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“Go tell the Don.” His friend looked at him like he was crazy. “Go!”
The two boys nearly tripped over themselves as they raced off.
“It’s okay,signora,” the boy whispered, trying to soothe me as I tried to sit up. I just hoped to God Mariano wouldn’t circle back.
“Where is she?” I could hear Elio’s voice boom through the trees, and then what could only be described as a bull moose crashing through the forest brought a welcome sigh of relief to my frazzled nerves. I was terrified that the young man who stood guard over me would be in danger if Mariano reappeared.
“She’s over here, sir!” the boy called through his cupped hands, and he lifted his arms and waved.
Elio dropped in front of me, on his knees, his face a picture of fear and worry.
“Jesus, are you hurt?” His voice was tender and caring, and I wanted to curl up on his lap and just take a second to feel safe, but instead I caught his hand to grab his attention.
“Mariano,” I rasped. “He ran that way.” I pointed in the direction Mariano had gone. Elio’s face went murderous. He started to stand, but I held on tight to his hand and shook my head. “Please.”
“Shit!” He wrestled with his urge to go hunt Mariano and his need to stay with me. “Go!” he ordered, and the soldiers who had followed him spanned out and started to search. Francesco arrived and immediately began to question the kid on exactly what he’d seen. The boy was keen to help, and I managed a smile at him as he did his best to tell his story. Francesco threw me a relieved look that I was okay, and I was able to nod back to let him know I was fine. Elio draped his warm jacket over my ruined dress and helped me up. We began to make our way back toward the house with Francesco and the boy.
“He knows,” I whispered quietly to Elio and Francesco, “about his parents and Anna.”
“I see,” Elio grunted.
“I’ll make some calls,” Francesco muttered, but to my surprise, Elio shook his head.
“No, I think it’s time to call in a friend.”
* * *
“Vinni, I’ve decided we’re going to skip the Villa Del Cardinale. I know it was an important stop, but with recent events, the less we do in Rome, the better.” He waited a beat then hung up. I was surprised to hear we weren’t attending the party there, but unbelievably thankful Elio decided not to go.
“How are you feeling about everything today?” Elio tapped his finger on the steering wheel and side-eyed me. It had been two days since Mariano had tried to kill me in the woods, and a lot of discussion had been held since. He and I, however, had not had a chance to share our private thoughts in the last day. The search for Mariano had kept everyone busy. He had managed to slip away and couldn’t be found. The guys were convinced he’d been getting help from someone.
It turned out my phone had been stolen from my purse during the party. I was quite sure Mariano was the one who had taken it and had probably accessed my contacts. I felt a little foolish as I knew I’d been lax at keeping my purse secure. A member of the staff had witnessed someone who had been near our table and could have had access to my purse while I’d been busy with the guests. He described a man he’d seen near the table long enough to warrant remembering him but hadn’t gotten a good look at his face. We believed it was Mariano. No one knew for sure just how he had gained access to the party. Niccola was very relieved when he realized there was an explanation as to how someone could have used his number to draw me away from the others. I reassured him that I would never have thought for a moment he was involved and apologized for my own possible part in it.
“I’m fine. Still mad that he ruined my favorite Gucci dress, though.” I sipped my water, not sharing that it felt like I could still taste mud in my mouth. I knew Elio was furious that Mariano had been able to get to me despite all the safety guards he’d put in place and that he managed to slip away into the night. I knew it was a point of pride for him.
“Mmm,” was all he offered as he started the car.
Tabby and Andrew still felt terrible about what happened and wanted us to stay on a bit longer, but Elio had made the decision that we had to move on. He wanted me to join him for the drive this morning, and vaguely mentioned something about a package. I was happy to join him, as I was tired of everyone fussing over me. The fact that we were off to Sicily the next day didn’t help. It was the one place I never wanted to return to. Memories of my younger life there at the Di Vaio house kept me awake at night.
“I shortened our next visit.” Elio fiddled with his lighter. “I know you’re nervous about returning there, and I’m comfortable because it’s already our territory, but that’s all the more reason we can’t skip it altogether. We grew up there, so it would be insulting if we didn’t show our faces at all.”
“I understand.” I really did, but it didn’t make it any easier. I had a lot of demons that still resided there and ones I had zero intention of ever facing again in this lifetime.
“You’ll not leave my sight.” He stared at me, and I felt the authority radiating off him. “Is that clear?” He pulled onto a side road, and we bumped along until he stopped at the edge of a field.
“Yes, sir.” I smiled, and we both leaned in for a kiss.
“I’m serious.” His hand moved under my dress and up my bare leg.
“How serious?” I played along but stilled as I heard a bike engine coming closer. “Where are we, anyway?” I squinted to see the biker headed our way, and Elio opened his door and stepped out. I followed suit and joined him where he leaned on the hood of the car.
“What the heck is that?” I saw something moving up and down and realized it was another biker, and they both approached us. It looked like something was being dragged behind the lead bike.
“This is a means to an end,” Elio said, and he reached for my hand as the bikers came to a stop in front of us.
“I can’t imagine what you’re up to this time, but he’s a big guy, so I hope he’s a friend. But then again, if we are going to off him, I hope you have a really big gun, because…” My voice got sucked down into my lungs as I stared up at the man that now stood in front of us removing his helmet.
If the Devil had a son, it would be him.
