“She always does,” I added as she peered up at me from under her eyelashes, a shy smile painting her lips.
“And she should remain untouched by politics,” Piero said, lowering his voice with heavy emphasis.
“She will. I’ll make sure of it.”
He nodded and ran his hand down his chest. “Bravo. I have to speak soon… but afterward, we should find a quiet corner to talk privately.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
He reached for Aria’s hand, gave it a squeeze, then moved away, greeting people with that mayoral charm so nobody could tell how shaken he was inside.
“How the hell did you two just have your own secret conversation out in the open?” she whispered, shaking her head. “This is why I hate politics. No one ever says what they really mean.”
“They can’t. Not when it isn’t safe.”
She whacked my chest and pointed through the crowd to where Allegra had left Callum’s side and was heading for the toilets. “There’s Ally. I’m going to speak to her.”
I grabbed her arm. “No. You’re not leaving my side tonight.”
“I need the toilet, Sani. Don’t be ridiculous.” She tilted her head with an amused smirk because, of course, she had no idea of the gravity of the situation, the danger to her life if she wasn’t beside me. “She’s my best friend. I have to find out what’s going on, or at least warn her. Please. I’ll be quick.”
My jaw tightened as she gave me those big, blue, pleading eyes. “Fine. Belio will escort you and wait outside the door. And take Max and Camilla with you, too.” I beckoned them over with my fingers.
“Leave them to enjoy their evening, Sani. They don’t need to babysit me.”
Ignoring Aria, I turned to my cousin’s wife as they approached. “Cami, Aria needs to use the ladies’ room. Would you mind going with her?”
“Of course not,” she replied with a wide smile as Aria shot me a vicious glare. She could think I was an overprotective ogre all she liked, but as long as she was safe, I didn’t give a shit.
Max gave me a brief salute before following the ladies to the toilets, and I nodded at Belio to follow behind.
Standing beside the champagne tower, Callum was no longer speaking to anyone, or even pretending to. But he was watching. Not me. Not Piero. But Aria, as she walked away through the crowd. My hand fisted around the stem of the champagne glass as I tried to keep my feet glued to the floor and not draw my gun to put a fucking bullet between his eyes right there and then.
When she was no longer in his line of vision, our eyes met. He gave me the faintest smile. He looked too relaxed, as if he were waiting for me to figure something out. A glass clinked on stage, and then someone announced Piero as he hovered at the edge of the podium, a forced smile on his face. Callum’s smile widened, just slightly, but I caught it, and he glanced up at the lighting rig above the stage.
It was so brief it could have meant nothing, but my sharp instincts flared. Something was about to happen. I stood straighter as Piero took the microphonefrom the speaker and addressed the party, thanking them for coming.
Hyperaware, or maybe just paranoid, I frantically scanned the crowd. Then my eyes darted to the nearby rooftops, searching for anything suspicious. Nothing was out of place. All the event security guards looked calm, but they shouldn’t have been.
Noticing my sudden panic, Alberto straightened, joining me in my search. I pressed forward, finding the handle of my gun but keeping it hidden beneath my jacket as I moved through the crowd towards the stage and toilets, needing Aria by my side right fucking now.
“Thank you for joining us tonight. Rome has always been a city built on strength and resilience,” Piero said, but the words barely registered over the thundering pulse in my ears. “In recent weeks, there have been tensions and upheaval in the city. But let me make this clear: neither I nor this city will back down to intimidation.”
I stopped a few metres from the stage, narrowing my gaze on Piero. But he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were fixed on Callum.
“Nor does it fracture under pressure,” Piero continued, adjusting his grip on the microphone. “Tonight marks the beginning of a—”
The world split open with light and a raucous boom.
My body was flung back a few feet with a concussive crack as I hit the floor, knocking into more bodies behind me. Sound splintered into a loud ringing in my ears until the screams and shouts of everyone around me filtered through. I scrambled to my feet, gun in hand, and fought against the throbbing in my temple as I looked through the smoke and chaos.
The lighting rig above the stage was obliterated. A bomb. Not one big enough to level the building, but enough to injure and potentially kill those close enough. I fought my way through the hysterical people running in the opposite direction towards the exits with only one thing powering every beat of my pounding heart.
Find my wife.
No Falling Apart
“Ally! What the hell?” I stormed into the bathroom with Cami chasing behind me as my best friend fiddled with her hair in the mirror over the sinks. She spun around, wide-eyed at my outburst.
