perfect,”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, just a misunderstanding. I’ll clear it up tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“I need to fly to Detroit and handle a few things.”

“Can I go with you?” She stepped onto her tiptoes, watching my eyes.

I didn’t know what to say. Telling her she couldn’t go wasn’t something I did when it came to Detroit. That was her home, and when she was there she enjoyed seeing old friends, but I couldn’t have her around this shit storm that was about to tear my world apart.

“Jax?” Her eyes lowered.

“Bella, I’ll be honest with you, it’s some fucked up shit I don’t want you anywhere near.”

“I won’t be. I need to sort some things out with the trucking company. I could use that time at the office. I could also see Emily. Please?” She beamed again. “Also, soon I won't be able to fly so this is may be my only chance before Ennio is born.”

I couldn’t say no to this woman. “All right, but— I drew in a deep breath, “—the office and your father’s house are the only places you’re allowed, agreed? I can’t have you getting hurt.” I pressed my hand against her growing belly.

“Deal.” She smiled sweetly, folding against my body.

***

Bella stepped onto the jet holding only her bag and iPad. I stepped up from behind, ensuring she didn’t fall. “I feel you back there, ready to catch me if I fall,” she laughed.

“Boss.” Wyatt nodded toward the back of the plane as we were fully on board.

“Yeah?” I followed behind him.

“The address you had me look into is a no go.” I’d had Wyatt look into the address that Sal had given me.

I watched him draw in a deep breath, trying like hell to remain calm for Bella’s sake. “What the fuck does that mean?” I looked back to Bella, seeing she was getting settled in the front of the plane unaware of my anger.

“Whoever it was you were looking for, it’s an empty trail. There isn’t any real estate at that address. A large company purchased the property last February, but there’s nothing but trees and shit.”

I turned to Bella once again, seeing that she was still without any knowledge of my murderous state.

I turned back to Wyatt. “What company?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, Boss.”

“I expect you’ll know shortly?” I growled.

“Yes, Boss, I’ll have the information before we land,” he assured me that he’d have what I wanted. I needed to put an end to some twisted fucking shit.

“I need a fucking drink.” I removed my jacket and cufflinks then rolled my sleeves to my forearms while walking toward the front of the plane. My temples pulsed, feeling my head ready to explode any second.

I took my seat next to Bella, letting my head rest against the back of it.

“Mr. Moretti, would you like a drink?”

I quickly looked to see that Bella had something for the journey. She sipped from a bottle of coconut water. “You good, baby?”

She nodded.

“Give me the bottle of Cognac.”

“The entire bottle, sir?”

“And a glass.” I rubbed my hand across my chin turning my attention toward Bella; she was clueless as to what had been going on. She sat carefree and happy, and that was exactly how I intended her to stay.

Our flight ended with Bella sleeping against my arm. She used to be too terrified of planes to sleep much while on them, but she’d come around. “Baby, time to wake up.” I kissed the top of her head.

She brought her hand to her mouth, stifling a yawn. “Geez, feels like I just closed my eyes.” Another yawn left her lips as she stretched her arms.

“You slept really good.” I unbuckled my seatbelt and began gathering Bella’s bag and the iPad she had been working from.

“Why are their two cars?” She turned to her left, eyeing me.

There were two: a bulletproof Yukon for her and a White Mercedes for me. “I’ve got to get some things situated. I’ll see you at your father’s house later.” I lifted her chin, bringing her lips closer to me.

“Promise me that you’re going to be safe. I need you—” she looked down as she smoothed circles over her belly, “—we need you,”

“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere.” I hugged her, no kiss or sexual gestures; I simply hugged her tight to my chest knowing that I could be going away for a long fucking time if I didn’t get this shit under control.

“I love you, Jax, more than my own life.”

I believed God designed a man and woman specifically for the other. I had no doubt that Bella was that for me, but my faith that this would end happily was walking on a tightrope. “I’ve gotta go, baby—” I walked away, unable to meet her eyes, “—dinner later, takeout from Delray’s.” I barely let my eyes touch hers before I entered the white car that was also bulletproofed.

