And then all of that disappeared in the blink of an eye.
His stare shifted past me across the terrace and remained there, not like his mind wandered with his eyes, but he saw something that grabbed his attention. He remained still, his eyes only moving slightly. The energy around him immediately became tense and palpable.
But I knew better than to ask.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and my hair started to prickle and stand on end. Judging by the way Wolfe’s eyes shifted upward, the person was right behind me.
“So the rumors are true.” It was a man’s voice.
I peeked a side look to see the person beside me. It was a man in a blazer, decades older than Wolfe but with similar power.
“What brings you to Palermo, Wolfe?”
Wolfe continued to stare him down. “It’s my home as much as it is yours. Now, take a step away from my woman if you don’t want me to sever your carotid with my butter knife.”
“I meant no provocation?—”
“I said, step away.”
The man was close enough that I could smell his cologne like it was on my own skin.
He took a step back as Wolfe asked, probably because he knew Wolfe didn’t make idle threats. “Join us for dinner—for old times’ sake.”
“I’m good.”
“I come in friendship, not hostility.”
“We’re enemies, not friends.”
“That’s your interpretation.”
I wasn’t sure what to do but sit there and stay quiet. I quickly connected the dots and realized this man was from Cosa Nostra. Probably Don Russo, the man Wolfe had viewed as a father the last decade. He’d tried to poach Wolfe back from my father, but Wolfe’s loyalty was ironclad.
“Our stance toward you since our last conversation hasn’t changed.”
“Neither has mine.” Wolfe suddenly stood up, and I was somehow startled by exactly how tall he was. When he was seated with a glass of wine in his hand and a smile on his face, he seemed so harmless. But when he rose to his full height and size, I was reminded of the fact I loved a monster.
He was taller than Don Russo. Bigger. Badder. Everything in between. He stared down the other man.
Don Russo raised a finger before he reached for the inside of his jacket and pulled out a gun.
I immediately swallowed. The terrace was full of guests eating, oblivious to the exchange.
He opened the barrel, showed Wolfe the bullets, and then closed it again. He gripped the gun by the tip of the barrel and extended it to Wolfe like an offering of peace.
Wolfe took it without taking his eyes off Don Russo.
Don Russo nodded to the open table that had four chairs. “Please.” He moved toward it with the other man in his group, and they gathered around the table, leaving two chairs for us.
Wolfe turned to me. “I’ll meet you at home.”
“I’d love for Francesca to join us,” Don Russo said, already knowing exactly who I was.
Wolfe kept his gaze on me. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I’m not scared,” I said quietly. “I’m never scared when I’m with you.”
He didn’t give a reaction to those words, but there was a subtle change in his eyes. He turned to the table and pulled out a chair for me before he took the seat beside me. Don Russo was directly across from him, while a man I didn’t know was across from me. He was younger than Don Russo but not by much.
