It felt almost desperate.
The intensity of it made me cry. Tears pooled in my eyes as they had done in the field, running in languorous streams down my cheeks.
Brando shifted, taking his hand from around my neck. He used his thumb to dry the wetness and then kissed the trails the tears made. Resting his forehead against mine, his lips so close I could taste his breath on my tongue, he whispered that he loved me always,per sempre. The words made me desperate—love closed the gap that fear and time had caused between us, and I kissed him until neither one of us could breathe.
He held me close until the villa loomed into view, and fear made my heart feel like it might explode.
* * *
“No!” I said, damning myself for the crack that accompanied the end of the statement. “I won’t! Just try to make me! I dare you!”
Brando held me by the shoulders, his hands firm and planted. The maniacal look in his eyes told me this wasn’t the time to protest, but I refused to budge.
The villa swarmed with French and Italian guards. It seemed in the time between killing Giovi’s son and the dawning of that day, Giovi had smoothed over his dealings with the French—Curly, the one-eared hero, was in a heap on the side of the villa, flies and other carnivorous insects wasting no time to hone in. If I had to guess, Curly had been used as a point of reference:This is what I do to those who take matters into their own hands—trust me. Signed, Giovi Spataro. Now let’s deal again.
Somehow Curly had become expendable when he stole me from the French. Apparently, they were to share me, though Assassin Moe’s part in this seemed to go unnoticed. Perhaps they were wiping the slate clean in light of new issues.
The leader of the French had been killed, Dr. Nicchi had told me. A new leader had been put in place. Both sides, his and Giovi’s, had been greatly diminished, and it seemed the two impoverished sides were joining forces against the still-powerful Faustis. Lothario refused to bring extra manpower here to rescue me, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t asserting pressure in other aspects. He had to put on a show, after all.
Giovi and the new French in charge wanted a word with Brando. Guns surrounded us on either side, circling us like vultures after carnage. News had already made it to Giovi. I had caused him the loss of two more men, ones that didn’t go sticking their ears out to get shot and marked.
Well,youkilled Curly on purpose, so…I wanted to protest, feeling his hostility toward me. But I kept silent, only giving my attention to my husband, who gave me a side-eyed glare. It was as if he could hear the thoughts in my mind.
“This is not up for discussion, Scarlett,” he said, low-voiced and fierce. A tremor shot through me, from his hands to my heart. The tremble that came from him was not visible, but it came from some place deeper.
“You’re right. It’s not.” I stuck my chin up, waving a lost fly away from my face. “I’m staying.” He had demanded that I wait by the car Romeo, Donato, and Vincenzo drove in.
“Once more,” he said. His grip on my shoulders tightened. “Go wait by the car.Now.Or Vincenzo will carry you.” He ran his upper teeth over his bottom lip, and it glistened in the sun. Then the pressure released, but only from my physical form.
Enzo had showed up. Whatever the dark thing was that had almost consumed Brando in the car ballooned, growing into another being with sharp teeth and claws.
Enzo stopped short when he entered the circle of men who had gathered around, keeping us herded. From the look on his face, how quickly his body reacted and grew rigid, he hadn’t expected to see Brando. The French seemed like a shock too.
His bowl was filled with surprises today. I couldn’t claim to be too unhappy about this.
Romeo, Donato, and Vincenzo hovered around us, eyes narrowed into a welcome dare. The men thrived off this atmosphere, responding in the same manner as Giovi and the French. We were outnumbered, but they stood tall; rage rattled all their cages.
My palms were slick with sweat, as was my body, but I shivered. The men were beginning to push in, getting irritated with the wait. Brando’s heart pleaded with mine; the rest of him had turned into a thick-skinned beast. He was teetering on the edge of insanity. Enzo’s sudden presence pushed him over the ledge. Leaving them together made me anxious, but what could I do?
“All right.” I nodded. My voice came out soft—a rose petal drifting to rest in the midst of the beast’s arena. “I’ll go. Just to wait by the car?”
Brando’s eyes flickered to the men around us and then connected to mine. “Yeah, baby. I promise.”
He pulled me in and kissed me, sending me off breathless in the opposite direction. I had to force myself not to look back. Donato and Vincenzo followed on each side, hands to their guns.
As we walked the short distance between where we had stood and the car, none of the guards were near, and I had just enough time to ask a quick question. “Lothario and the rest of the men? Where are they?”
I sensed the quick glance that passed between the two men who guarded me against fifty.
“Lothario did not feel it wise to do this today,” Vincenzo said, putting a secure hand to my lower back.
“In other words,” I said, keeping my eyes forward as we followed a man who had appeared from wherever to escort us to the car, “I was to be left.”
“For the time being,” Donato said, his voice disgusted. “He has his own agenda.”
“To rule without challenge,” I muttered. It was no surprise that Lothario had his own motives. Brando had threatened him since the wordsnice to meet you. I had been nothing but a thorn in his side since he took over. If it weren’t for me, though, he would never have taken over. Ettore would’ve had no reason to attempt to kill Brando, accidentally killing his own father, which expedited Lothario’s rise to power—a detail he was happy to take advantage of.
When we came close to our car, I intentionally stopped closer to the crowd, but Donato pushed me closer to the door. The crowd closed around Brando, and I couldn’t see what was going on anymore.