I stepped into the Mercedes with deep regret. I didn’t want to leave her, to go where I needed to go. “Did you get the information?”

Wyatt looked into the rearview as he buckled his seatbelt. “Yes, Boss, I did... sort of. The company is Nomac, no records found—” the car turned out of the airport and onto the highway, “—seems like a dead end, Boss.” His eyes shifted from the road to the mirror again.

What I’d thought to be a lead had turned up dry but—every tunnel had a way out. There was a way, and I knew it. I hoped there was anyway.

“Where to, Boss?”

“Just drive into the city.” I stared out the window.

My phone rang ten minutes into our drive downtown. “Hello?” I knew exactly who was calling.

“Oh please, your excitement is overwhelming; you may want to drop the enthusiasm a bit,” Rebecca laughed sardonically.

My upper lip twitched. “Where do you want to meet?” I could do without the attempt at small talk.

“Delray’s, we had good times there; may help you remember how much you love me—” Love? I fucking hated her. “—Jax?”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Oh and, Jax?”

“Yeah?”

“If you try anything—” she cleared her throat. “—rash, I’ll have my guys shoot Bella in that pretty face of hers. Bring a smile for me, won't you?” her voice raised an octave. I pressed the red button disconnecting the call with my fist clenched. My chest burned, I tasted blood on my tongue, and I wanted to kill someone. Not kill as in pull out my gun and murder, no, I wanted to wrap my hands around her neck, I wanted to squeeze her warm, milky skin as I watched the vessels in her eyes pop into red pools of blood in her eyes, and feel her windpipe collapse with a crunching sound against my fingertips. I wanted her dead.

“FUCK!” I yelled punching the seat in front of me.

“Boss?”

I ignored Wyatt and scrolled through my phone, finding the number for Victor Lumbardo.

“It’s V.”

“It’s Moretti, I need to see you.”

“I’ve been expecting your call.”

I needed to deal with this situation as quickly and quietly as possible.

Bella

Tony sat in the backseat with me while Sal and Dominic were in the front seat. I planned to get some things done while I was here. I needed to go through some of Papa’s things as well. I’d been putting it off, but it needed to be done. I would also see about the maintenance of the house and speak with the people that cared for it. Jax handled most of that, but it was my home and I wanted to take care of those things myself.

We were in the driveway of Papa’s house an hour later. I finished reading the last page of a book on my iPad and stepped out of the car. The grounds looked just as they had the last time I was here. Dominic and Tony grabbed the bags from the trunk while Sal led the way to the door. He’d likely be doing a run-through of the house before letting me inside. That shit got on my nerves, but Jax was very specific where my safety was concerned. And since I had gotten away from my guards, they followed Jax’s rules to the letter, they were scared to death of him.

Once I was settled inside I began unpacking our bags in my old bedroom; the same bedroom where Jax had held me when my father was dying down the hall. I only let a tear slip because I was alone in the room. I took a deep breath and pushed the sadness back. I couldn’t cry every time I thought of my parents. I needed to get control over my emotions, but pregnancy wasn’t on my side with this task.

A few hours later I decided I’d step out without letting anyone know. I hated being watched like a fugitive. I wanted to surprise Jax with dinner from Delray’s. I’d get something and be back before anyone knew I was gone. I knew if Jax found out he’d be upset but honestly I was only going to Delray’s. I practically grew up there.

Once I knew that the three were busy doing something I snuck out into the garage. I grabbed the keys to my white Mercedes and took off out the garage slowly.

It had begun to rain quite a bit harder than I anticipated. I didn’t like driving through the rain. I couldn’t really place the fear, but I’d never liked it. Once I arrived at Delray’s it took several minutes to find somewhere to park, but once I did I walked to the restaurant grateful that the rain had slowed down to mere drops. As I approached the entrance I couldn’t believe what I saw.

