I'm silent for a moment, processing this. The rage building in my chest feels cold and focused, almost comforting in how familiar it is. This is what I know. Everything with Savannah feels unfamiliar and chaotic, but this… this is where I shine.
"I want him followed," I say. "Twenty-four seven. I want to know everywhere he goes, everyone he talks to, and everything he does. I want to know if he so much as looks at Savannah the wrong way. I want documentation of everything. Photos, recordings, whatever you can get."
"That's going to be expensive. And risky. If he finds out?—"
"I don't care. Just do it." I hang up and immediately call Luca. "I need to talk to you. Now."
We meet at a café in Brooklyn, far enough from our usual haunts that we likely won’t run into anyone that we know. I tell him everything about Whitmore's past.
"I want to kill him," I say flatly. "I want to put a bullet in his head and dump his body in the Hudson."
"Romeo—"
"I'm serious. He hurt that girl, and probably more of them. He's going to hurt Savannah. I can't—" I stop, running my hand through my hair. "I can't let that happen."
Luca is quiet for a long moment. Then he says carefully, "You can't kill him."
"Why not?"
“If you kill him, and she figures out it’s you, she’s going to run. I get that you want her to love you exactly as you are, or whatever, Romeo—but this girl isn’t mafia-born. She’s not going to easily swallow that you killed her fiancé, even if it gets her out of a bad situation.”
I blow a sharp breath out. “She doesn’t have to know it was me.”
“She's not stupid, Romeo. She knows there's something different about you. Something dangerous. And if you kill her fiancé—no matter how much of an asshole he is—she'll never forgive you. She'll never trust you. You'll lose her forever."
I want to argue. I want to tell him he's wrong, that Savannah would understand, that she'd be grateful to be free of Whitmore.
But he could be right.
"So what do I do?" I ask. I hate how helpless I sound.
"You do what you're already doing. You show her that there's another option. You be patient. You let her come to her own conclusions about Whitmore. And you make sure she knows that when she's ready to leave him, you'll be there."
"And if he hurts her before then?"
"Then you deal with it. But not by killing him. Not unless you want to lose her forever."
I'm silent, my jaw clenched.
"Have him followed," Luca says. "Document everything. Build a case. If he does anything—anything—that crosses a line,you'll have evidence. You can use it to protect her without having to resort to violence."
I press my lips together in a flat line. "And if that's not enough?"
"Then we'll figure something else out. But Romeo—" He leans forward, his expression serious. "You need to be smart about this. Dante is already suspicious. He knows something's going on with you. And if he finds out you're this obsessed with a Beauregard, if he thinks you're putting the family at risk?—"
"I don't care about Dante."
"You should. Because if he decides you're a liability, he won't hesitate to remove you. And then who's going to protect Savannah?"
The logic is sound, even if I hate it. I nod slowly.
"Good." Luca sits back. "Now tell me—what's your plan? How are you going to win her over?"
"I don't know." I tap my fingers against the table, looking away. "She's avoiding me. She won't respond to my texts. Every time I try to talk to her, she runs away."
"So stop chasing her. Start courting her."
"What?"
