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I hated to hear him admit what we had was not only fake, but the truth was that we weren’t married. The marriage license had another woman’s name on it. I couldn’t bear to think about it or the fact her parents had been murdered. What was happening? Who would want to kill them? The question seemed rhetorical. Every crime syndicate had enemies. They were all trying to kill each other to gain power, maybe even control over the world.
“Yes. They tried to kill Maria just before I got there.”
“And they haven’t exploited that yet?”
“Not yet. My guess is they’re waiting to see what will happen.” Leonardo appeared uncomfortable in admitting the truth.
“Does that mean they know Daniel is taking over?”
Leonardo rubbed his tired eyes. It was apparent he hadn’t slept in a couple of days. “Only six of my men were made aware of the situation, the four guarding Maria now dead.”
“And the fifth?” Daniel asked.
The Italian cringed. “Missing in action.”
“Your mole.”
Nodding, Leonardo appeared more uncomfortable. “I assure you I have men scouring the entire Italian peninsula. There is no escape for traitors.”
“No, you’re right. There is none.” Daniel’s words were terse, the man drawing a line in the sand.
“You can trust Leonardo. He’s a good man,” I told them, allowing Kane to hear my comment as well.
Leonardo gave me a nod, even a slight smile. “I am sorry to arrive unannounced but there really was no other choice.”
“Where is the real Maria? Off shopping somewhere? Spending her family money?” Daniel asked with bitterness remaining in his voice.
“Fuck you!” Leonardo huffed. “You don’t know how she’s suffered, not that you could give a damn.”
My God. The man was in love with her. How had I not noticed how deep his feelings were?
I touched Daniel’s arm, moving slightly in front of him. “Please listen to me. You asked me to trust you. Now you need to do the same thing. Maria is dying, which is why I was hired to take her place. She has a rare blood condition that has no cure. She was terrified that you and your brother wouldn’t understand. If it’s true that her parents were threatened, they were trying to do the right thing.” I allowed the final piece of the truth to sink in before turning my head toward him.
He took a deep breath, glancing from Leonardo back to me. “Where is she? I need to speak with her.”
Leonardo shook his head then turned around, heading for the door.
“What the fuck?” Daniel asked.
“Let him alone,” I said with a shaky voice. “Please. Just trust me.”
Daniel turned toward me. “Are you certain she’s ill?”
“All you need to do is really take a close look at the photograph you were sent. She’s dying. There is no doubt about that. She was terrified that everything her father had worked for would be destroyed. That’s why she came to me. It was by chance. She suddenly appeared in the diner where I worked. She offered me a deal that was tough to refuse.”
He curled his fingers, brushing them down the side of my face. “I can’t accept she threatened you.”
I gripped his hand, bringing his knuckles to my lips. The closeness we shared was still so unexpected that I wasn’t certain anything was real any longer. “Remember, Daniel. You had no issue threatening me either.”
After sucking in his breath, he laughed. “You’re right. You’re fucking right as always. However, no more lies. No more threats to each other. We are in this together.”
We waited not so patiently until Leonardo wheeled Maria into the room in a wheelchair. In a few short days, her condition had plummeted. She appeared frail and broken, her head hanging. There was no love lost between us. I shouldn’t give a shit about her, but I couldn’t stand to see anyone in this condition. I moved slowly toward her, crouching down.
“I barely got her out alive. Whoever is responsible for the slaughter obviously knew everything. Where she was. The itinerary. They killed her doctor and were in the process of smothering her,” Leonardo stated in a pleading tone. “I was given explicit instructions to come here if something terrible happened. You signed a contract, Don Thorn. This is your problem now.”
“What about my mother? Is she safe? Do they know?” I heard the exasperation in my tone and tried to rein it back, but it seemed the decisions I’d made had exploded in my face.
Leonardo shook his head but instead of looking at me, he kept his heated gaze locked on Daniel. “No. She is safe. She is surrounded by my men. Maria made certain she honored the deal you made with her.”
