“I’ll be there,” Stone said. “Bocelli's is public enough that he won't make a scene. Probably."
"Probably," I repeated. "That's not reassuring."
"Would you prefer I lie?"
"Yes, actually."
"Too bad. I don't coddle clients." Stone checked his watch. "You two need to go pack. Serenity and I will coordinate security on this end."
Quentin stood, pulling me up with him. "We should go."
"Yeah." I glanced at Serenity. "Thank you. For everything."
"Of course." She hugged me carefully. "Be safe. And Julia? I saw something else when I touched Silvio."
"What?"
"Family. Strong, protective family energy. Whatever chaos is coming, your family will be on your side."
That, at least, was something.
Chapter 36
Julia
The flight to New York was four hours of watching Quentin work through contingency plans.
"If Carlo brings more than three people, we adjust positioning," he said somewhere over Kansas, reviewing notes on his tablet. "Stone takes the northwest corner. I stay close to you. Exit strategy stays the same."
"You know Carlo's not going to ambush us in a restaurant, right?" I said. "He gave his word."
"His word that he won't kill me. I'm taking him at his word—but I'm also not walking in blind." He glanced at me. "Hope for the best, plan for the worst. That's how you stay alive in this business."
Stone sat at the back of Quentin's jet, reading a thriller novel and occasionally glancing up to assess the situation. His version of support.
"What if he just… doesn't listen?" Quentin asked, setting down his tablet. "What if we show him the evidence and he decides it's not enough?"
"Then we pivot. We've got the courthouse marriage as backup—spousal privilege kicks in either way."
"Which only protects you from testifying against me. Doesn't stop him from having me killed."
"Would you prefer I sugarcoat the situation?"
"I'd prefer not to be in a situation where execution is on the table at all." He met my gaze, and I saw calculation there, not fear. "But since we are, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we walk out of that restaurant alive."
"That's more like it," I said, relieved to see the strategic mind I'd fallen for instead of panic.
"Don't mistake preparation for fear," he said quietly. "I'm not afraid of your brother. I'm respecting the fact that he holds my life in his hands, and treating that reality with the seriousness it deserves."
My heart did that annoying fluttery thing. "You know, most men would be terrified right now."
"I've been shot at in a restaurant while eating pasta. Carlo can't be worse than that."
"He could be exactly as bad as that."
"Then at least I'll die well-fed." He laced his fingers through mine. "For what it's worth, falling for you was worth whatever happens next."
"Romance is not dead."
