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I recognized it as a compromise. He wasn’t locking me away here, and my chest loosened at the realization.
“You trust me enough to leave me alone?” I asked.
“Do I have a reason not to?”
The question also took me aback. I wondered at what point he’d made that decision. I hadn’t done much to warrant trust with him, after all. But in the past week, a lot had changed. There wasn’t a change in our situation, per se, but there was undoubtedly a change in the way we moved around one another.
“No, you don’t,” I admitted, biting my lip.
He leaned forward and left a slow, sensual kiss on my lips. “We have evening plans when I get back. Do you need me to bring an outfit home, or do you have something appropriate?”
“Define appropriate?” I asked.
“Well, there will be family involved,” he said. “You’ll meet my brother for the first time, but I’d prefer it if the undergarments were less family-appropriate.”
My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes widened at the words.
Was he asking that I wear lingerie?
“I don’t have anything like that here,” I admitted.
“Don’t worry. I’ll bring some home,” he told me with a wicked smirk that lit his eyes. “I’ll see you soon, Stellina.”
He left one last lingering kiss on my lips before walking out of the bedroom door. I listened as he trailed through the house before leaving through the front door. Only when it slammed shut did I sag beneath the weight of what I knew was coming.
I moved quickly, walking through the room in my day-old clothes and taking in the different style of home. I followed the path Dante took as I strode out of the room and into a tiled hallway. I followed it through the house and took in the differences in architecture. From the artisan stone walls and the antique-looking decorations, I could tell there was a significant cultural difference.
There wasn’t, however, a financial one. This looked like a luxury estate, much like the one I’d been staying in with Dante.
But I couldn’t allow emotions or surprises to get in the way. I had a job to do, and I didn’t have enough time to do it.
I moved silently through the house, looking for any sign of cameras or guards, but I saw nothing as I found a little room in the back corner of the house with a desk. Sitting on the desktop was a landline phone, and I tapped my toe for just a moment as I considered the implications of using it.
I wasn’t even sure if I could use it to make an international call, and if I did, would it appear as an erroneous charge on Gabriel’s bill?
Would they suspect me?
I doubted I'd be the first suspicion if he were charged for a call to New York. He’d assume it was either his brother or a call he’d made. It was a risk, of course, but I was running out of time, and I needed to get ahold of Valentino one last time. I needed to tell him what I’d learned, and I needed to convince him that this hit wasn’t as great an idea as we’d once thought.
I weighed the pros and cons of the situation. I needed to contact Valentino, and even if they did trace the call back to him, it wouldn’t matter. By then, Dante would either be dead, or I’d be long gone and off the case. I could convince Valentino this was a poor idea, and then I’d go home.
It was my only option.
This time, Valentino answered nearly immediately.
“What,” he said.
“It’s me, and I have updates.”
I didn’t give him a chance to speak as I told him everything I’d learned about the Sicilian mob and the deep connections to Dante. I told him where I was, and then I told him about the position I was in to get more information here.
“I think our best bet wouldn’t be to kill Dante outright,” I said in a low tone, careful not to be overheard by anyone.
He made a noise of disagreement. “We’ve had this in the works for years.”
“Now that I know the full extent of his connections, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
He laughed. “Are you growing fond of the don, Sienna?”
