“I know. But you’re giving a lot to keep her alive. I’m grateful.” He sighs deeply and drags a hand down his face. “How did they find you?”
“I have no idea, sir. I searched their bodies after I woke up but I found nothing.” Pidge and Rex collected DNA, fingerprints, and more but couldn’t find the men in any system, nor any tattoos that would identify them to any family. They were, essentially, ghosts.
But Pidge is determined to get to the bottom of it.
“It must be the Italians,” Guido mutters, draining his glass as he turns away from me and walks toward the drink cabinet.
“The Italians, sir?”
“My deal with them is in its closing act, Falco. You have no idea how important it is. Once Aerin is married to that little Irish rat, we’ll be the most powerful family in New York. Everyone wants a piece. That has to be the reason she’s being targeted.”
Shit.
I forgot all about the Irish and Aerin’s upcoming nuptials to that Irish bastard. Men who only care that she’s an untouched virgin, as if that has any contribution to her value as a person.
Only, she isn’t that anymore.
She’s mine.
I was her first. No one will ever be able to take that away from us.
“You suspect sabotage, sir?” I ask, cautiously keeping my voice level.
“It has to be. Why else would it be her? I subtly checked with the Irish captain and no one has been trying to slaughter his son. Only my daughter. And the rape… Well, the rape that didn’t happen. Bastards are trying to ruin her. We’re the target here, don’t you see?” He turns back to me with a fresh drink in hand then offers it to me, but I decline. “I’ll have Giacomo start looking into the Italians. Those fucks never could let someone else deal without trying to snag a piece.”
“Are they in the same market?”
“No,” Guido scoffs, drinking deeply. “But that’s never stopped them before.” He moves to the window and gazes out over the gardens, shaking his head. “I’m old, Falco. My health is…” He trails off and glances back at me. “Aerin is my future, you understand? She’s this family’s future. I can’t have anything happen to her.”
“Nothing will, sir,” I say while I stand. “You have my word.”
“Aye,” he nods. “And your oath.”
That oath will be the death of me.
The next few weeks pass in a blur. Aerin is swept into wedding planning with her mother while I focus on recovery and trying to find a connection between all the attacks on Aerin’s life. A few secret calls to Pidge inform me that they’re not having any luck either. Each group of men can be traced back, carefully, to hired mercenaries, which supports my growing theory that itisn’t another family trying to sabotage Aerin but someone on the inside.
Someone who knows her movements and her value. Someone who knows not only how to get to her but also my level of skill, because the men who came to the cabin were exceptionally trained. Everyone becomes a suspect, from the night guards to the chef. Everyone Aerin interacts with, everyone who pays me a second of attention that lingers for too long…I suspect them all.
The days trickle by and the investigation is soothed, as always, by Aerin. Lingering looks here and there, close contact while we train and spar in the gym, stolen kisses in the dead of night in a pitch black room hidden under her covers so no one can see us, even on the CCTV. Every touch is a risk, every kiss is a death sentence, but I’m powerless to resist.
The hold she has over me is unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
I love her.
And I will easily give my life to save her.
One day, while buried in GPS data and the history of every driver the estate has ever had, something finally catches my eye.
There’s one person with motive, one person deep within the estate who not only has the means but the reason and the ability to not only target Aerin in all the places she was attacked but also lure her out from inside the estate and into any situation where her life ends up on the line.
One person who goes under everyone’s radar because he’s viewed either as a useless disgrace or an interchangeable pawn.
One person Aerin trusts more than anyone else.
Giacomo.
Her brother’s face stares up at me from the bar CCTV footage, and my stomach flips. He was at the restaurant the first time she was attacked. They didn’t make their move until he was there, which easily makes him look like a potential target. He took her to the nightclub and abandoned her on the night she was so desperate for attention. He even lured her to lunch and tried to get rid of me before going to the bar she was snatched from.
