A breath from the door, one of the Fausti soldiers stopped me.
“SignoraFausti,” he said, motioning outside, “your husband requests that you stay inside. The, ah, storm.” He met my eyes but then turned them away. This could have been out of respect, but I also knew it was because they were wary of me and my temper.
“My husband can request,” I said, narrowing my eyes in his direction. “However, I have the right to politely decline.” I wasletting him know, in that subtle Fausti way, if he attempted to stop me from getting to my husband, who could be in trouble, I would eviscerate him.
The solider went to speak again when a knock came at the door. His eyes came to mine, suspiciously, as if I had invited the visitor.
I lifted my hands. “I do not know who it is.”
“He has to be known to us to have made it this far.” He still adjusted his gun to a position that would give him the advantage if some unknown had made it this close to us.
My palms were sweaty, and I wiped them on the thin cotton.
What if the man on the other side of the door was Iggy?
“Asp—” I went to call out, a hand outstretched.Aspettare!Wait!
The solider was too fast for me. He had already opened the door.
I sighed in relief when it was only Signor Dandolo. He resembled an almost drowned Venetian rat whose hair was blown to smithereens by the wind. Rat. I had never seen him in this way before, and I was not sure what had changed.
The solider had not invited him in, and I could see the look on his face when Signor Dandolo went to gain entrance. What shocked me the most was the look on Signor Dandolo’s face when the solider blocked him.SignorDandolo was insulted by the gun and attempted to move it from across his chest.
“It is okay,” I said to the solider. “SignorDandolo is friendly.”
The solider gave me a narrow look. Perhaps Signor Dandolo’s obsession with Dr. Musa had spread throughout the ranks. This made me uneasy. I had forgotten about this. Nino would not appreciate his presence. Neither would Oscar. Both men were around—my eyes scanned the area—someplace. I would encourage Signor Dandolo to leave, then I would go after my husband, if he had not appeared by then. The solider stared atme, the narrow look turning into a true searching gaze, as if he was debating on whether to take my word on this.
I smiled and nodded at him, holding my hands together, attempting to quell the trembling that had started.
The solider shook his head but lowered the gun. SignorDandolo tore into the villa, as if he was a tornado in motion as I went straight for him. In a move that no one, least of all me, saw coming, he pulled a gun from behind his coat and pointed it at my head.
“You will come with me, Signora Fausti.”
As a powerful tornado is wont to do, he was faster than anyone anticipated. He held me in his arms, the gun in his hand, not even trembling, pressed to my temple as he led me out into the strong mouth of the storm.
Chapter 56
Mariano
“Mariano!”
My wife’s voice echoed inside of my head. It was panicked.
In my head, my eyes exploded open, but I was pretty fucking sure they fluttered. The ceiling above me was cracked, not from being weathered, but from my vision. A crack in my brain separated all the moody colors, twisting and turning them, a dull kaleidoscope.
A flash of lightning shocked the barn.
Thunder rolled so furiously, the ground beneath me trembled.
I blinked again, trying to piece together what had happened, how long ago it had happened. The last I remembered, I was trying to calm the frightened horse. She didn’t like the weather. I knew a fucking thing or two about ladies who didn’t like the rain. This one stood on her haunches, thunder rolled again, and the next thing I knew…
Flat on my fucking back.
I blinked again.
“Mariano!”
“Mitch?”
