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“Kind of like he’d been abducted by aliens and replaced by a clone that wasn’t aware he was the world’s biggest asshole?” I offered.
Both men burst out laughing. “Yes,” Nardo
agreed, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “You nailed it for sure.”
I lowered my gaze to my phone and Cali’s last text. “How long do you think this change has been going on?”
Pietro considered the question for a moment before answering. “A few weeks, give or take.”
“Figures,” I muttered, shaking my head. “Wonder how long it will take before he realizes who she is.”
“What was that, Miss Nova?” Pietro asked.
“Just talking to myself, Pietro.” I stuffed my phone into the coat pocket. “Will Ryan be okay without you?”
“Nardo will return for him while I remain with you,” he informed me. “Mrs. Vitucci already has my replacement lined up since I will be with you full time at the beginning of the summer.”
“Do I get Nardo too?” I teased with a wink at the driver, who smirked back at me. “I wouldn’t say no to that.”
“I’m unsure of who your driver will be,” the head of security muttered, his jaw clenched. Which told me all I needed to know. Ryan would put his roughest, toughest, and least attractive man as my driver. True, Pietro was easy on the eyes, but he was also the best guard on the entire Vitucci payroll.
Several minutes later, Nardo pulled to a stop in front of the radio station. I tugged on the gloves Garret had given me as Pietro stepped out and opened my door. As we entered the building together, I spotted Emmie immediately, but before I could even start toward her, Garik appeared at my side.
Grasping my wrist, he jerked me around to face him, his eyes frantically scanning me from head to toe. “Are you okay?” he asked in Russian. “That bastard didn’t hurt you last night?”
Pietro grabbed Garik’s wrist, twisted it behind him, and turned him away from me in one smooth motion, making it look effortless. “Hands off,” he barked.
“You!” Garik seethed, struggling against the hold. “You helped kidnap her last night. Sleazy mother—”
I slipped out from behind where Pietro had pushed me and tried to defuse the situation. “Garik, I’m fine,” I rushed to assure him in Russian. “I left willingly with Ryan. He’s my best friend, and he would never hurt me. I was perfectly safe with him last night.”
“It didn’t look like you were going with him willingly,” Garik argued. “You were upset, and Roza was nervous of him. Roza is never nervous of anyone.”
I grimaced. “I think she was more nervous about what Ryan’s mom would do to her if she got in the way. His family owns Iron Hand.”
The color leached from the rocker’s face just as Pietro released him. “That was Anya Volkov’s son?”
“Anya Vitucci, actually,” I corrected with a shrug.
“Did you say Vitucci?” Laura’s eyes were huge as she came over to us. I should have known that even though I was speaking a different language, his name would still catch the Italian rocker’s attention. She hadn’t told me what region she was from, but I could only assume she lived in a part of Italy where the Vitucci name was revered. It wasn’t just in Sicily where Ryan’s family garnered attention. Their power stretched wide across Europe. “I met Ryan Vitucci last night and didn’t even know it?”
I liked Laura, even considered her a friend after having gotten to know her over the past week. But the starstruck look in her eyes made me anything but friendly. My jealousy felt like a living, breathing entity that was suddenly rabidly seething inside me. The smile I gave her was forced as I stepped away from her and Garik. “I need to apologize to Emmie. Excuse me.”
With Pietro at my side, I rushed over to my boss. The moment her green eyes landed on me, they lit up with relief. “You’re here.” Her eyes drifted to Pietro and widened ever so slightly. “And with a friend?”
I laughed. “This is Pietro. A friend, yes, but also my shadow. He will be with me the rest of the day to give Ryan peace of mind.”
“Gotcha,” she said with a nod. “I rearranged the schedule. Park Min Gi went on first to give you time to get here for Rossi’s interview. Are you ready? It’s going to start in about ten minutes.”
“Absolutely.” I shifted closer to her and lowered my voice. “I really am sorry I didn’t let you know where I was. I know I let you down this morning.”
Emmie caught one of my hands in a gentle hold. “Boys have the power to make us lose our minds at times. I have a daughter and a daughter-in-law who is like a second daughter to me. I get it. I was just worried for your safety. Felicity assured me, as long as you were with Ryan, you were safe. Possibly more so than when you are at home with your family.”
“He’s kind of special,” I told her, a smile tilting my lips upward unconsciously as I thought of my best friend. But he wasn’t just my best friend now. He was so much more.
He was…everything.
“Special as in, he will be Felicity’s son-in-law one day?” Emmie asked with a knowing smile.
