Reeves was a bastard, but he was a smart bastard.
"Luca?" Valentino's voice came from the bedroom. "Are you up?"
"I'm here." I walked back to the bedroom to find him sitting up in bed, hair disheveled, looking exhausted. "How'd you sleep?"
"Not well. You?"
"About the same."
He rubbed his face. "What day is it?"
"Thursday. Day three."
"So two more days until his week deadline." Valentino got out of bed and pulled on sweatpants. "Unless he does it today."
"Or tomorrow." I set down my coffee and pulled him into my arms. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm terrified. But I'm handling it." He held on to me. "I keep thinking about being arrested. About the handcuffs and the processing and the humiliation. And I know it's coming and there's nothing I can do to stop it."
"I know. I'm thinking the same things."
"Are you scared?"
"Terrified," I admitted. "Not of the arrest itself. I've been arrested before. But of them taking you. Of not being able to protect you through the process."
"Emilio said they'll separate us. Different cars, different processing."
"I know. That's what scares me most." I held him tighter. "But we'll get through it. Emilio will be there immediately. Bail is already arranged. We'll be out the same day."
"And then what? We just... wait for trial?"
"Trial prep starts immediately. Depositions, discovery, building our defense. It'll take months before we actually go to court." I pulled back to look at him. "This is just the beginning."
"I know." His eyes were shadowed with exhaustion. "I'm trying to be strong but Luca, I'm so scared."
"So am I. But we have each other. And we have family support. We're not doing this alone."
He nodded and kissed me. "I love you."
"I love you too."
We made coffee and breakfast together, both trying to act normal despite the sword of Damocles hanging over us. Valentino opened his laptop to work—he'd been doing everything from home since Reeves's visit, not wanting to be arrested in public—but I could see he wasn't actually focusing.
My phone rang. Matteo.
"Any news?" he asked immediately.
"Nothing yet. Still waiting."
"This is fucking torture. I hate that you're going through this."
"We'll survive it." I glanced at Valentino, who was pretending to read something on his screen. "How's everything there?"
"Business is fine. Stefan and Julian are handling the legitimate restructuring. Everything's on track." He paused. "Luca, when they arrest you, we'll be there within minutes. All of us. You won't go through processing alone."
"I appreciate that."
"And Sandro already has Emilio on standby. The second you call, he'll be at the courthouse."
