“Is that flour on your face, kitten?” Caleb asks, and a snarl rips from my chest.
“Call her that, again. I dare you.” I drill him with a pointed look.
“Caleb.” Zumo warns his friend and Caleb holds up his hands in surrender.
“I’ll stop. I like my head attached to my body. You’re just too easy to fuck with these days and I have to get my kicks someplace.”
I shove my middle finger up at him.
“Don’t leave without finding me,” Valentina says, her gaze flipping between Caleb and Zumo. “I’ve been stress-baking all morning, and I have a box of cupcakes and other stuff for both of you. My way of saying thanks for helping Fiero with this.”
I’ve never seen grown men turn into puppy dogs so fast. They’re only short of drooling and whimpering at her feet.
“Elisa will love you forever,” Caleb says. “She’s been craving sweet things all during her pregnancy. I’ll love you forever too ’cause she’s gonna be all over me like a rash when I show up with home-baked goods.”
“Jesus Christ.” Letting Valentina go, I scrub my hands down my face. “Go set up before I shoot you to shut you up. I’ll escort Valentina to the panic room and follow you up to the roof.”
“See you later, cutie pie.” It’s an improvement on kitten, but only just. Caleb waggles his brows and exits the room, grabbing his bag from the hallway before disappearing.
“Don’t worry about Fiero.” Zumo squeezes her shoulder because he’sseriously got a death wish. “Nothing will happen to him or us. Our plan is solid.”
“Be safe,” she tells him before he leaves to convene with mysoldatiin front of the house to give them their orders.
I hold Valentina’s hand as we make our way to the basement where I had a specialized panic room built years ago. Tension bleeds into the air as I unlock it and let her inside. Ana restocked the cabinets and refrigerator in the small kitchenette, and there’s a ton of food, snacks, and drinks.
“This is fully bulletproof, fireproof, and soundproof. The walls are built around reinforced steel,” I explain as I pull her into the homey space. “This is the main living space.” I gesture around the carpeted room with an L-shaped velvet sectional, large wall-mounted TV, and a few end tables with lamps. A bunch of fresh flowers sits on top of the display unit against one wall. “You have access to the same streaming options as upstairs, so you can continue watching that Viking show.” I’ll need to have words with Catarina because my kitten is quickly becoming as obsessed as Massimo’s wife. At least, it might help to distract her today.
“There’s a small kitchen and eating area through there.” I point to my left. “A bedroom and bathroom in there.” I point to the right. “And that door at the back of the living room leads to the tech center.”
“Tech center?”
“You can access the cameras all over my property from that room. There’s also a phone and laptop in case you need access, and the panic button on the wall links directly to the local cop station. The code to open the door is on the wall.” I pull her into my arms. “I don’t advise you to go in there. Don’t look. Stay here and fantasize about the hot Viking, but you better be imagining him as me.”
A giggle meanders through the air. “Always, babe.”
My heart melts at the endearment. “I’ve got to go, kitten.” I claim her lips in a hard kiss. “Try not to worry. I promise I’ll be fine, and if anything goes wrong, no one will get to you in here. We should have Dominic and his men under our control in minutes. When the first phase is done, I’ll send Zumo to apprise you, but don’t leave here until I come and get you. The people I trust know the code to the door. If someone is asking you to open up, they’re not to be trusted.”
“Okay. Please be careful.” She winds her arms around me, pressing her face to my chest and hugging me tight. “I feel sick imagining something happening to you.”
“I can relate.” I hug her tight before releasing her. “I’ll see you soon, my love. Relax and take it easy.” It pains me to leave her, but getting distracted worrying about her isn’t smart because that’s how mistakes are made. She’s safe here, and I can concentrate on ending the prick who has made her life a living hell.
“You have some nerve showing up at my place, Dominic,” I say into the phone, sticking to the script. So far, it’s playing out how we want. Dominic is at the front gate in a black van with an unknown number of men. Mysoldatiknew to call me when he arrived. “How’d you even find it?” The answer is obvious, but I let him believe he’s the big man. I want him to think he’s caught me unaware so it’ll be too late when he realizes he’s walked into a trap.
“My wife has a tracker.”
“She told me she didn’t have one,” I lie.
“You’re the fool who believed her.” His smarmy tone rubs me the wrong way, but he won’t be the one laughing soon.
“I’m not giving her back.”
“We had a deal, and this wasn’t part of it. You can’t just take my wife. At least not without negotiating a fee.”
I fucking knew it. Caleb’s eyes flare darkly from his position beside me on the roof. He’s been listening to everything. “You have some nerve, Ferraro. I should tell my men to shoot you.”
“You can try, but I didn’t come alone, and I doubt you’d appreciate a shootout in front of the neighbors and the street cams.”
“Fine.” I heave out an annoyed sigh on purpose. “Put me back onto Daniel.”
