Captive Bride: Armani (Bellanti Brothers Book 7) by Stella Gray

Author:Stella Gray [Gray, Stella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781957647227
Publisher: Paige Press, LLC
Published: 2022-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

16

CANDI

“I think I made a mistake,” I blurt, staring at the tiny sweater in my lap.

Frowning, I look over at Frankie, who is busy sorting through a laundry basket of baby clothes across the room. Her face is flushed; it’s clear she’s overwhelmed. I would be, too, with the mess inside the nursery right now.

The walls were recently painted a soothing, soft aqua and the custom-made cream-colored baby furniture is all assembled and put in place. There’s an adorable mobile with felted stars and animals hanging over the crib, and an outrageous pink ostrich feather floor lamp by the rocking chair. An upholstered window seat fills a three-sided nook overlooking the back gardens. It’s the perfect mix of sophisticated and sweet.

But boxes of baby accoutrements are overcrowding every surface. There’s a bouncy seat, a playmat, piles of plushies and toys and diapers and blankets, a rose gold and black stroller that I would definitely not be shy about pushing around town, a baby monitor…and endless mountains of baby clothes from the baby shower, all freshly washed and dried.

We’re working on folding them all now, along with burping cloths, quilts, blankets, and the smallest socks I’ve ever seen.

“Don’t worry about it. There’s no way to properly fold a sweater that small,” Frankie says with a laugh. “Everything’s going into drawers anyway. I can’t thank you enough for offering to help me. I’ve been procrastinating on organizing all this stuff for weeks.”

Setting aside a stack of little burp cloths with sheep and moons on them, I pick at some imaginary lint. “That’s not what I meant. I meant…I think I made a mistake moving in with Armani.”

That catches her attention, and her brows knit with worry. “Oh. I’m sorry. What’s been going on?”

“Nothing, really,” I say, wishing I didn’t have to lie.

It’s been impossible to shake what Sergio Bruno planted in my mind about the Bellantis. I can’t stop seeing images in my mind of scared young women being herded into those metal shipping containers, getting drugged and shipped off to a life of horror and abuse. That’s why I felt no remorse when Armani told me there was a fire at their warehouses and that their barge, inventory, and shipment got destroyed.

He was vague about the details, which makes sense if those “shipments” were trafficked women or guns…but at the same time, I’m confused as to why the news hasn’t picked up the story. If the police and the fire department showed up, wouldn’t all the media outlets be talking about it? About the illegal cargo that was found? But there hasn’t been a peep.

Still, I guess I should just be glad that Armani is convinced it was Kaspar who leaked the location of the warehouses to the Bellantis’ enemies. Armani hasn’t suspected me for a second. Thankfully. I was sweating bullets when he came home smelling like a campfire and told me all the details about the fire.

Hoping Frankie won’t push the topic, I pull a laundry basket toward me and start folding more pastel onesies.

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