Untraceable (45 page)

“
Acted?!” Micah felt the
shots of fire going through his veins as he relived that moment
when he saw Giovanni nude over Leese’s half dressed body. “Sharon
called him off her!”

“
Don’t get bullheaded on
me, boy,” Caprizio barked. “Pay attention to what I’m telling you.
She may have been jacking with your mind, but Giovanni was working
for me to keep Leese safe,” he stressed. “But what he told me he
witnessed in the video of you and Sharon wasn’t an act. Hell, from
the look on your face, I’m wondering if you knew she was filming
you?”

Micah shook his head no, too afraid to
ask if Leese had seen it, or if Giovanni simply told her about
it.

“
Yes,” he said answering
the unasked question, “my daughter saw part of it before Giovanni
took it away and smashed it. He said he’d never seen anything
affect someone so desperately. He thought she was going into shock
over it. I’m telling you, I
know
how much my daughter loves you. And I hate to say
it, but I can see it in your face that you truly do love her just
as much. Don’t leave her. Don’t break her heart. Don’t think that
you’re doing her and that baby a favor—but don’t you ever, ever be
the kind of animal with my daughter like you were with Sharon
Moretti. Do I make myself clear? Love her, don’t leave her, and if
you ever fucking hurt her, I’ll castrate you and make the world
forget you ever existed—totally untraceable—even the ants won’t
find you! Got it?”

“
Yes, sir—I swear I’ll
never hurt her.”

“
Then get your ass over
there and tell her you’re sorry and that you’re going to spend the
rest of your happy life making it up to her—and by the way,
let
me
take care
of getting the mob off your back!”

Micah wasn’t sure if Caprizio would
accept his hand or not, but he offered it anyway, “Thank you,
sir.”

Caprizio stared at the offered hand,
but didn’t accept. He looked to where Leese was tearfully waiting
and then he looked back to Micah, and pulled him in and embraced
him. “Only because she’s watching,” he whispered. “You still have a
lot to prove before I’ll ever believe you deserve her. Go!” And he
turned him loose.

The tears were in full force when he
pulled her into his arms, “Baby, I’m so sorry. I love you, Leese.
If you want me, baby, I’ll never leave you.”

He felt Nadia’s arms around them both,
then Kimmy’s arms around his waist, and David wrapping his arms
around all of them. When the group hug finally broke, he noticed
Giovanni standing off to the side. His expression was hard to
read.

Micah offered his hand, “I’m told I
owe you a debt of thanks for keeping my wife safe.”

Giovanni accepted, “I apologize for
the way things had to appear. You are a very blessed man to have
Annalisa’s devotion and love.”

Micah didn’t release Giovanni’s hand
as what he said struck him, “You know you’re right. I’ve looked at
her as someone I didn’t deserve. If God gave me what I deserved, it
wouldn’t have been Annalisa.” He didn’t have to say it, but he knew
who he deserved for the life he’d once led was someone like Sharon
Moretti—but he had been given a gift and it was time to start
seeing Leese in that light. “But blessings are gifts, deserved or
not; I’ve been blessed. Thank you.”

“
And now,” Caprizio said,
“we have business to take care of. Ladies, if you’ll get back on
the plane, my pilot will—”

“
I’m not leaving,” Leese
stated.

“
Me neither,” Nadia
added.

“
Matt is at the Holiday
Inn waiting,” Micah spoke up. “I called him this
morning.”

“
Yay!” Kimmy shouted,
before anyone else could say anything. “I want to go
swimming.”

Nadia laughed, “You little fish! You
always want to go swimming. I don’t have your suit, but maybe we
can buy one someplace nearby.”

“
I’ll have to call for a
cab,” Micah stated as he considered that the BMW was a two
seater—and had their guns inside.

“
We don’t need a cab,”
Caprizio said and then made a ‘come here’ motion in the air as
several non-descript cars at the edge of the lot by the hanger
cranked and headed their way. “You didn’t think I came unprepared,
did you? My men flew in last night. They’ve been watching you and
your brother since you got here. By the way, that was a smart move
to leave those guns in the car. Although you,” he said pointing at
David, “almost got shot. Good thing you didn’t run until Kim was
running toward you.”

Three cars pulled up. The doors opened
on a black, Chrysler 300 and two men stepped out and opened the
backdoor for the women to get in. These were the kind of men Micah
expected to be greeted with, and he didn’t like it—not with the
women present anyway.

“
No,” Micah stated
quickly. “They aren’t leaving with them.”

“
They’re my men!” Caprizio
snapped.

“
I don’t care. Leese can
drive or Giovanni can take them.”

Caprizio got an odd, wiry grin on his
face as he stared at Micah, “I like your moxie, but don’t push it
too far. All right, Giovanni, you take them,” he said.

Kimmy was already crawling into the
backseat, but Nadia hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you,” she
whispered to David.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed
her temple, “It’ll be okay. Please, Nadia, I’ll be fine and I’ll
see you tonight.”

She tipped her face up to his and
kissed his lips slowly as he returned her sweet
affection.

Micah watched Caprizio tense. He could
tell the man absolutely hated David, hated seeing Nadia in his
arms, and hated the fact that he wasn’t the person she was
kissing.

She hugged him tightly one more time
and then slipped in beside Kimmy.

Leese wasn’t moving.

“
No, Annalisa,” Micah
stated before she could say it, “you can’t come with
us.”

“
Where are you
going?”

“
I’ve got something to
show your dad.”

“
Something,” David spoke
up with a bit of a chuckle, “which Ryan will be glad to get rid
of.”

Micah cringed—that was the wrong thing
for him to say.

“
Ryan’s here?! You drug
Ryan into this?”