Time echoed around me, wind blew through my hair, rain pelted against my skin, and the air in my lungs stuck to the lining of my chest. My face was cold, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end while the world spun round and round threating to take me right then and there. The fortress I’d built and then let fall just as quickly from my heart couldn’t have stood through this. Every brick I’d placed meticulously in the most perfect of places cracked. I fought the tears but the pain in my chest was relentless. Pieces of my heart broke floating past the wall that once protected it.

Jax held the hand of another woman as they stepped out of a white Mercedes covered by an umbrella. Only seeing her lips as she smiled at him.

My heart was breaking with every breath I took. Standing on the sidewalk of the city made me feel far from home. I was a stranger here now. My foot moved forward with the fall of the first tear. Jax held another woman while I watched. Was he thinking of our baby or me? Had he never loved us? Was it all a lie? The questions ravished my mind, leaving me thinking of the last kiss he’d given me.

I continued moving— tears falling at mad pace—fully masked by the rain of Detroit. My hands held at my tummy protectively. Did he plan to hide her from me? Was he cheating with this woman that stood tall, long blonde hair, cherry red cheeks and lips?

Jax disappeared behind Delray’s Restaurant doors.

Would I go in there and
—

What would I do?
I shook my head.

What would I say to him?

Would I confront him?

Would I live after this,
if so—how? How could I possibly go on without him?

My feet wanted to turn and run in the opposite direction, but my heart continued pulling me toward the restaurant. I wanted to cry, scream, but I didn’t want to feel that way. Showing no emotion was the only control I did have.

My cold and wet trembling hand rose to the door, pulling it toward me. When I entered the corridor, a mirror stopped me as I saw a broken mess in its unforgiving reflection. Mascara streaked my cheeks and red eyes stared back at me. Vomit threatened at the back of my throat. I drew in a deep breath and pulled the second door open and stepped through.

The restaurant was dark, leaving it difficult to see until my eyes could adjust. I searched regardless, letting my eyes roam across the bar and then the tables, eventually spotting them at a small table along the wall.

“Ma’am, can I help you?” a female voice called after me, but I was already walking toward my husband and the woman that he dined with. “Ma’am!” she continued as I ignored her futile attempts at stopping me.

My eyes pinned him, his jacket just behind him on a hook. His back was to me leaving me unable to see his face. Was he watching her the way that he watched me?

I gripped my mouth and leaned to the right clutching a wall for support. A few deep breaths in then out seemed to give me the courage I needed to keep moving toward them. I could hear the woman laugh as Jax said something funny I assumed. My approach was silent as I watched and waited for the woman’s face to come into my view.

Four feet.

Three feet.

Two feet.

One foot.

One step. Two steps. Three steps.

I faced him, watched him as he slowly realized I was standing there with him and the woman. Who was she, and why were they together?

“Bella?” He watched as if he’d just seen a ghost.

“Jax,” I barely breathed.

Jax quickly stood but remained quiet as he thought of the appropriate words. Excuses perhaps. Excuses I wouldn’t believe; excuses I didn’t care about. I didn’t know what I would say when he did give them. Maybe I would say…nothing at all. Maybe I would run out of the door and never come back. Maybe I would break down and collapse on the floor when my heart gave up on me.

“What are you doing here?” His face hardened.

I turned toward the woman I hadn’t yet looked at. I couldn’t, until now. I ignored her completely, but now I gave her my full attention. When I turned I didn’t expect to see whom I saw. The woman that Jax was with here in Detroit was none other than Sarah Smith, the same woman that Megan had brought to my home for the charity lunch.

“Is this a joke?” I breathed.

Her pink lips pulled into an unapologetic grin. “Bella, how lovely to see you again.”

My heart crashed into my chest, once again sending me backward. I wanted to be strong, I did. I didn’t want to cry like this. I didn’t want my pain to paint my face like it did, but there was nothing else I could do.

“Jax, would you like to introduce your wife?”

His head fell in utter pain. Jax was many things, a hardened boss that would snap your neck in a single moment leaving you dead in a ditch. He gave orders every day that made the average man sick to his stomach, but this situation seemed to cause emotion I’d never seen from him before.

“Well, if you won't then please, allow me—” she stood in her cream wrap dress that clutched her large breast. “—I’m Rebecca Moretti, Jax’s wife.”

