Maybe I would summon her last fuck like the plastic pointer directed.
The instant I thought the word I remembered the hot as hell night we spent outside Genoa at the sprawling mansion Mario and I bought.It was one of those places designed to impress.When I picked it out, I had the stupid idea I’d bring Mom there one day and rub her face in my success.
Ellie and I had been in Milan that morning.We spent the day looking for her sister.She was looking.I was distracting her.We did two of the touristy things she had detailed in her trip package.First, we went to the Duomo to get a good view of the penthouse Mario’s father lived at.But with all the tourists milling around, I couldn’t exactly pull out the rifle scope I’d carried with me.Frustrated and cold, I let Ellie drag me to the Galleria.
The stores were overpriced, and the crowds huge.It would be a great spot to shiv someone and disappear into the throng.Not even the twenty-seven cameras I’d spotted would be able to track me.
Ellie spun on her heel and laughed until she was dizzy.I caught her on the third turn, and she looked up at me, flushed and happy.
I had to have her that way.
So, I took her on a long trip home to my bed.The place I felt safe because I’d made it that way.
What a mistake.Yet I didn’t regret a damn minute of that night.Only the next day when I led her up the coast to the villa Don Manca held.This time, I brought the whole rifle with me.Ellie didn’t notice the bag I carried, being content to dance ahead, stop and smell early flowers, point at olive trees, and glow.
Just… glow.Like an ethereal angel filled with joy.
Then I spotted the sniper.I sent her ahead, pointing out the house where her sister and Mario were having breakfast on the fucking terrace.Right out in the goddamn open.
The hitman lined up his shot, and I scrambled to assemble the rifle and take aim.Ellie had her phone to her ear because she wanted to warn Allie we were on our way up.
I ignored her and focused on making the craziest shot of my life.There was a light crosswind, sun slightly behind the target, and an uphill angle, making the calculations shift by the millisecond.
Right as I squeezed the trigger, she asked, “What are you doing?”
Then all hell broke loose.She freaked out, following the line of my aim and seeing the sniper fall out of his perch, roll down the terrace, and disappear into the brush.
Worse?She was on the phone with her sister, and by proxy, Mario.I’d outed myself in the worst way possible.
At first, she screamed at me.I was compared to her no-good ex who’d killed Adelmo Conti.
Then she just froze me out.
It was for the best.
I was the rebound fuck.The guy to screw the bad taste out of her memories.I’d done my job, protected my best friend.Led him to the real killer.Got him out alive so he could live happily ever after with Ellie’s twin.
And I’d lost the girl.
The bedroom door rubbed against the carpet as Ellie cracked it open.I’d turned off the lights so I could see out of the sliding glass door better.Her bedroom light was on.It reflected the outline of her head in the glass of the slider better than a mirror.
“Ringo?”
It took me a minute to push the anger out of my voice.“Yeah, babe?”
The swath of light grew larger as she slipped out and approached.
She had both hands in front of her.
Was she carrying a weapon?I tried to make out the details and fell short.But I wouldn’t turn around.If she was going to stab me in the back, the hole would match the one I’d done to myself that horrible day.
“May I show you something and get your opinion?”
She’d stopped just behind the couch.I turned my head to get a look at her.
Her pajamas weren’t from the trip.
She’d packed a whole bag of sexy lingerie that ended up with her sister.I heard the complaints for three days.She’d worn my T-shirts two of those days, and one very intimate night, not a damn thing.
