“Where are you?”
“I—I can’t stop. People are following me. But I have to stop. I can’t outrun them. Perhaps it’s one of the men? Or four?”
“No,” he said. “Not yet. Focus, baby. Tell me where you are.”
I looked up at the shop and gave him the name. Then the breath left me as though I had been punched in the gut. “Taylor,” I said, attempting to control the fear in my voice. I glanced between him and his three football buddies.
They had to be football players. I knew athletes when I saw them, and these men were the size of monsters, with that certain smug air that made them a cut above the rest in their respective sports.
“Funny seeing you here,” I said.
“Small world.” He smiled at me. “I saw you last night in the pub, but there were too many people around you to even get close. You travel in protective packs. I got to see you dance, though. That was a bright spot.”
I hated the glint in his eyes when he said that.
I held my finger up in a give-me-a-second gesture. “Brando? No, I thought we were supposed to meet here. At the place I was just telling you about. Taylor and his friends are in Ireland. I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you too.”
“He knows, baby. He knows I’m not there.”
“No,” I said, seeing the uncertainty flash across Taylor’s eyes. “I’m not so sure about that.” I smiled at him. “We separated in the crowd, during the parade. Brando will be here in a minute.”
Taylor stroked his chin full of stubble. It came to a narrow devil’s point. “I don’t think so. He’s in Africa. If you’re around, he’s around, which tells me he’s not here. And it’s not safe for a woman like you to be alone. It’s dark. No telling what could happen.” His buddies all nodded, smiling in response to this. “I’ll walk you back, or closer to meet your guards.” He went to reach out, to take my arm, but I took a step back, all the while conscious that he was herding me toward more darkness, more solitude.
“Don’t you fucking touch me!” I hissed.
“Why so hostile? We’re friends, baby girl. Even though you teased me. Friends don’t tease.”
“What?” I barely got out.
“The way you moved your hips for me.” He sucked in a breath and hissed it out. He spared a glance at his friends. “Didn’t I tell you she was a hot little piece?”
I never—oh, during the dance at the club Nemours owned. He had combinedthatwoman into one, once he found out it was me.
Brando cursed in a mixture of Italian and English, snapping off things to people around him. “I’m calling him,” he snapped, but his voice was lethally cool.
“I—don’t think—” No phone call was going to deter him. I could see the want blazing in his eyes, feel it down to my bones.
“It’ll buy some time. Tell him to fucking answer his phone.”
“My husband wants to talk to you,” I said. “He’s calling you now.”
“How did he get my phone number?”
I shrugged. “He knows everything.”
He smiled when his phone went off. He took the phone from his pocket, put it up to his ear, and then strolled a few steps from where I stood, leaving me with the three men who could probably fell an oak tree if they hit it with enough velocity.
Rocco’s voice came on, telling me to keep calm, help was coming.
“Guido?” I asked.
“We cannot get in touch with him.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed out.
“He will be okay. Right now, keep calm. Hold on.”
The phone held some static, then the sounds of exchanging hands. Brando came back on the line.
