“Duty calls,” I murmured into Tierney’s mouth, stroking her face. “Wait for me?”
“Been waiting for eleven years. One more weekend won’t kill me, I suppose.” She pulled away, her brows furrowing when she remembered something. “Hey, who’s feeding my dad while you’re gone?”
“Jeremie’s on pet-sitting duty. Why, are you worried?”
“Yes. Worried he’ll die accidentally before I have time to give him a piece of my mind.”
I smirked, stealing one last kiss. “I love you, Little Flame.”
She didn’t say it back, but she kissed me back with everything she had in her.
And it was more truthful than any words we’d ever spoken…and said one word.
Mine.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Achilles
“You’re fucking kidding me.”I let out a fiery breath.
Luca screwed his fingers into his eye sockets. “I don’t know how it happened.”
“You don’t know how it happ… Turn the fucking plane around!”
“We’re on it, dude. Chillax.” Enzo dropped a hand on my shoulder. I swatted it off, darting to my feet and bulldozing toward the cockpit.
“Don’t tell me to calm the fuck down.”
Coppola was in New York and heading straight toward my apartment.
Luca just got off the phone with Sam Brennan, who’d put a tracker on Stefano’s favorite Rolex for the measly sum of 400,000 euros. We’d been tracking him for weeks now. There was a slight chance the watch’s location—which was currently between Newark and Manhattan—was a trick to lure us back to New York, but I doubted it. This particular Rolex belonged to Stefano’s slain father. He’d part ways with his kidneys before giving up the family heirloom.
No, he was in New York.
And heading in Tierney’s direction, while I was forty-five thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean.
“He could be going to my apartment,” Luca pointed out.
“Yourapartment has Jeremie guarding it,” I hissed back. “I’m not worried about your family. Plus, Coppola’s beef is with me. Turn the plane around,” I roared at our pilot.
“We’re about to take the turn. It’s been cleared with APIS.” Our pilot flicked his gaze to the turn coordinator. “Forty minutes and you’re there.”
“You need to take a deep breath.” Enzo plopped down on a recliner, lighting a cigarette. “You’re probably going to beat Stefano to the apartment with the New York traffic. Have you tried calling her again?”
I had. Again.
And again.
And a-motherfucking-gain.
She wasn’t picking up. It hadn’t even been that long since she’d dropped me off.
“This can be fixed with one phone call,” Luca mused from his spot on the upholstered lounger. “Carmine and Antonio are doing laps around your building. Say the word and they’ll go up there.” He flicked his wrist to check his Patek Phillippe.
Lacing my fingers at the back of my neck, I swore softly.
I promised her no security, but this was an emergency. If it was up to betraying her but saving her or following her instructions blindly and risking her life, I knew which one I’d choose.
