I was allowed to visit Aria again in May; pretending that I had finally come to terms with my marriage to Matthew had made my father more forgiving of me.
Lying had once been difficult for me, but I was getting better .
I hugged Lily and Fabi before leaving Chicago, knowing that it might very well be the last time I would see them, but I did not allow myself to dwell on that thought. It would make things even more difficult. If I started crying, someone might get suspicious.
When I arrived in New York, Aria picked me up at the airport with a new bodyguard. There was something bittersweet about our reunion. The new guy gave me a quick nod after Aria and I parted ways. “Who is he?” I whispered.
“That’s Sandro. He is one of Matteo’s men. So Matteo had already chosen a bodyguard for me, for a future life as a wife, someone to cage me whenever Matteo was not there to do it.
Once in the penthouse, my new bodyguard retreated to the kitchen under the guise of giving us privacy. As if such a thing had ever existed under his constant watch. Aria and I stayed by the couch, out of earshot. “Does Luca still have Romero under surveillance all day?”
Aria shrugged. “I don’t mind having Romero around, especially when Luca is busy. Sandro has taken Caesar’s place mostly, but he has never watched me before. ” You have to ask Luca to let you go to college or do something else before you go crazy here. I want you to be happy too, Aria. I want to know that you’ll be okay once I’m gone.
“Don’t worry about it. And for the past few weeks I’ve been very busy planning your escape,” Aria said with a mocking smile but there was a hint of melancholy in her voice.
We both cast a glance at Sandro who was making coffee.
“Why is that Sandro really here?”
“Because of you.”
“Why am I the troublemaker?”
“No,” Aria said with a laugh. “Because Matteo wants you to meet the guy who will be your bodyguard once you move to New York.”
“Oh great, how thoughtful of him.” Once again a decision about my life that no one had bothered to discuss with me.
Nodding toward Sandro, I asked, “How are we going to get rid of him?”
“I have a plan.” Aria opened her bag and pointed to a small syringe. At my confused look, she explained, “I remembered how you told me that Luca had found the tranquilizer he used on Lily in a drawer in the basement.
The last time I was in the mansion, I snuck down there and got what we needed.”
My eyes widened. “You’re a genius, Aria.”
“Not really.”
Our eyes darted once more to our bodyguard. He was busy with the phone. “How are we going to inject him with tranquilizer?” I asked. “He is tall and strong, and probably a skilled fighter.”
Aria bit her lip. “We need to distract him. Maybe I can talk to him, and you stick the needle in his thigh?”
“What if I accidentally break the needle or he breaks it?”
“I have a second syringe, but that’s it, so we should try to get it right the first time.”
Aria could be really tough if she tried. “Are you sure the dosage is correct?”
“I don’t want her to get hurt, so I reduced the dosage indicated on the package.”
“That’s fine. It should still be enough to knock him out for a while, right?”
Aria nodded, “We should probably tie him up. I found some tape in the weapons cabinet.”
Did she know where her husband kept his weapons? “Luca must really trust you.”
Aria said nothing, and I felt guilty for bringing it up. Should I have reminded her how she was risking her marriage for me?
“Let’s go,” she said after a moment. “Let’s do it.
Matteo and Luca will be back in a few hours. We should be gone by then.”
After another glance toward Sandro, who was still reading something on his cell phone, he quickly handed me the syringe. I tucked it behind my back as we walked toward Sandro, who finally looked up from his phone and set it down on the counter.
“Would you like coffee?” he asked with a nod toward his cup. He was polite and his brown eyes were friendly. He didn’t look very threatening, but I wasn’t fooled.
Aria leaned next to him against the counter and pressed her palm against his stomach.
Sandro frowned, “Are you okay?”
“I don’t feel very well,” he said, then his legs gave out. It was a bit of an exaggeration in my opinion, but Sandro must have acted without thinking because he reached for her. My chance.
My arm snapped up and I jabbed the syringe into the back of his thigh and injected the tranquilizer. Sandro hissed, let go of Aria, and instinctively lashed out. He grabbed me by the arm and I was hurled against the kitchen island, slamming my back painfully. I swallowed a cry.
“What the fuck?” he gasped, his eyes furious as they darted between Aria and me. He reached for the phone but Aria pushed him away. It flew off the counter, crashed to the floor and slid on the marble. Sandro staggered closer , already with less coordinated movements than usual. I immediately rushed to the phone and kicked it away.
“Where is that stupid tape?”
Aria nodded and ran off.
Sandro looked at me grimly. “What are you doing?” he growled . He advanced toward me, reaching for the gun in the holster on his chest with his hand. Did he want to hold us at gunpoint?
