Chapter 26
Quentin
"I'm sorry, Quentin." Stone looked at me with that particular expression—part concern, part frustration—like a parent catching their kid making the same stupid mistake twice. "I don't want to say I told you so."
I’d called him right after I discovered that Julia had left the restaurant. We’d agreed to meet at my office.
"But you're going to anyway." My voice came out flat. Hollow. I couldn't muster the energy to argue. Because hehadtold me. And I hadn't listened. "We don't know anything for sure yet," I added, though even I could hear how weak it sounded.
Serenity placed an evidence bag on my desk. A damaged slug sat inside, misshapen from impact. “We got this earlier.”
I stared at it, that small piece of metal that had nearly ended Julia's life. Nearly ended mine. "The bullet? Anything useful?"
"Yes." But Serenity's expression killed any hope before she could continue.
"But?"
"My vision showed a dark-haired man, maybe thirty to thirty-five. Fit. Determined." She closed her eyes, clearly trying to pull more details from the memory. "I saw him loading a magazine.Then he answered his phone—a woman's voice told him to kill them both."
My chest tightened.Kill them both.Julia and me.
"Could you identify him? The woman?"
"No." Frustration leaked into her voice. "The vision was hazy, dark—like watching through smoke. Dark eyes, olive skin, but nothing distinctive. And the woman's voice..." She shook her head. "I didn't recognize it."
"But it wasn't Julia." I needed to hear it confirmed.
"No. Definitely not Julia."
Some of the tension in my shoulders eased. She hadn't been the one giving the kill order. That had to mean something.
Stone picked up the evidence bag, turning it in the light. "It's a nine-millimeter. Professional work, based on Serenity's vision. This is our guy—has to be. The killer from New York."
"Silvio." The name tasted bitter on my tongue. I looked at Stone. "We have his photo—"
"Already showed her." Stone gestured to Serenity. "First thing I did."
Of course he had. Stone was nothing if not thorough.
I met Serenity's gaze, searching for certainty. "Could it be him?"
"Maybe." She spread her hands helplessly. "But I can't say for sure, and I won't accuse someone without being certain. If I tell you it's him and you let your guard down around someone else..."
"I understand." I did. But damn, I neededsomethingdefinitive. Some clarity in this mess.
"So, if itwasSilvio..." I forced myself to think through the logic, even though every instinct in me rebelled against it. "He's Julia's cousin. Why would he try to kill her?"
"Maybe it was theater," Stone suggested. "Make it look good so you'd trust her."
"No." The word came out harder than I intended. "We've been over this. Nobody takes that shot—that close, that precise—as part of some elaborate con. He was trying to kill her. I'm sure of it."
I had to be sure of it. Because if I was wrong...
Stone grunted his displeasure. "I don't like any of this. Unknown assassin, rival family, something we're not seeing—we're vulnerable here."
"You think I don't know that?" Frustration bled into my voice. I'd been playing this game my whole adult life. Rivals. Enemies. People wanting to take what was mine, to eliminate the competition. "It's not exactly news, Stone."
"Let's talk about Julia." Serenity's voice cut through the tension. She held up one finger, then another, ticking off points. "One: She's a target too, specifically because she's fallen for you. Two: She's still technically an enemy, and why she confessed instead of just killing you is a mystery. And three: We're missing something. There's a bigger picture we're not seeing."
