“I do,” she sighed, pausing to take a long sip from her glass. “This wine is incredible, Enzo.”
“Thanks, it’s from one of my vineyards.”
Her brows shot up. “One of?”
“Yes. I have two in Napa Valley and one large one back in Italy.”
She watched me thoughtfully. “So you know a thing or two about wine?”
“You could say that,” I replied in a teasing voice.
“Well, it’s delicious. And this is nice,” she smiled and raised her glass. “To a rare moment of quiet.”
I raised mine, too. “To the rare moment lasting longer than a moment.” It was better than reminding her that moments like this were fleeting in my life.
“Is that your way of saying the moment won’t last?”
I nodded.
Ren burst out laughing. “Sheesh, Enzo, you really know how to kill a moment.”
“I’m honest,” I said lightly, though my chest tightened. “That’s all.”
She shifted, curling her toes against my thigh. The contact was casual yet intimate. And dangerous. “You really have changed,” she said after a beat.
“So have you.” It wasn’t just her beauty, either. She had earned confidence, and she was so at ease with herself it made me want to know everything I’d missed over the years.
She hummed as if she was considering my words. “I think I like who you are now, Enzo.”
Her words shocked the hell out of me, and I had no fucking clue how to respond, but there was this feeling deep down that I should saysomething. I opened my mouth, still unsure what to say, when there was a knock at the door. Three sharp raps cut through the moment, effectively killing it.
Ren tensed and her toes dug into my thighs.
I was already on my feet, unlocking the small drawer on the coffee table where one of my guns was located. “Stay here.”
Ren stared at me, finally nodding when she realized I wouldn’t move until she heard and understood me.
I crept to the door, gun aimed at the center. I stepped to the side wall and opened the panel that revealed the security video monitors, and I saw Luca staring directly into the camera. When I opened the door, his expression was tight, his brows drawn together and his lips pressed into a flat white line.
Not a social call.
“Luca.”
He nodded and stepped inside. “I have news,” he said and started toward the living room where Ren sat on the edge of the sofa, palms holding her knees as if she thought they might fly away.
She stared at Luca and jumped to her feet. “I’ll leave you guys to it,” she whispered, already moving around the sofa.
“Stay,” Luca demanded harshly.
Ren froze, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. She nodded slowly and then retraced her steps back to the sofa, sinking onto the edge once more.
“Sorry,” Luca added, his tone softer before he turned to me. “You both should probably hear this.”
Ice slid down to my gut, and I nodded once. “What’s going on?”
Luca stepped around the sofa and dropped onto the plush chair that faced the fireplace, and his eyes flicked briefly to Ren before locking back on me. “I hunted down the footage from around the fish plant like you said. It was the Russians.”
My jaw clenched even though I knew that would be the case. “We expected that.”
