“You don’t think I can handle a pissant like Vitale?” her brother seethed.
“No, Jamie. I don’t want you to be in a position where you have to. Enzo thinks Vitale is desperate, and that makes him even more dangerous. I…I need you to be safe, to be on the sidelines. I need you to be there for Connor in case… In case anything happens.”
“But I can?—”
“This time, Jamie, you have to let me deal with things.Youhave totrust me. You can’t always be the one to save me. This time, I have to save myself.”
She knew it was a big ask. He was her brother, and his inclination was to race to her rescue, especially after everything they’d been through in the past. But this time, it was up to her to get herself out of this mess. It had to be. She needed this. Needed to be sure of herself again. Needed to know that she was strong enough to weather this storm on her own.
“Kathleen…I just don’t want you to be hurt.”
“Me either,” she said with a chuckle. “But I have to prove to myself that I can stand on my own two feet, Jamie. This situation is better if you’re not directly involved. Who you are will just complicate things.”
There was a knock at the door, and she tensed, but Enzo called her name through the door. She unlocked the door and sat back down on the bed.
“Say you understand, Jamie,” she begged.
There was silence and then a very reluctant, “I get it. But I don’t like it. Not one fucking bit.”
She glanced at Enzo. “Like I said, we have the Callahans working on getting us some intel. Maybe you could help with that?” she asked hopefully.
Her brother sighed again. “Fine. Kathleen…just be careful. Where’s Enzo? I want to talk to him.”
“Er, he’s gone to get food. I’ll get him to call you when he’s back.”
Enzo cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Fine, but I’d better hear from him. If he fails you,” Jamie uttered each word with steely precision, “I won’t negotiate. I won’t threaten. I will end him.”
Kathleen’s breath hitched. “He won’t fail me.”
Another pause. Longer this time.
“He’d better not,” Jamie said softly. “Because right now the only thing standing between Enzo and my full attention… is you.”
The line went dead.
Kathleen lowered the phone slowly, her hands shaking.
“Your brother isn’t happy about this situation, I take it,” Enzo said as he took a seat beside her and put down the supplies he’d brought back with him.
She met his eyes and nodded. For the first time since Nice, she was afraid of something other than Vitale. “I think you’d better avoid him for a while. He’s very pissed off.”
“I’m sure he is. I don’t blame him one bit. If the situations were reversed, I’d have a death squad waiting for him at the train station in Paris.”
Kathleen stared at him, heat filling her cheeks as fear filled her belly. “You don’t think…”
Enzo glanced up, and his eyes narrowed. “So he did threaten my life,” he said softly. “Was he loud or quiet about it?”
Kathleen swallowed. “Quiet.”
Enzo grimaced. “That’s not good.” He sighed. “I will have to deal with him at some point.”
Pointing to her feet, he said, “In the meantime, let’s get you fixed up.”
Kathleen reluctantly swung her feet up onto the bunk next to Enzo. She wasn’t sure how he could be so calm. “I don’t get how you can be so relaxed when my brother wants to kill you.”
Enzo sighed. “I’m not relaxed. I’m realistic. Jamie can’t do anything at the moment. He’s a problem for another day. I’m dealing with each issue as it presents itself. Worrying about tomorrow’s problem today, when in all likelihood it will change, is a waste of energy.”
