She beams and goes back to debating flower walls with Bella. Ale waits until they’re distracted, then crooks two fingers at me. I sigh and follow him into the hallway, away from the laughter.
“What, you want to practice your scowl on me now?” I mutter.
“You know what.” His voice drops low, steel under the calm. “We should tell them.”
“No.” I fold my arms. “Not tonight. Not ever, if I can help it.”
Ale’s jaw tightens. “Matty, someone—no, not just someone, an assassin related to the Quinlans pulled a gun on you in your own office. Inmyclub. That’s not nothing. They deserve to know?—”
“I said I’ve got it under control.”
“You don’t?—”
“I do,” I snap, sharper than I mean to. His eyes flash, but I barrel on. “I’m not ruining Serena’s wedding with this. They’ll panic, and then I’ll have three cousins breathing down my neck, and Raf will insist on shadowing me with a fucking sniper rifle everywhere I go. No thanks.”
Ale scrubs a hand over his scarred jaw, exhaling through his nose. For a second, he looks like he’s going to push harder. Then he mutters, “Fine. But I’m doubling security at the Vault for the shower. No arguments.”
I lift my hands in mock surrender. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“So what’s the plan? Are you just going to keep trying to avoid your assassin or what?”
“No…” I hiss.
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Cazzo, if I knew she’d already be dead.” I rake my hands over my face and blow out a breath.Dio, what a fucking liar. Even if I found my beautiful assassin, would I be able to pull the trigger? Not until I knew who she was and why she made my blood simmer. Dismissing the pointless thoughts, I continue, “The facial recognition software is garbage because of that damned mask. It couldn’t detect a thing. The girl’s a damned ghost.”
“Wonderful, so we have an assassin on the loose and a bridal shower next week with a whole slew of high value targets. This is just fucking perfect, Matty.”
“Everything will be fine, trust me.” Throwing him a grin, I spin on my heel back down the corridor.
When we step back into the living room, the noise washes over us again. Serena laughs at something Raf said and Isabella is swatting at him while Alessia demands more prosecco.
Serena pauses mid-giggle, eyes narrowing. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing,” Ale says smoothly.
“Absolutely nothing,” I echo, flashing my most innocent grin.
She doesn’t look convinced, but Antonio distracts her by pulling her into his lap and murmuring something that makes her flush.
Crisis averted. For now. But as I sink back onto the couch, I can’t shake the weight in my chest.
Because Ale’s right. This isn’t nothing.
And the longer I keep it from them, the worse it’s going to blow up when the truth finally comes out.
CHAPTER 5
SURVEILLANCE
Caitríona
The apartment is too damned quiet, the walls closing in on me. It’s been three days since the gun went off into the ceiling instead of my target, three days of lying low. Waiting. Of replaying that moment at the Velvet Vault over and over again. I can still feel the recoil phantom over my shoulder.
I can still hear the echo of Matteo’s voice in my head, low and teasing, like the bastard didn’t have a gun pointed at him. The memory burns under my skin, clinging like smoke I can’t scrub off. I shove it down and pull on my leather jacket. If I sit in this apartment any longer, I’ll crawl out of my own skin.
So I force myself to move.
