Enzo kept his eyes forward, hands steady on the wheel. He checked the mirror. Nothing but dust and sunlight. Clear. For now. “We’re not stopping to help them. They wanted it to be us down that embankment.”
“We need to call someone,” Kathleen all but yelled. “We have to?—”
“Kathleen, they were trying to hurt you. If we call the cops, it will just attract a lot of unwanted attention and lots of questions you don’t want to answer.”
“But…” she said as she glanced back through the rear window. “I…we can’t just leave them.”
“We can,” Enzo said as he made the turn onto the main road again, “and we will. They were trying to hurt you.”
“Me? Maybe they were trying to kill you? Maybe this has nothing to do with me,” she blurted as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“And maybe I’m the tooth fairy,” he growled. Why couldn’t this woman get her brain around this? After everything she’d been through, she should be able to see this situation for what it was… An assassination attempt. He glanced over at her. She was pale, and her knuckles were white where she gripped her arm.
He started again in a much calmer tone. “I have many enemies, but I haven’t done anything recently that would make anyone suddenly want to kill me. You, on the other hand, are in possession of a stolen statue. I think that pretty much guarantees that they are after you and Ernie.”
She bit her lip. “But I don’t understand. I thought we agreed to do the trade tonight. Why bother trying to get it now? And what would’ve happened if we’d crashed? Then they wouldn’thave gotten Ernie anyway, or at least it would’ve been damn difficult.”
Enzo didn’t immediately respond. He’d been wondering the same thing. “I think they were muscle. Told to stop us and get the statue. I don’t think they put a lot of thought into what would happen if we went into the water.” He didn’t say the rest of his thought out loud, but his stomach tightened.
If whoever wanted the statue decided that they didn’t want to wait until tonight, that they wanted the statue now, it might mean they also didn’t care who died in the process, or even worse, they didn’t want Kathleen to live, regardless, because she might talk about the statue and everything that happened. Witnesses could be a dangerous thing. Even though she said she couldn’t really identify the guy, he didn’t know that.
Maybe keeping his identity hidden was more important to him than the statue. If that were the case, they were walking into a hell of a trap tonight. He glanced at Kathleen again. It was time to make some phone calls. There was no way he was letting Kathleen be anywhere near the exchange tonight. No fucking way. But if he was walking into something tonight, he was going to make damn sure he was coming out alive, and he didn’t care who he had to kill to make it happen.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Should we change our plans?” Kathleen asked hesitantly. “It seems the guy who wants Ernie knows we’re coming. Maybe staying in Milan isn’t the best idea.”
Enzo offered her a small smile. “Milano is my backyard. They won’t get anywhere near us, at least not without me knowing they’re coming. And that makes all the difference.”
Kathleen stared at him and swallowed. She wanted to feel reassured, but after what just happened, his words rang hollow. She’d been thinking the whole thing was a bit of a lark. A stolen statue, being mugged in an alley to get it back, the break-in at her hotel. Not her normal idea of fun, but exciting in its own way. Now, after what just happened, the weight of the reality of the situation settled on her shoulders like a slab of marble. A cold, hard truth that weighed her down so much she might be crushed under it.
She kept a death grip on the door the remainder of the ride to Milan. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Enzo; he could obviously drive and handle the car. It was the situation itself. Some stupid, ugly little statue had been shoved into her bag, and suddenly shewas tangled in this huge mess. She didn’t like where any of it was leading.
She glanced over at Enzo. To look at him now, no one would ever know they’d been involved in a car chase that had ended in the other car plunging off a cliff. Had they even lived? Kathleen bit her lip. She knew he’d been right. Stopping would have been a stupid thing to do. What if they were alive and started shooting? But they could have at least called the police. Enzo had said they needed to stay out of it. The less involvement, the better.
Kathleen rubbed her forehead. She understood the mentality, but she still hated the action. She took another quick glance at Enzo. He looked calm, strong, relaxed…as if they’d been out for a Sunday drive. And damn if he didn’t look even sexier to her now. The way he’d handled the situation with cold, calm precision. It had been sexy as hell but also a bit terrifying.
She hadn’t asked Jamie much about Enzo. Now she regretted that. He reminded her in a way of her mobster ex. She was pretty sure her brother had said Enzo was in business, but what kind? She had no clue. Maybe once they got to the hotel, she’d make a call and ask some questions. She was getting the distinct feeling that Enzo didn’t play by the rules. Not that Jamie did, she had to concede, but with Enzo there was a different level of danger. Something darker. Why were the good-looking ones always so damn damaged?
She let out a sigh as they zipped around a truck. They were already in the shopping mecca. Gucci, Armani, all the big names had storefronts here.
“We’re here,” she said.
“Yes,” he agreed. They turned down the street where the Jasmine Door was located, but he didn’t stop.
“Are we going around back?” Kathleen asked, glancing over at him.
His eyes flicked constantly to the rearview mirror.
“Is someone else following us?” she asked as she turned to look through the rear window, adrenaline flowing through her.
“No. We’re fine. And no, we’re not going to the back door.”
She swallowed, trying to get her heart rate back under control. “Then why are you looking around?”
“It’s always good to keep a watch.” He offered her another small smile.
“So…if we’re not stopping at the Jasmine Door, where are we staying?”