“
He’s—”

“
Ryan who?” Caprizio
asked, “Not that idiot you were with on Remake?”

“
Dad, he’s my best
friend—he’s
not
an idiot!”

“
He’s not mafia,” Caprizio
added. “Why’d you need him?”

“
Because he’s
not
mafia,” Micah
stressed. “And I trust him.”

“
I want to see him,” she
said obstinately.

He knew she wouldn’t be in any danger
just from coming to the house, but he also needed a little bit of
time. “Do me one favor. Ride with them so you can show Giovanni
where the hotel is and so that Matt can see that you’re okay. I’ll
call him and tell him you aren’t staying. Then show Giovanni how to
get to the beach house.”

“
The house you rented last
year? That’s where Ryan’s at?”

“
Yes. I promise I’ll be
there when you get there; I won’t leave, but don’t take too long.”
Then with a sigh and a dislike for what he had to say, he stated,
“I have to finish setting up my meeting with Sharon.”

He’d never witnessed such anger and
jealousy fill Annalisa. He knew, in that moment, she wouldn’t take
long to drop off her mother and sister.

CHAPTER thirty-five

I told Giovanni that I’d drive as we
prepared to leave the hotel. He tried to argue the point, using my
‘condition’ as reason for me to be a passenger instead of a driver,
but that didn’t fly.

“
I’m
pregnant,
” I said, reminding him
that I didn’t like the term ‘condition.’ “It doesn’t make me stupid
or crippled; I can drive.”

He opened his mouth, but he apparently
thought better of it and walked around to the passenger’s door and
got in. He didn’t say anything for about two blocks, but then he
chastised me about my driving.

“
This is why you should
have let me drive,” he said, pointing at my speedometer. “If you
get pulled over, you have no driver’s license, no registration, nor
insurance paperwork, I am armed, and
we
will go to jail!”

I slowed down. He was right, but I
honestly hadn’t been paying attention to my speed. I had been
without my husband for too long, and the idea that we had one more
hurdle to face—and that ‘hurdle’ being a woman who had slept with
my husband—distracted me from my driving.

“
Perfetto,” he said as we
dropped to the legal limit. He was silent for another few blocks
before he spoke, “I believe you now.”

I looked at him and wondered what he
meant. Over the last several days he’d been at my side constantly.
We talked about everything, but mostly we talked about Micah. He
had told me, over and over, that it was a mistake for me to go back
to him.

“
He loves you very
sincerely. I had hoped that you were wrong, but I understand now
that you two have something very special. I do not like it,” he
admitted.

“
Why?”

“
Because,” he said and
then looked out the window, “it means I have no chance.”

“
Why do men always
want
that
kind of
a chance?” I asked. “We have a different chance.”

“
What do you mean?” he
asked turning back to look at me.

“
A chance to be friends;
I’ll never forget you, Jonathan.”

He reached over and took my right hand
in both of his and kissed the back of it, “Is that a
promise?”

I squeezed his fingers, “It’s a
promise. I hope you find someone wonderful—and that you get out of
the mafia.”

“
I am a selfish man; the
mafia is my life, Leese, and I am sure it will be my
end.”

“
Don’t say that—please.
You’re not selfish; you just haven’t found the one who’ll make you
want to give it up.”

He smiled, “I do hope to meet someone
someday who, like you, will make me wish for something
better.”

I was surprised by the big pink floral
truck in the driveway, thinking for a moment that I must have
forgotten which one was the right house, but David’s BMW was parked
on the other side of the truck. The two cars my father’s men drove
were not around, but that didn’t surprise me since I knew he didn’t
like his entourage to be obvious.

When we opened the door and walked in,
they were involved in some kind of meeting. I didn’t recognize two
of the men, but Ryan immediately grabbed my attention; he looked
petrified! But, even as scared as he evidently was, he was off the
couch as soon as he saw me.

I’d never seen him so emotional—not
even after the incident in Colorado—but that was when it hit me
that he hadn’t seen me since it had been announced to the world
that I had died in an accident.

“
Baby girl,” he sobbed,
“you’re not allowed to die ever again!”

I laughed, even though the tears
welled up and overflowed instantly as I held on to him, and he
gently swayed me to and fro. “I don’t think I have any say in that,
Ryan—but I’ll try to stay alive as long as possible, how’s
that?”

He put his forehead against mine and
then kissed the tip of my nose, “Damn, I’m glad to see you. I
missed you, baby girl.”

“
Why did you get involved
in this?” I asked, completely exasperated by the fact that he was
in a room with mafia members.

“
That’s my fault,” Micah
spoke up.

“
The hell it is!” Ryan
fired back. “You do what you have to do,” he said looking toward my
father. “But he didn’t want me involved at first.”

He hugged me one more time and then he
lifted my chin to get me to look him in the eye, “There was no way,
once I knew you were alive, that he could have talked me out of it.
Whatever happens now happens—you were worth it.”

“
Ryan, what are you
talking about?” Something wasn’t right and I was getting a sick
feeling in my stomach as two of the men in the room glowered at
Ryan like they wanted to shoot him.

“
But—” Micah started to
say when my dad cut him off.

“
I’ve made my
decision.”

The room was suddenly
silent.

I looked at my dad, a little concerned
about what exactly was being discussed before I came in, “What
decision?”

My dad got up and gripped
Ryan by the shoulder and turned him to face the older men. “I’ve
never done this before, but my decision is final and you
will
abide by it,” he
told the men. “You, Ryan Faultz, are now a member of
my
Family.”

“
Dad, no!” I shouted. I
didn’t want Ryan being indoctrinated into the mob! Micah moved
quickly to my side with that look on his face that begged me to
keep my mouth shut.