I lock up every emotion, every tremor, every shred of truth. If I let one crack show, the whole thing will collapse, and I don’t know if I can survive the fallout.
I want to believe Giacomo was bluffing about reaching my parents. I want to believe Matteo’s protection is enough.
But I know the man Giacomo has become. I saw it just minutes ago—the void in his eyes, the hunger for destruction, the thrill of power.
My pulse stutters as a single thought takes hold, cold and unyielding: How do I protect this baby? And how long do I have before everything erupts?
It’s not a question.
It’s a countdown.
A ticking time bomb.
19
MATTEO
He got to her somehow. I could feel it in my bones, even before Valerio briefed me on how the day went with her.
I knew the moment I saw her last night, when she tried to pretend nothing was wrong and failed spectacularly. Her smile wasn’t dim. It was wounded, shaken.
And when she touched her throat for the third time in five minutes over dinner last night, I knew something had happened in that store.
At first,I wanted to tear Valerio apart. He was supposed to watch her as if she were the most precious thing walking this earth—because she is.
But then Isaw the footage.
And right under his nose, Giacomo was able to slip through. The footage from the store told me everything I needed to know. The asshole wanted me to know he was there. He made no attempt to hide his face from the cameras. He even turned and winked at one of them before leaving.
Valerio hates himself right now. He’s a soldier, and he lives by his orders and missions—and this one was damn near a failure.
Giacomo could have killed her. But he didn’t.
And now thereal question is:whydidn’t he kill her?
I think that’s the point he’s trying to prove. Giacomo wants to show me that he can get to her, that she’s still under his thumb.
Well, fuck that.
I don’t ask her about it. I don’t even bring up the boutique again. Mullier will never see another cent from me. I’ll message their director and let him know our little deal is done.
I look across my desk at my second. His muscles are tense as he stares blankly at the hardwood floor.
“You made a mistake, Rio.”
His head snaps up. “I can’t afford mistakes, Matteo. I’m your general—the one you call to get shit done. I almost got her… fuck, shit.”
I was angry at him too, but then I remembered how slippery Giacomo is. He’s like a roach—sliding through cracks, evading every hit until you finally crush him dead.
“She’s alive, and that’s what matters.” I lean back in my chair and look out the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office. “How is the woman?”
“Janette?”
I nod.
“She squealed everything. Turns out her brother got caught up in some business involving Giacomo. Some real shady shit that could get him locked up by the CIA. Giacomo threatened to release the evidence, and then her brother goes away for life.”
Typical tactic.
