For a second, I wondered if the world saw the same thing when they looked at us.
A monster and a beautiful woman.
We made small talk for a minute or two, and then we both became quiet. She cleared her throat and squeezed my hand.
“I know you have to get going soon, so I’m not going to keep you. I just—” She stopped walking, and so did I. She looked up at me, her green eyes soft in the wavering light of the lanterns. Mia’s were so much like hers. “She belongs with you. She knows it. She’s afraid. She…” She took a deep breath, and her exhale floated over me in a sweet-smelling cloud.
“She resents it. The connection. I—well. It’s not my place to tell you what happened after Olivier Nemours tried to kill me. What Brando did. But it scared Mia. More than she’ll ever admit. She’s like her father and brothers in that way. She’s hardwired not to admit when she has a vulnerable spot, or it makes it real. Makes it even more dangerous somehow.”
“Ri-Ri!”
At my nickname being called, I looked behind us. Mariano. When he noticed me looking in his direction, he told me it was time to roll. The cars were waiting.
Scarlett turned my face toward hers. “So handsome,” she said, giving me a shy smile for a woman of her age. She shook her head. “Listen to me, Saverio. Take this to heart. Don’t let her fear drive a wedge between…anything that matters. The connection is the cause of her fear. And—” she swallowed hard “—it’s the only cure.”
“Scarlett—”
“I know.” She held up a hand. “I’m speaking in riddles. That wasn’t my intention, but I can’t just come out and say it plainly. First, it usually freaks people out when I do because it’s so uncanny. Second, it’s something you’re going to have to figure out. You and Mia. I might understand, but it’s yours. She might do the feeling, but you’re going to do the healing—for her.”
“I understand,” I said.
“Do you really?” She narrowed her eyes.
“It’s different, but—yeah, I think I do. Or I’ll figure it out.”
“Bene.” She stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. Roses. She smelled like candied roses.
“Time’s up,” Brando said, suddenly appearing behind her, putting a hand to her shoulder.
I turned to go but stopped when she called my name.
“Be careful,” she said.
“I always am,” I said. “Tonight—”
“I don’t mean tonight. Not entirely.” She said something in Slovenian. I’d heard her and Mia speaking it before. Scarlett was fluent in something like seven different languages, and so was her daughter. “The devil is always in the details—that’s what I said. Find a way to slay him.”
That was a fucking riddle, and it sounded pretty ominous. The devil was in more than just the details. I’d have to think about it later, though, when I wasn’t about to come face to face with some of the most dangerous men in the world while on their playground.
Chapter10
Mia
An assemblage of fine, fast-looking cars left the house in a straight line. They were all black with tinted windows. Saverio and Matteo were leading the pack. I could hear the thumps of the music rattling the windows as they took off, faster than bats out of hell.
I had no idea where they were going, but they were all dressed in custom-made Italian suits. Hair slicked back. Male colognes and the scents of whiskey and cigars drifting like a medley in the spring air. I could easily distinguish Saverio’s scent from the rest. When I breathed it in, I held my breath to hold on to it for a little longer. Elio Ascari’s new scent drifted below the surface when I breathed out.
It couldn’t compare to Saverio’s scent. I wanted to keep breathing him in.
Where was he going all dressed up?
“You miss him already?”
Evelina squeezed my arm. When I looked at her, she pushed her square black glasses up and smiled. She was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, not to mention the smartest. She was the spitting image of her father. Black hair, blue eyes, but her skin was fairer than his. She had a Roman nose, like her mamma, and all together, she was stunning. So unique.
She was also my best friend. We’d known each other since we were kids, just like me and Livia. After Cerise turned on mamma and fled, and they took Livia away to hide her, Evelina was all I had. She was enough.
She was not only beautiful and smart, but fun as all get out, too. She had the best sense of humor.
