Now, what I’d fucking give to trade places.
“I’ll head back to Rome,” Gio said, “in another day or?—”
“Constantine’s dead,” Renzo spat out. “I’m sorry. Your father wanted to tell you himself, but you won’t come home.”
“Shit,” I said in my empty room.
There was a long pause before Gio spoke, probably digesting the information that his little brother was gone. “How?”
“Looks like a gunshot. It’s hard to know. The autopsy proves this happened months ago.”
The Abramos had the body? Who the fuck dropped the ball on that?
It had been nearly five months since Constantine had gone quiet, so Gio didn’t find this confirmation that surprising. His voice was flat and unemotional. “Who does my father suspect?”
I held my breath. Every cell in my body awaited the answer to this question, to know how deep the trouble was.
“He’s not sure, but it has to be connected with Juric. Are you going to come home and help your father, or stay here in Africa like a spoiled child?”
I was less concerned with the next bit as it devolved into shouting and what sounded like shoving between the Italians. Renzo and Gio were impulsive and a lot alike, which was part of the reason they didn’t get along.
When the scuffle ended and tempers finally calmed, Gio reluctantly agreed to leave in the morning. As Renzo was sent off to one of the vacant cabins, he wondered out loud if the other man would keep his promise. He didn’t trust Gio any more than I did.
The audio went quiet after that.
I discussed my position with Daniel and elected to hang tight unless things spiraled further out of control.
As soon as I hung up, reality slammed into me. Tomorrow, I’d fly back to Rome, and Olivia would be gone. She was smart and would abandon the Abramos the first chance she got, and I’d never see her again.
I should have stayed and listened to the recording devices for any further activity, but instead my feet carried me swiftly down the path toward her cabin.
Your mission is not to protect her.
I’d put everything in jeopardy passing her that drug, which I was going to have to get back, and that was the justification I needed. I’d get the drug and nothing else from her.
I was so full of shit.
I should have been focused on the environment and not her. There were snakes. There could be lions or leopards, or I could come around the bend, startle a troop of baboons, and find myself outnumbered.
But I could move as silently as the other predators in the bush.
I tapped my knuckles on the glass of her door, and when there was no instant answer, I peered in through the break inthe curtain. Where was she? My impatience drew the custom Swiss-Army knife from my back pocket, and fifteen seconds later, I pushed open the newly unlocked door.
The faucet in the bathroom was running, and it sounded like she was brushing her teeth, probably having a hard time getting the taste of creep out of her mouth. The logical side of my brain sounded an alarm.This is not your purpose.I should not be standing in the room I’d just broken into, waiting for her.
I’d already spotted the vial on the table, so I could grab it and slip out undetected.
When she rounded the corner, she let out a startled cry. “What are you doing in here?”
“You have something of mine.”
Her beautiful eyes were filled with caution, but she gestured to it. “It’s there.”
My stupid feet carried me to the table, and I pocketed the vial.Time to go.
Yet I couldn’t make myself move. I stood there, staring at her. The rapid rise and fall of her chest was hypnotic, and I needed to stop looking at her that way.
“Okay.” Her voice was peppered with annoyance. “You got what you came for. What are you still doing here?”
