“What a pleasure to meet face-to-face,” I say with complete sarcasm. People coming up to my door uninvited isn’t something I’m appreciative of. “When did you take these?”
She chuckles lightly, “Oh, I didn’t. My boy did. I kept him on your girl’s tail in case something came up. Something that might be of interest to you.”
“Yeah, well, Bianca caught you on her tail last time. What kinda PI gets made?” I grumble.
“You’ve gotta be joking. I’m Beretta fucking Bosco. Listen up, mister. Everyone knows me around these parts. Especially if they’re in the criminal underworld. I’m the best one in the business, so of fucking course they’re gonna pass around my photo and tell their people to watch out for me. Why else do you think I have minions who look for shit now? Jesus. You’re so salty.” She hisses back with a thick New York accent.
I pull my wallet from my pants and open it up, counting the bills. I have what she’s requested, so I hand it over, figuring knowledge is power right about now. Bianca told me she needed time to think, but if you ask me she’s had enough.
Beretta and I make the trade off at the same time. I peel open the manila envelope and she counts the cash in front of her. I see photographs of Bianca holding Stefan’s hand, and Daniella in the background with some girls by a hot dog stand.
“When were these taken?” I ask.
“A little over an hour ago. My minion followed them back to Bianca’s apartment,” Beretta smirks, “Figured you’d want to know.”
“That’s a load of bull. You just want an easy payday wherever you can find one.” I can’t help but hiss at this snake disguised as a woman. Shutting the door behind me, I head down the hallway.
In a matter of fifteen minutes I’ve made it to Bianca’s building. There was no problem getting in, so I’ve already made it up to her door. Taking a moment to breathe, I knock on her door. It’s now when I realize I should’ve texted her to let her know I was coming over.
Shit.
Bianca’s muted magenta hair is the first thing I see, then the pure shock on her face. “M-Mircea, what’re you doing here?”
“Hey, I . . . I think we should talk.” Man, I’ve never been so nervous.
Bianca nods, “Yeah, okay. Um . . . want to have a seat in the living room?” Now she’s the one who seems nervous.
She opens the door a bit and I walk inside. She closes it and we go into her living area, where I see Stefan Dalca leaning against the wall.
Fuck me. I was hoping to get her alone, but it seems she’s already made up her fucking mind.
Chapter Twenty-One
Bianca
I’ve been through some intense shit in my life. For goodness sake, I was the result of rape and kidnapped before I turned five. Add in my mother being taken, and all the other horrors I’d witnessed growing up, including my father being shot when I was a teenager and anyone would say my life hasn’t been easy, or picture perfect for that matter.
It’s really a set up for my current predicament, being torn between two men— Stefan Dalca, and Mircea Lazar.
One is a man I’ve known since I was a child, who I watched adore his wife and little girl. A man who has sunken his fingers into my heart and vowed to never let go. But more than that, a man who I adore and love more than I ever thought was possible.
Then there is Mircea, the most stubborn, egotistical, asshole of a man. Someone I can barely stand most of the time, yet something about him plagues me into thinking about him constantly. While he’s beautiful on the outside, his soul is nothing but wretched and somehow I don’t care about that, because I see the man underneath, the one deep down below the surface.
Stefan leans against the wall, sipping his imported beer from Romania with his eyes focused in on me. Daniella has been to bed for about an hour according to her nanny. She’s staying at Stefan’s while we deal with the situation at hand. Mircea is sitting on the couch in the living room, his eyes trained on me like I’m a danger to him.
“I’ve never said this to you, but my worst fear in this life is for you to feel the pain I felt when Presley passed away. The shock of her death, her being ripped from this Earth in the most tragic of ways . . . without any preparation. It gutted me. No, it ruined me. I felt a pain that I never thought would dissipate, and not once did I think I’d love another woman. But then you came into my life, and everything changed.” Stefan speaks from the heart, looking over to me as he makes his way across the room. Once he’s in front of me, he touches the side of my face, right in front of my ear. It’s something he’s done since the beginning, and it offers me the most peace I’ve ever felt.
“What’re you trying to say, Stefan?” I question him. More importantly, I can’t figure out why he’s saying all of this in front of Mircea.
He brings his hands on top of my shoulders and rubs them lightly before squeezing them. He drops his gaze to the floor and shakes his head once before returning his eyes to bore into mine. “I love you. I love you so much that I don’t want you to feel the pain I did. Prinţesă, I don’t want you to experience this heartache. If you were to ask me what my worst fear is, I’d answer you with what I’m about to say right now. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” I murmur, terrified he wants to end this relationship. I mean, what else could he be doing?
“I don’t want you to be
