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Exhaling, I turned my head just as I noticed the silhouette of a woman, both Dom and his visitor headed into the cramped box that I’d always found claustrophobic. Then I turned toward the confessionals just as the door was closed.
My God. Excitement and need tore through me, so much so I couldn’t think clearly.
I was angry but also frustrated with myself. I was elated and furious with the situation. And I needed her more than anything. Pushing my closest friend wasn’t something I’d ever intended on doing. Thank God, he knew me better than anyone and understood me even when I usually had no freaking clue about myself. I did what I could to hold still, my heart racing. Fuck this. If she thought she was getting away from me, she had another think coming.
She was mine. Forever mine.
We’d painted each other with our scents. We’d forged a moment in time, one that far too many people had tried to strip away. But fate wanted us together.
So be it.
CHAPTER 20
Francesco
I took aimless steps toward the confessional boxes, determined to remain until he was finished. I never offered an apology but to him, I would make an exception. I sat down only a few feet away, dropping my head into my hands.
This wasn’t seeking solace or absolution for anything. I was simply trying to find a different way to retaliate. If I had Dante and his father assassinated, his soldiers would likely retaliate. That’s what they’d been trained to do. All it would take was for my niece or nephew to be in a less protected environment and their lives would be taken.
God. Why was I even entertaining the idea of having a family, arranged or not? I rocked back and forth, coming to the conclusion that preventing the wedding was the right thing to do. That meant keeping the girl on lockdown until Maxwell, Viper, and I determined a course of action. Then maybe I’d become the girl’s salvation, attempting to provide her protection until I could send her back to her life.
The idea was foreign to me.
I was a selfish creature by nature. I was used to collecting and keeping what I didn’t want anyone else to touch. While that hadn’t included human lives up to this point, another one of Maxwell’s influences, that didn’t mean I wasn’t interested in doing so. I was greedy by nature and by birth, the money and trinkets I’d collected never enough to satisfy me.
I’d amassed a fine collection over the years, toys and bobbles others would consider treasures. To me they’d become expected, passé. My flexible morals and my sadistic needs made for a man no woman would ever want to enter into a relationship with, even though at least a dozen women had made the suggestion.
God, I’d turned into an egotistical pig. The thought brought yet another smile to my face. I’d never once thought about apologizing for it, yet here I was twice in one night thinking I owed the entire world an apology for existing.
That shit had started the night I’d fucked a virgin.
No. The crude words didn’t fit the scenario even a little bit. That had been the first and only time I’d made love with a woman. I’d felt closer to her than I had to anyone, the powerful emotions impossible to forget.
I rubbed my jaw then clenched my fist just as Cayman eased onto the pew beside me.
“I didn’t see her.”
“That’s okay. She’s talking with Father Saltori.”
Cayman nodded. “Do you need me to find out about the wedding?”
“Yeah. Every detail. Then I’ll decide when to take her. I also have a plan in mind that I’m going to talk to Maxwell about tomorrow. We will play this carefully. I want Dante and his father comfortable with what’s going to happen. Whatever happens tonight, I want at least two soldiers watching Christiana at all times. And I want to know what Dante is working on, his plans.”
“What about Dante himself? Are you going to handle him prior to the wedding?”
There was nothing I wanted more than to put a bullet between his eyes, but I was listening to more than just the words Maxwell had told me. I was paying attention to my gut. About damn time I did so.
“If Bianchi hurts her, I want to know. Otherwise, have the soldiers remain in the background, far enough away they aren’t seen. If you get wind of that anyone has detected our presence, she will disappear. That cannot happen. Period.”
I thought about three years before, the stupid foot soldier in my employ who’d been Dante’s friend. That’s when I hadn’t checked the men I’d considered employing as thoroughly as I did now. The asshole had acted as if he believed he’d done nothing wrong by supplying information about the bachelor party and the details about the wedding. Now I’d return the favor.
But my way.
“Understood, boss. You have my word I’ll protect her with my life.”
“I know you will.”
A single sound drew my attention and I glanced over my shoulder, immediately jerking to my feet. Both confessional doors opened, Christiana stepping out first. She hesitated, lifting her head, the hood of her cape falling to her shoulders. As she looked toward me, it seemed the world had stopped revolving.