My eyes were set on this woman, but I couldn’t see her; everything was darkened and out of reach. Voices were a mere echo as what she had announced rang through my ears with the slice of a sharp razor. My ears might as well have been bleeding.

I swallowed hard, leaning forward, and clutching the table for support. “I don’t understand.” I finally turned to Jax, eyeing him, begging him with my eyes to tell me this was a mistake or a nightmare.

“She’s not my wife, Bella, you are.” He reached out for me, attempting to support the weight of my body. But I didn’t want his touch or his excuses. I simply wanted him to tell me this was all a huge mistake.

“Jax.” Rebecca’s eyes turned to his.

I blew out a harsh breath. “Not your wife?” I asked Jax, and then turning my attention to this woman, I said, “You’re dead.” A laugh being her only response caused something inside of me to snap, break, or maybe it mended. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Bella, go home,” Jax insisted while I stood next to him, completely clueless as to why this was happening. I’d always felt I’d been found when I stood next to him, but right then I couldn’t have been more disconnected from everything.

“Home?” What home would I go back to: my father’s estate here in Detroit or our penthouse in Chicago?

“As you can clearly see, Bella, I’m alive and well—” she smiled, “—and I’m here to take my husband back.” Her feral eyes flashed toward Jax once again. Her red lips round and wanting of the man she claimed as her own when in fact he was mine.

“Bella, please go home.” Jax grabbed my arm. His unyielding hold had me biting my lip from the pain it was causing. “
Go home now!
” he growled through the tightness of his jaw. He was angry; his eyes flashed incarnadine at me, but I didn’t do anything wrong; in fact, he was the one that needed to be yelled at and made to feel like a fool, not me.

I wanted to scream and beg for an explanation, but I’d be exposing any and all doubt. That would only give her the upper hand I was sure she’d been seeking. No matter how badly I wanted answers, I couldn’t have them right now and I needed to accept that only for now. I couldn’t let her see how affected I was.

I drew in a deep, heady breath and adjusted my bag around my shoulder and penetrated my eyes on Jax’s. What was he thinking? Why would he do this to his family?

Jax’s eyes shifted to his guard, Wyatt, signaling him the same way my father signaled Sam or Tony when words couldn’t be spoken.

“Mrs. Moretti.” Wyatt’s hand lightly brushed my arm.

Jax was my life; he was everything I could’ve asked for in a husband. The way he kissed me, touched me, and loved me made every day I spent as his wife amazing. I watched his eyes, letting my stare penetrate his with unavoidable harshness. Jax watched mine with just as much force then nodded to Wyatt. I assumed he’d wanted him to take me away.

“Mrs. Moretti,” Wyatt said again, his voice firm yet kind.

I risked another look at Rebecca who tapped her long acrylic manicured nails on the table. Her crimson lips pulled upward enthusiastically. She was getting my husband all to herself, and I was being sent away.

I surrendered to Wyatt’s continued request that I exit the restaurant with him, but I needed one last glance at Jax; one last glance would leave a pain in my chest that would surely kill me.

Jax refused to reciprocate and instead watched Wyatt with a scowl on his square jaw. I knew he was silently scolding him for not having me out of there already.

I felt a tear fall and tasted blood in my mouth as I stepped away from the love of my life. Leaving him there alone with her felt wrong; she was a viper. Everything about Rebecca screamed the complete opposite of me.

“Mrs. Moretti.” Wyatt held the Mercedes door open for me.

“What about my car?”

“Mr. Moretti will have it delivered to you ma’am, not to worry.”

I pressed my hand on the car, seeing the rain fall in sheets all around me. “Will you be expected to pick Mr. Moretti up?”

Wyatt held the Hermes umbrella over my head. “Yes, ma’am,” he answered.

With one last glance toward the restaurant, I stepped into the back seat of the car. Once Wyatt was behind the wheel, I pulled my phone from my bag. I would get answers one way or another. I dialed the last number I’d ever thought I’d dial and pressed the phone against my ear.

“Hello?”

“Sam—”