I frown, confused about why he’s saying that, because I don’t feel pain anywhere. But when he crouches at my feet and my gaze follows him there, I notice the deep cut on my left toe. I look up, swallowing, trying to expel the image from my mind. I often faint at the sight of blood.
Cesare shifts, and then the sound of ripped fabric reaches my ears as he quickly ties it around the wound. Pain skitters throughthis time, and I hiss, bringing my gaze back down. His shirt is now missing a corner.
Down the hall, doors have flung open, the staff filing out one by one. I turn my trembling body, checking to see if anyone else got hurt, but they all seem intact. A little shaken, perhaps, but okay.
“Talk to me,” Cesare says into an earpiece. I pull away from him, unable to stay still, but he holds me close, continuing to shield me. “And no one else is lurking around? Are you sure?”
I blink, clinging to every word as the smell of iron and smoke reaches me through the open windows.
“Everything’s fine,” Cesare tells us. “Go back to your rooms. Someone tried to breach the gates, but we caught him. You’re all safe, I promise.”
What did he just say…?
Someone tried to breach the gates.
A man.
Oh, God…Oh my God.
“Lia?” Giuseppina says carefully, using the nickname only my mother used to call me. “What happened to you,bambina?”
“I…I broke a glass.”
She shakes her head as she approaches. “Let me see that.”
I look at Cesare. “Go with Giuseppina. It’s alright now,” he says, but I can’t. I’m too dazed, too affected by the idea my stalker could have followed me home tonight.
“Who tried to break in? What happened?” I demand. When he doesn’t say anything, panic grips me even harder. “Cesare. Tell me what the hell is going on!”
A muscle twitches in his jaw as he sighs through his nose. Giuseppina excuses herself to bring disinfectant, and the others scatter back to their rooms, understanding the information won’t be shared publicly for now.
Once they’re gone, Cesare mutters, “I thought it was the Russians. Retaliation for the last hit, maybe.”
“But?”
“Like I said, there was only one guy. We checked the perimeter—no one else was with him. Which is fucking weird, since he was unarmed.”
“Just one?” I triple-check, my heart beating so hard, Cesare might be hearing it too.
“Just one.”
“It’s him, then,” I say, shaking my head. “It has to be him. The man who has been following me. I’m telling you.”
It’s the only logical explanation after everything at the recital. Who else could it be?
“Okay. Fuck. Well, if it is him, he seems harmless. The guys searched him—no gun. Why would he come here like that?”
My mind scrambles to put two and two together, but nothing makes sense, including how he found this house. If he had followed me here after the recital, my guards would’ve seen his car on our trail. Thepalazzois too secluded, built on the outskirts of San Maleno for exactly this reason—so no one can find us.
Which means he couldn’t have arrived here on his own.
“Did he…say anything?” I ask.
“I don’t know yet, but someone will make him talk. Now, go let Giuseppina take care of that cut,” Cesare says, his gaze setting on the housekeeper as she returns with the disinfectant. “Get some rest, Cecilia.”
Then, he’s gone.
When I finally go back upstairs with a clean bandage tight around my toe, I tell myself I’m safe. But even if the intruder is taken care of, the fact he’s in such close proximity to me does little to calm me down.
