Romeo had killed Paris by the time Tore and Brio dragged the two bodies into the shadows to take them away from the theater.
I believe all the Boutlers have been disposed of, Stefano said as the cousins checked in with one another. With the exception of Lincoln, and we haven’t identified him as an enemy.
That wasn’t so. The leader, Lewis, was still unaccounted for. They didn’t have his location, and worse, that radar telling Geno something was very wrong was stronger than ever.
Come on, Brielle, he murmured softly to himself.I need to know where he is.He knew the investigator would never give up. She would take it down to the wire—the very last minute.
Geno placed both hands on the balcony railing intent on the scene taking place onstage. Romeo embraced Juliet and then plunged a dagger into his heart, taking his life. The note the friar had sent explaining the plan never made it to him, and he believed his love was truly dead.
Lewis Boutler is Lewis Mainlander. Mainlander was his mother’s name, Elie related. He has worked for years in the corporate office of the Australian Ballet. He’s here in New York and is attending the ballet.
By now, Boutler would know his plan had failed. He would choose his time during the scene in the shadowy tomb, and all eyes were on Juliet as she awakened and realized her beloved was truly dead. That’s when he would strike.
Geno knew timing was everything. A dozen shadows played over the stage. He kept his gaze fixed on the front of the stage. Lewis was seated in front, Geno was certain of it. The man was waiting for that moment when Juliet would plunge the dagger into her breast and take her life. That was the perfect moment to kill Amaranthe. Lewis would need to pick the perfect shadow to get onstage, get behind Amara, use his poisoned knife and get back to his seat before anyone knew what had happened. Lewis was bound to find deep satisfaction in killing Geno’s fiancée in front of an entire theater and all the Ferraros.
The dance portrayed Juliet’s deep sorrow, allowing the audience to share the emotion with her. She sank gracefully to the floor beside her beloved Romeo, clasping the dagger in her hands. Geno had planned out every move a hundred times in his head. He pushed off the railing with both hands, leaping into the smallest of the shadows, a feeder tube, the fastest one that would take him directly onto the stage.
The tube was so fast it nearly tore him apart, ripping at his skin, tearing at his eyes and scalp, turning him inside out as he streaked across the theater and nearly spilled right out on top of Lewis as the assassin emerged from a long shadow to step into a smaller one that would take him behind Amaranthe as she portrayed a dying Juliet.
Geno wrapped Lewis up tight in his arms and continued his forward momentum, carrying the assassin into the feeder tube so the two of them streaked across the stage toward the curtains. He had to time his step exactly so there was no exposure to the audience as he took the struggling man into the larger shadow, which would take them backstage, where he hopefully could find another shadow that led outside.
All the while, he pinned Lewis’s wrist tight against the man’s thigh to keep him from turning the poisoned blade on him. As they shot backstage, Geno rolled Lewis over, coming to a halt to find another shadow. He kept his grip on his wrist. Unexpectedly, Zeta, his cousin from SanFrancisco, joined him. Placing her knee on Lewis’s back, she gripped his head in her hands and ended his life in the classic way of a rider.
They could hear the thunder of the audience as they gave the cast members a standing ovation.
“I’ll take him out,” she whispered. “You get back to your seat.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Lincoln Boutler contacted the Archambaults to warn them that his father was in New York to try to kill members of the Ferraro family,” Elie stated as he helped himself to the eggs Benedict. “He told them his father was a pedophile and that many of his cousins were, and that he left home years ago to get away from them.”
Geno leaned back in the high-backed chair, his legs sprawled out in front of him, regarding his cousins as they gathered around the food warmers. The morning sun spilled into the room, reflecting off the water, casting diamond-like patterns across the far wall. He was absolutely, utterly relaxed. And happy. He hadn’t known that emotion for a long time, but now each morning he woke with the knowledge Amaranthe was in his life. Not only was he happy, he felt content, at peace, something he hadn’t thought possible.
He was acutely aware of Amaranthe standing beside Salvatore at the coffee station. He knew exactly where she was at any given moment, his radar tuned specifically toher. She spoke in a soft voice to his brother, and his reply made her laugh. Geno loved the sound of her laughter, the way it seemed to brighten up the room. She had already made a difference, not only in his life but in his brothers’ lives.
“Are you paying attention, Geno?” Elie demanded as he seated himself at the table.
“I’m trying not to think about the Boutler family,” Geno admitted.
“He was thinking about his woman,” Dario murmured. He was staring down at the screen of his phone. “He’s got that vacant look you all get on your faces right before you make total asses out of yourselves.”
“You’re just jealous,” Emmanuelle said.
Dario’s eyebrow shot up, but he didn’t take his gaze from the screen. “You think I want to look like a jackass? I don’t think so, babe.”
Emmanuelle threw her napkin at him. “You call mebabeagain, I’m going to shave your hair off and you won’t look all rakish for your ladies.”
Dario picked the napkin out of the air with one hand, ignoring her threat. “Brielle also said Lincoln suspected his uncle murdered his wife. He believed it possible that his father had done the same. He warned the Archambaults several times that they shouldn’t be allowed to accept trainees. She sent a screenshot of the reports asking for investigations multiple times.”
Amaranthe set a cup of coffee on the table beside Geno’s hand. “Was there an investigation? Is that why the inland Boutlers moved out of Australia?”
“According to the documents Brielle discovered, it wasn’t the first time the Archambaults had been asked to investigate that particular family,” Dario continued. “Years earlier there was a handwritten report.”
Stefano brought a plate back to the table and placed it in front of his chair. “No doubt the Archambaults are going to want to know why the Boutlers decided to attack us now.”
“Fortunately, we don’t know why for certain,” Lucca pointed out. “We can only speculate like everyone else.”
“The Archambaults should consider themselves somewhat complicit in that they didn’t investigate when they were asked numerous times,” Amaranthe said, a frown on her face.
