“Ever so faithful guard?”
“Hey, I’m kind of the best. Why do you think Massi had me come instead of Gio?”
“I’ve actually been trying to figure that out too,” I state, which causes him to laugh.
“Okay, no, but seriously, let’s go over a couple things quickly. I’m sure you’ve had guards before?”
“I have, but thankfully, not so much lately.”
“Great, so you know I’m going to stick to you like fucking gum to your shoe, then, right?”
I wince. “Do you think that’s really necessary? We’re going to be talking about clothes the entire time. I can’t imagine that’ll be very thrilling for you.”
Gui shakes his head. “Oh no, don’t you even think about trying to brush me off like that. I’m sticking to you the entire time. You have to pee? Guess who’ll be right there with you?”
I snap my gaze to his. “Ew.”
He rolls his eyes. “Okay, I didn’t mean literally.”
“Mm-hm.”
“I just meant, I’ll be standing right outside the bathroom like the respectful fucking guy I am while you take care of your lady business.”
I give him a few small nods, a smirk pulling up at my lips. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what you meant,” I say, which has him rolling his eyes once more.
“Okay, so now that we got that out of the way, if I detect anything weird is going on while we’re there and tell you we need to leave, youcannotargue with me.”
My brow furrows as I take in what he’s saying. “Gui, you and your brother are starting to make me feel nervous. He told me there aren’t any issues between your family and the families here. Is that true?”
“Yes, of course,” he rushes out, but I don’t believe him.
“I promise, Liana. We don’t have any issues here in Sicily, but my brother and I don’t have any acquaintances either. Our dad does, and soon, Massi will too, but as of right now, we’re basically lone wolves in this territory. I’m just going over everything as a precaution. We canneverbe too safe.”
“Are you sure, Gui? Because you can tell me. If there’s something I should be looking out for, just let me know. I could help.”
Not only that, I want to know if my life is possibly in danger.
Gui takes my hand in his and looks deep into my eyes. “I promise, Liana. Maybe I should’ve led with that instead of getting straight to business, but there is nothing to be worried about here. I justhaveto go intoeverythingas if therecouldbesomething. It’s when you least expect it when things go south, and I can’t have that happening to you.”
I narrow my gaze on him, still unsure if I should believe him or not. He must sense that because he holds up three fingers and says, “Scouts honor. There are no issues here.”
I try to keep a straight face, but he’s making it incredibly difficult for me. “Scouts honor?” I laugh out. “I’m sorry but come on.”
He gives me a loose shrug. “Hey, I still mean it. Everything will be fine, but I need to make sure you understand the importance if anything bad were to happen and what we need to do.”
I give him a nod. “Okay. I promise, I understand. If you come up to me at any time saying we need to leave…” I do the universal sign for zipping my lips, then say, “No questions asked.”
“Good. And the last thing is, I will make sure to stay out of your way. I’m not there to make you feel like you’re being watched like a hawk.”
“It’s alright, Gui. I got used to it, especially when Giuseppe Silvestri was still alive.”
“Yeah, but my goal is to make youfeellike I’m not there. No matter what life you grew up living, no one wants to feel like someone’s up their ass all the time.”
I let out another laugh. “You’re something else, Gui.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he says with a wink.
“You should. You definitely should.”
