“Hold one,” Teddy answered. After several seconds, he said, “What’s the latest?”
“Willie Boy ordered the hit on me, the one that killed my family.”
Teddy released a string of obscenities in Italian. “How are we handling it?”
“The Santini way. You in?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions, fratello,” Teddy said. “Of course I’m in.”
Luciano hung up as the wail of sirens grew louder.
The next hour was mayhem, but when Cooper and Dakota appeared on the scene, Luciano collected Simone and vanished into the night.
He tucked her into his Range Rover, got in behind the wheel. “Ready to go home?”
“So ready.”
“Yours or mine?”
“As long as we’re together, does it make a difference?”
He collected her hand in his, kissed her warm skin. Grateful she was alive and unharmed, he smiled. “Together.”
“Absolutely.”
Simone stayed quiet on the ride home. She held his hand in her lap and stared out the windshield. He pulled up to the gates of his home, the guard cleared them to enter, and he drove up the long driveway. After parking at the fountain, he cut the engine and turned to her.
“You were brave and composed under pressure,” he said.
That elicited a smile. “I trusted you. I believed we’d get the job done.”
“I saw our life together,” he murmured. “Children too.”
She leaned over, kissed him. “Do you even want to bring children into this world? There’s so much evil.”
He lifted her hand to his lips, dotted her skin with kisses. “And love. If you could help me feel whole again, then I think a family would only make our lives better.”
“I’ll have your children, Mr. Santini.”
He smiled. How could he not? They’d come face-to-face with the devil and they’d cheated death. He believed their love would heal them, and they’d have a long and happy life together.
They went inside, sat on the sofa in the family room, staring at the flames dancing in the gas fireplace. She turned toward him, draped her legs over his lap, and ran delicate fingers through his hair.
“I love your touch, Simone.”
A whisper-soft smile graced her beautiful face. “What are you doing about Willie Boy?”
“What would you do?”
“I’m not an assassin,” she replied, directing her attention back to the roaring flames, “but it’s a dead man’s word against your cousin’s. Without evidence, it would be hard to arrest him. Even if he was arrested, a conviction might be impossible.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.
She regarded him, the light from the fire reflected in her eyes. “I will love you no matter what you choose.”
“He got what he wanted,” Luciano said. “I left for Italy, he took over the family business.”
“You’ll know what you have to do when you see him,” she said.