He didn’t get very far. His legs gave way and he fell to his knees. He shook his head like a dog, then tried to get up.
“Air!” I shouted. What if this didn’t work? What if our plan was over before it had even really begun?
“I’m coming!” She ran toward me with the tape. “Grab his arms.”
I tried to pull Sandro’s arms behind his back, but he was too strong even in his dazed state. He shook me.
“That’s not tranquilizing enough!”
“I don’t want to hurt him,” Aria said in a panic.
I tried to grab his arms again but he managed to stagger back to his feet, pushing me aside. Aria moved quickly and stuck the second syringe into his leg.
This time he fell to his knees almost instantly, then fell on his side. Aria and I quickly tied him up, then she touched his throat.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Yes, he seems to be. I hope I didn’t give him too much.”
“He’s a tall boy. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” I stood up. Aria did the same and then ran off again. A few minutes later she returned with a huge stack of dollar bills and two passports. For a moment I thought she had decided to come with me and that’s why there was no such thing as one passport, then I realized how ridiculous that thought was.
“Here.” He handed me everything.
“It’s about ten thousand dollars. That should be enough for you for a while, and two passports just in case. But you should really get rid of it once you’re in Europe.”
I stuffed everything into the bag and then grabbed the suitcase.
“Ready?” asked Aria, hesitantly.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She did not return my smile; she merely cast another glance at Sandro before setting the phone down on the counter. I did the same to keep them from following us.
We went down in the elevator and stopped a cab. Traffic was on our side and after forty-five minutes we pulled up in front of JFK airport .
After entering the departure area, I headed straight to the ticket counter to buy a one-way ticket to Amsterdam while Aria stayed behind; the photo in her passport looked more like her than me, and if we were next to each other no one would be fooled. Carefully I slid the fake passport onto the counter.
The woman barely looked at the photo, despite the fact that I did not have blond hair like the girl. She probably thought I had dyed it red. T twenty minutes later, I approached Aria with the freedom ticket in my hand. I would have thought I would feel more excited, but instead my nerves clenched my stomach so tightly I feared I would throw up, but I couldn’t let Aria see it. “So how did it go?” she asked nervously. In response, I waved the note.
“She didn’t even ask me about my hair.” “That’s fine, but once you’re in Amsterdam, you have to change your appearance.” I smiled, touched by her concern and at the same time wondering if I was really doing the right thing. This might be the last time I would see Aria. I couldn’t even imagine a year without her, much less the rest of my life.
“Don’t worry.” A small part of me wondered how Matthew would feel once he found out. I didn’t think my disappearance would do anything but hurt his pride. This was not about love or even feelings. Aria peered again toward the main entrance.
“When does your flight leave?” “In two hours. I should probably go through security.” “I’ll rent a car and drive it out of town as a false lead. Luca will think you and I ran away together.
Maybe it will buy you more time. Once you get off the plane, go to the bathroom and put your wig on in case there is already someone looking for you at Schiphol Airport. Aria was talking fast but that didn’t stop me from noticing the way her voice was shaking.
She was trying to be strong for me. I hugged her. “Thank you so much for risking so much for me. I love you.” “Create the blog we talked about and post an update as soon as you get a chance. I’ll worry if I don’t hear from you tomorrow at the latest,” she said, sinking her fingers into my shoulder blades.
“Promise me you’ll be happy, Gianna. Promise.”
“I promise.” Could you even promise something like that? My eyes burned furiously but I fought back the tears. It was hard enough without me turning into a whiny mess. I pulled back and ran a hand over my eyes.
Aria had lost the battle in tears. “If you ever want to come back, we’ll find a solution.” “You said it yourself, there’s no going back,” I said, and eventually the truth came out.
This was it. This was goodbye to the life I had known, my family, my home, everything. I took a step back from Aria, dropping my arms. She gave me an encouraging smile. I turned quickly and hurried toward the security checkpoint.
If I didn’t leave Aria now, I would lose my courage. Doubt was already eating away at my resolve, but this was my only chance. I had to take it. I needed to live my own life, to make my own decisions, to get away from the horrors of our world. The security guard did not stop me. No one did. Once past the security checkpoint, I risked another peek over my shoulder at where Aria was standing. She raised her arm in a gesture before quickly walking away, wiping her eyes. I watched her disappear. My heart was heavy, my throat tight. It was still not too late. I could still go back. We could come up with a ridiculous explanation for drugging Sandro. Nothing was yet lost. I glanced at my ticket to Amsterdam, my ticket to freedom, before heading to the terminal where boarding would soon begin. As I waited, I kept nervously checking my surroundings, but no one showed up. And why should they? No one had suspected anything. When Sandro finally woke up in a couple of hours I would call Luca and Matteo and be on the plane