Page 60 of One Filthy Kiss

“Amber’s father flew into New York yesterday. My men have tracked him on the airport CCTV. He used a different name, fake ID, traveled economy class with a woman claiming to be his wife.”

It’s hard to breathe. The note flashes in front of my eyes.

I’M WATCHING YOU.

“Where is he now?”

He releases a deep sigh. “We don’t know.”

“I’m leaving.”

I walk from the foyer to the guest room, head down, so that I don’t see the fish drifting leisurely around the aquarium, the cupcakes in a container on the breakfast island counter, Amber’s sneakers where she left them in the hallway.

I open the bedroom door and spot the soft toys lined up beneath the comforter, heads on the pillows, where Amber left them this morning.

In the dressing room, I pick up the clothes Amber and I were wearing when we traveled to New York on Gio’s private jet, and stuff them inside a tote bag that Gio bought at Central Park Zoo. There’s a picture of a sea lion on the front standing on a rock.

“I’ll send you the money for the bag.” I face Gio who is watching me from the doorway.

He crosses the room in a few strides and stands in front of me. “Meggie, you know I can’t let you go.”

“You have no choice.”

I stare at him, willing him to move out of my way before I crack and beg him to take us away from here. It’s me and Amber now, the way it has always been. We were safe in London. Small and safe and inconsequential. Gio is too big for us. Because of him, Amber’s father knows exactly where to find us.

“You promised that we would be safe here.” It’s like listening to someone else speaking to the man I love, but this is the only way. I have to pretend that he means nothing to me, or I won’t be strong enough to walk away. “But we’re not safe. Are we, Gio?”

“I…”

His lips form words that don’t materialize, and in this moment, I realize that he isn’t the demi-god I created in my head when I first set eyes on him. He’s mortal just like me.

“I’m not angry with you, Gio.”

Somehow, the realization in his eyes that there are some things that even he cannot control, has given me the strength to pick myself up and do what I’ve always done. Protect Amber. I never thought this would happen, but I feel more powerful than Giovanni Sabatelli, the man with a limitless bank account at his disposal and a team of bodyguards watching his back.

I’ve always been Megan Walsh, the girl who lost her mom andgained a sister to take care of. Whereas Gio is only just discovering that he has his limits. That he isn’t invincible.

I know exactly where this leaves me: back to where I started.

“Then let me help you.” He moves closer. “Come with me to Sicily. I have contacts there. The instant he sets foot on the island they’ll deal with him.”

“Deal with him?”

He licks his lips like he’s treading dangerously close to a line that he doesn’t want to cross. “He won’t get anywhere near you or Amber.”

“Deal with him how, Gio?”

Because it’s all beginning to slot into place. The bodyguards, the holster Ric wears, the Sicilian connections.

“Don’t make me spell it out, Meggie.”

“Are you part of?—”

Before I can finish, his phone rings again.

This time, Gio doesn’t hesitate. The device is raised to his ear, and he’s facing away from me in a blink. His shoulders are tense, and I wish that I could take off his shirt and massage his back. I can already picture the angel wings tattoo beneath my lips, my hands snaking around him and tweaking his nipples, traveling south to the bulge inside his boxers…

“You have to let me help you, Meggie.”