All too soon, the song comes to an end, and Elodie steps back out of my embrace, finding my eyes with gracious ones of her own. “Thank you.”
“What doyou want to do,Fratello?”
“I don’t fucking know. I wasn’t expecting…”
I trail off as I pace back and forth along the tiled kitchen floor ofIl Porticciolo, absolutely torn as to how to proceed.
The plan was simple. Kidnap Domenico Conti’s golden-haired lover and trade her for Aurelia.
Thatwasthe plan.
Except I wasn’t expecting to feel this pull to her. Thisneedto protect her, to ensure her safety, almost overwhelms me. One glance could bring me to my motherfucking knees.
Just like the first night we met.
I could see in her eyes on the promenade when she had initially tried to place me. I was familiar to her; that much was apparent. But it had cut to know she’d clearly never even given those stolen moments more than a passing thought when I’d relived every second no less than a thousand times.
I couldn’t witness a starry sky without remembering…
Emiliano’s urgent tone pulls me from my musings as he paces alongside me.
“You should never have approached her. That was the deal. You know DeMarco can only shield our presence in the north for so long, Rafe. You’re not safe outside of Sicily. Conti spies are every-fucking-where.”
“They’re in my own fucking compound, too, if you ask me. So what difference does it make beinghereor beingthere? Answer me that!”
“Don’t be an ass, Rafe. This needs to be handled quickly. Efficiently.” He gestures toward the restaurant. “None of this flowery shit to soften the blow.”
Emiliano growls a low expletive when he levels me with a hard stare.
“You’re not here to gain her trust,Fratello. She’s a pawn that’s needed to get Aurelia back. To take Conti down.”
“Why doesn’t she understand Italian?”
He freezes, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I’m not entirely sure I haven’t. After a beat, he rolls his eyes. “She’s assuredly lying. She’s Domenico Conti’s prized possession. She’s treated like a goddamn queen. Shemusthave picked up the language in the four years she’s been in his life.”
Then he throws his hands up in exasperation. “You’re overthinking this.”
I shake my head slowly, my gut niggling at me. “There’s something off about her presence here. She’s completely unguarded. Roaming free and alone aside from that friend of hers who’s currently railing Adriano.Whyis that, hmm?”
My friend expels a heavy sigh. “Because she came here safely with her friends. Her filthyrichfriends who had ample enough security at their wedding that we couldn’t touch her. But she left that security because she obviously believed herself to be untouchable—just like the rest of the Conti scum.”
We regard one another for a long beat, clearly at an impasse, until he shakes his head. “I’ve never seen you so taken with some pretty pussy,Fratello. What the fuck’s gotten into you?”
I grit my teeth hard enough that my jaw aches.
I wish I fucking knew.
Without warning, Emiliano steps around me to move toward the door that leads into the quiet restaurant where we’ve just enjoyed a feast fit for royalty, taking a syringe from his pocket as he goes.
“Stay here. There’s no need to get your hands dirty, Rafe. I’ll knock her out. We’ll be on the jet within the hour?—”
Before my friend can finish his sentence, I’ve drawn my gun to press the cool steel to the back of his neck. “Non moviti!”
Emiliano drops his head, his shoulders sagging when he holds up his hands in defeat. I pluck the syringe from between his fingers, sliding it into my chinos pocket as my friend sighs.
“I’m trying to keep you alive,Fratello. I beg you. Stick to the plan. This woman is a means to an end. Nothing more, nothing less. IfZiowere here, he would give you the same advice as your consigliere.”
“I leftZioat home because he’s a pain in my ass,minchia.” I push the gun roughly against the back of his neck as I flip on the safety. “But clearly, you two are more alike than I’d have fucking thought.”
