Elie coughed into his fist. “I’ve been friends with Geno quite a long time now, Amara. I’ve sent my report to Jean-Claude and have no more to do with him or the council. My loyalties are strictly with the Ferraro family. I’ve lived here many years now and regard them as my family. Stefano’s only telling you the truth.”
“We’ll work out the details together, Amara,” Geno said, doing his best to find a gentler tone. He wasn’t certain he had one. “You most likely have more ideas than we do. You’ve been at this longer than we have.”
He wasn’t going to concede when it came to her safety, but he recognized that she was extremely skilled, and that was who she saw herself as. She might look delicate and feminine. She danced with passion and sensuality, but the person she was inside was all warrior.
She studied tactics all the time. The intelligences she read were reports riders turned in to the Archambaults. She trained daily using programmed robotic opponents to ensure she continued to increase her speed. Her mind fascinatedhim. She solved puzzles at a fast rate of speed. Her predatory nature was hidden under her delicate beauty, but she was a hunter, every bit as lethal as he was.
Amaranthe sent him a small appreciative smile, clearly reading his opinion of her.
“When are your brothers returning home?” Stefano asked.
“In another week. They weren’t happy I sent them away,” Geno admitted.
“Have you already placed the announcement of your engagement in the society pages?”
“I sent it in early this morning,” Geno admitted, a trace of amusement in his mind.
The smile faded from Amaranthe’s face. “You did what? You didn’t even consult with me first. We’re just now discussing it.”
“Do I look like the kind of man a beautiful woman with brains is going to say yes to when I ask her to marry me?” Geno raised an eyebrow. “Especially one who dances like an angel and kicks ass like the devil.”
Elie burst out laughing. Stefano shook his head and regarded Amaranthe over the top of his steepled fingers. “Just remember the plan.”
“He could have waited.” She narrowed her eyes at Geno. “You could have discussed it with me first. That would have been the polite thing to do.”
“I’m not considered polite, and you would have argued with me. In the end we would have been engaged anyway, so I just saved us a lot of time.”
“We should go out a few times first and let people see us together. It’s more believable that way.”
Geno gave her his stone face. No one argued with his stone face. “You’re staying here, where I know you’ll be safe. We already established that rule, so it’s a moot point about being seen together as if we were dating.”
“Do you know what a partnership is? Partnership involves discussions.”
“I’ll have to look that up.”
Her laughter was soft in his mind, stroking very unexpectedly like a caress along his nerve endings. She might have that hot little temper, but she had a sense of humor as well. He appreciated that trait in her. There was so much to her.
“So, your engagement will be announced. Did you call your brothers?” Stefano persisted.
“Yes. They wanted to come back immediately, but I told them to stick to the plan. I need another week.”
Stefano nodded. “Tomorrow night we can take Amaranthe to the restaurant. Elie and I’ll go with you. I’ll have a few of my brothers come, but I don’t want Francesca here until it’s safe.”
“Brielle has the instincts of a rider,” Elie explained. “The moment anyone’s in danger, she reacts like a rider, not an investigator. I’ve come too close to losing her, so I think I’ll ask her to keep watch over Sasha, Giovanni’s wife, and Francesca this time around. I don’t like being away from her for very long, but she’ll understand.”
“Elie, you should sit this one out,” Geno said. “I don’t like that any of you are in danger.”
“Actually,” Amaranthe said, “all riders and their families are in danger. The target is your territory right now, Geno, but I guarantee, Stefano’s is next if it hasn’t already started. Or your cousins’ in Los Angeles or San Francisco. It’s happening in Europe as well. This is a vendetta, but the council isn’t certain who’s behind it. It’s that subtle.”
“If it came to their attention,” Elie asked, “you had to have seen this before it started here in New York.”
Geno felt her reluctance to impart information. As a special investigator, one working alone for the Archambaults and the International Council, she had to always keep her thoughts private. It was no wonder she was required to carry a fail-safe with her in the form of a poisonous wafer. She knew too many secrets the shadow riders as a community couldn’t afford to have get out.
Geno struggled not to allow negative emotion for the International Council into his mind. He didn’t like the fact that his woman was sent out with a poisonous pill to take if she should be captured in order to protect the institute. He didn’t want to chance Amara believing he didn’t think she could handle her job. She was alone when she worked, without any backup. In his opinion, that shouldn’t be. He sided with Elie on the way Jean-Claude had arbitrarily decided her life for her.
“Amaranthe?” Elie persisted. “We need the facts if we’re going to help put this together. Were your orders to keep everything from Geno or to share with him?”
She pressed her fingertips to the pressure points around her eyes. Geno felt the ache gathering in her head. She was still feeling the effects of the poison just as he was, but the antidote had worked. He was much larger, and his mass alone, even though he had taken the brunt of the poison, had allowed him to break it down quickly and recover faster than Amaranthe.
