I walk through the front door of our Milan apartment just after 8:00 p. m.
It’s been a long, horrendous day-one that I never want to repeat.
“Hi.” Olivia smiles as she rushes to greet me. “Are you okay?”
I wrap her in my arms and hold her tight. “I am now.”
I get a vision of Sophia and Sergio on the concrete, and I bury my head into her neck.
We stand in each other’s arms for an extended time. Olivia doesn’t move and she doesn’t speak. She just lets me hold her, which is what I need right now.
I know that Lorenzo had called her to tell her what happened and where I was.
“What did the police say?” she asks as she takes my hand and leads me into the kitchen.
“They just wanted to know what happened.” I take my tie off and throw it to the side. “I made a witness statement.”
She pours me a glass of wine as she listens.
“Something else came to light at the police station.”
“Oh?” She hands over my glass.
“Your friend from the gym, Jennifer and her guy, are undercover federal police.”
She frowns. “Huh?”
“They’ve been sent in to try and get me on something.” “Who told you that?” “The Chief of Police, Olivia.” I sip my wine, unimpressed that she would doubt me, even for a second.
“Oh my God,” she whispers.
“It gets better,” I continue. “Sergio bought drugs under my name on credit. He was obviously going to sell them without me knowing. He had them delivered to our yacht in Monte Carlo. The police know all about it.”
Her face falls. “What does that mean?”
“It means they are waiting for me to pick them up so they can arrest me for drug possession.”
Her eyes widen. “Fuck.”
My phone rings. It’s Lorenzo. “I have to take this, Bella.”
“Sure.”
“Hello,” I answer as I walk up the hall to my office.
Olivia
After turning the faucet off, I lie back and squeeze the hot water from my sponge, watching as it falls over my chest. The bath is deep and hot, causing the room to fill with steam.
Sophia. Poor Sophia.
My mind is ticking over at a million miles per minute, taunting me of how naïve I really am. I keep going over and over the conversations I had with Jennifer over the last few weeks while at the gym, and the casual questions she’d been asking.
How much did I unknowingly tell her?
The fact that she pretended to be someone else has shaken me to my very core.
A planned operation?
How long were they watching me before they sent her in?
Enrico warned me, too. He’s warned me on several occasions not to trust anyone, but like a fool, I thought he was being over the top.
There’s a reason he is the way he is. Trust; it’s one of the purest forms of emotion.
The bathroom door opens and Enrico strides in.
“Hey.” He smiles softly.
I fake a smile back. “Hi.”
He carefully sits on the side of the bath, as if unsure what to say.
“You getting in with me?” I ask.
He stands, takes his clothes off, and he climbs in at the opposite end of the tub. We sit in silence for a while.
I squeeze the water onto my chest again. There are so many emotions between us, but the one that’s clogging up my throat is fear.
“What’s going to happen?” I ask him quietly.
He stares at the water, unable to answer my question.
“Sergio had these drugs delivered to your boat, which technically makes them yours now that he’s dead.”
“I know.”
“What’s the jail term for this much cocaine possession?”
He inhales deeply, steeling himself. “Thirty years to life.”
My eyes fill with tears as I watch him. “You can’t go to jail, Rici,” I whisper.
He slides down farther and puts his head back against the edge of the bathtub.
I try to get a grasp of what Sergio was planning.
“What was he doing? Why?” I shake my head, words escaping me. “Why did he have those drugs delivered to your boat?”
“Because he knew the dealers wouldn’t give him that much credit. I’m guessing his plan was to sell the drugs on his own and then pay the dealers back immediately. He was using my name as a line of credit. The dealers thought they were selling to me, and because they always have sold to Ferrara, there was no hesitation at all.”
“But… but they aren’t yours,” I splutter. “You need to explain the whole thing. Make them understand that you knew nothing about this.”
His eyes hold mine. “Possession is nine tenths of the law, Olivia. I have no proof that they aren’t my drugs. Do you think a drug dealer is going to come and testify on my behalf?”
“So… what?” I shrug. “Are they just sitting there on the dock waiting for you to go to the boat so they can arrest you?”
“Yes.” He nods slowly. “That’s exactly what they’re doing.”
“Then don’t go to the boat. Simple.”
“They’ll only wait a few more days before they move in. If I go to the boat to remove the drugs, I’ll be arrested. If I don’t go to the boat, they will arrest me anyway.”
I put my head into my hands as tears fill my eyes. “This is too much, Enrico,” I whisper. “This isn’t even your fight. This is Stefano’s fight. He wanted this, and then he died and left you in this big fucking mess. And poor Sophia and Sergio.” I angrily wipe the tears from my eyes. “If you don’t get murdered by that madman, you’re going to jail for a crime that you didn’t commit.” He doesn’t try and comfort me. I don’t think he can.
Because he knows I’m right.
I stare into space as I search for options. Everything seems so dark and dismal. What are we supposed to do? Rico’s eyes are focused on the water, hardened by sadness and anger. “What we need to do is disappear for a while,” I say
“And how do we do that? It’s a lot easier said than done,” he replies.
I think for a moment. “It’s not actually a bad idea, to be honest. Why don’t we go off the grid for a while? Hide until everything is over with.” I smile to myself as I imagine a life on the run.
“I’m not taking the cowards way out and running. I’ll handle Lombardi myself.” He watches me for a moment. I can see his brain ticking over before he raises an eyebrow.
“What? What are you thinking?” I ask.
“If I were dead…” His voice trails off.
“What?”
“He wouldn’t be expecting me.”
My eyes widen as I stare at him. “Stop, Enrico. Whatever the hell you are thinking? Just stop it.”
He stares into space; his mind miles away.
“This is one big nightmare. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say, I don’t know who to trust. I mean, what in the hell are we supposed to do now? Just wait here until you get arrested?” I huff.
“What we do is we go to bed. We’ll get up tomorrow, and then you try not to worry. Let me handle this. I’ll do the worrying for us both.”
My brave man, always taking the load from me.
“We’ll fight it in court,” he eventually says.
“And winning in court… what will that do?”
He frowns at me, not answering.
“You’re okay with the fact that our children will be perceived as criminals? That they’ll spend their lives not being able to make new friends? That we will live in this fucking bubble of protection from the outside world?”
“It is what it is.”
“What it is is fucked up.” I stand in a rush, and water sloshes out of the bath onto the floor.
“Olivia,” he sighs.
I snatch the towel from the rack, my anger exploding like a volcano.
“Don’t you Olivia me. I’m going to bed to dream about a life where I’m not in this mess-where the friends I make are there because they actually like me.” I flick the towel around my shoulders. “I know why you’re not scared about going to prison, Enrico.” I dry my back with vigor. “It’s because you already live in one.”
“Do you think I like this?” he yells.
My eyes well with tears anew at his anger. I’m fragile enough already. I don’t need him yelling at me, and I know this isn’t his fault, but I have nobody else to blame.
I storm into the bedroom and throw myself onto the bed.
I knew who he was. I knew the life that he led, but I never realized how hard living day-to-day without trusting a single soul was going to be. This isn’t who I am. I trust everybody I meet. It’s my nature. I like people. I want new people in my life. I’ll never make a new friend again after this.
I screw up my face to fight the tears. It’s all so overwhelming. I feel like my head is about to explode.
I get under the blankets, bury my face into my pillow, and I let myself cry.