He laughs, and the low, throaty sound makes my stomach flutter with butterflies.
“What I was trying to say is, you’ve been cooped up in here the last few weeks—alone or with Vita for company. And then we jumped straight into this Maksim and Ekaterina bullshit, which is no fun. We haven’t gotten a real chance to do anything that makes life here enjoyable. I want to show you that being here with me wouldn’t just be all this mob bullshit.”
Oh. “It wouldn’t be?”
“No, baby. You’ve been thrown right in the deep end, but that’s not how it’ll be from now on. I promise you that.”
Nero’s phone starts buzzing on the counter. He leaves the whisk in the bowl and glances at the screen.
“Gino?” I ask.
“It’s Maksim.” His eyes flash with barely restrained fury as he glances at me from beneath his brows.
The blood in my veins chills. For a moment, I think Nero won’t pick up, but then he grabs the phone and presses it against his ear. “Hello?”
I wrap my palms around the edges of the counter and just watch him. What does Maksim want now? Anxiety churns in the pit of my belly. What if he decides to come after Nero or something insane like that?
Seconds tick by and then turn into minutes. Nero’s responses are curt and indecipherable. He hangs up, puts the phone down, and picks up the knife again.
“He apologized,” Nero says, sounding irritated as he chops the veggies. “Said he was out of line. Wants to meet to discuss how we can help each other.”
My stomach drops.
So it’s not over. Not yet.
If Maksim is willing to come back to the negotiating table, it means there’s still a chance we can pull this off.
“Why the change of heart?” I force past my dry throat.
“He said he was bluffing last night. He thought he could convince you he’d be doing me a favor by putting me in contact with the pakhan. He needs something to convince the pakhan he’s still a useful asset.”
Nero’s phone pings with a notification. He opens it and scrolls for a little while. “Might have something to do with this.” He slides the phone to me.
It’s a newspaper article with the headline, “FBI pursuing investigation into alleged turf war between the Italian Cosa Nostra and the Russian Bratva outposts in New York.”
“The Bratva don’t have as much sway with the authorities as we do. They want to finish this quickly. This is the perfect time for Maksim to appear as their savior.”
“What are you going to do?”
“What do you think I should do, Sunshine?” He places his hand on top of mine.
My lungs feel stiff. It’s difficult to breathe.
I should tell him about my deal with Vita. If there was ever a time to come clean, it’s now.
But there’s a little voice inside my head that disagrees.You might still have a way out of here. Won’t it be nice to at least have that choice?
I want to stay with Nero. My fantasy of escaping overseas doesn’t appeal to me anymore, not even a little bit.
But what if that changes? What if you go down this path only to realize it’s not for you? Sometimes, love isn’t enough. You know that. It’s good to have an exit plan, even if you never use it.
I swallow. “If you meet with Maksim…maybe there’s a way we can still pull this off. You could still be capo.”
A muscle in Nero’s jaw twitches.
“We’re so close. You said a lot of things last night, Nero, and—”
He walks around the island and comes up to me. “And I meant every word. We don’t need to do this. I will be fine just the way things are right now, Blake.”
