Eight minutes later, dressed in dark, nondescript cargo pants, a black thermal shirt, and a worn leather jacket that concealed the two holstered guns at his back, Dario shouldered a compact duffel full of knives and other toys and headed for the villa's underground garage.
Frederica was already there, leaning against the matte-black Audi RS6 Avant that was their ride. Her dark hair was pulled back in a thick braid, her face devoid of makeup, and she looked all sharp angles and focused intensity. She was dressed similarlyto Dario, in boots, functional black jeans, and a snug black turtleneck that showed off the defined muscles of her arms and shoulders. He wanted to ask her to arm wrestle, and that was a response he had never had to a woman before.
"Took you long enough, Sleeping Beauty," she said and pushed off the car, her hazel eyes sweeping over him, lingering on the few glimpses of his tattoos on his wrists and the open V of his shirt. He almost asked if she wanted him to take his shirt off so she could get a closer look, but didn't want to risk getting shot before he was properly awake.
"Some of us need more beauty sleep than others," he replied, and winked at her.
"Hope you're bringing your A-game, unlike Rome," she added, killing his flirtatious mood.
Instead, Dario felt the old, familiar irritation flare.Rome. The eternal fucking benchmark of his professional humiliation. He had been assigned to protect some minor Balkan diplomat with more enemies than sense.
He had stepped away forliterallytwo minutes to take a piss and returned to find the diplomat slumped in his chair, a single, perfect hole drilled between his eyes, and Frederica Alesci melting back into the shadows of the palazzo garden like smoke.
She had left a fucking calling card of a single, spent 7.62mm casing with a heart carved into it with the tip of a knife, placed neatly on the dead man's lap. It was the ultimate 'fuck you.'
Dario could still hear his mother screeching at him from the afterlife over it.
He dropped his duffel into the Audi's trunk with a thud. "Funny. Remind me again, how's that clientyouwere paid to protect doing? Oh, wait… You don'tdoprotection, do you? Just termination. Clean, efficient, and utterly fucking predictable."
"Protection is for amateurs and bodyguards who take bathroom breaks at inopportune moments. Elimination ispermanent security." Frederica tossed him the keys. "You drive and try not to crash. I need to monitor the feed." She slid into the passenger seat without another word.
Dario caught the keys, the cold metal biting into his palm.Elimination is permanent security. The woman was a Spartan proverb wrapped in a serious attitude problem.
Dario got in, firing up the Audi's powerful engine, and pulled up the tracking app Leo had synced to the car's system. Luca's dot was still moving steadily northeast on the A4 autostrada, past Vicenza, heading toward Treviso.
"He's making good time, considering he's driving a piece of shit van," Dario muttered, pulling out of the garage and onto the villa's long, winding driveway.
"He's not stopping for anything either," Frederica observed, her eyes glued to another tablet she pulled from a slim bag at her feet. She had multiple windows open of the live GPS, a map overlay, and what looked like traffic cam access Leo or Iz had patched her into. "He's either confident or stupid. I can't tell which."
"Or he knows exactly where he's going and who he's meeting," Dario countered, pushing the Audi hard as they hit the main road, heading for the autostrada entrance. "Treviso's not exactly a hub for clandestine shit. Too busy and picturesque."
Frederica didn't look up. "Picturesque places make excellent cover. Tourists, students, constant movement. It's easier to blend and disappear."
Dario focused on the road, weaving through the sparse pre-dawn traffic with controlled aggression. The silence stretched, thick with unspoken history and professional rivalry. He could feel Frederica's focused energy beside him, a tightly coiled spring that was trapped in a small space.
He preferred his partners on stakeouts to be easy-going. Not one that hit him with a barbed comment every time he triedto make conversation. Frederica only did it to him. She was ridiculously friendly to everyone else. It only irritated him more because he was thelikableone of his brothers. The Charmer. She was completely impervious to it, and it was just one more thing that annoyed him about her.
Dario risked a glance at her profile, sharp against the screen's light. "So why did you take this job with the guy whose rep you torpedoed? Did Kon twist your arm or promise you a shiny new sniper rifle?"
Frederica's gaze didn't waver from the tablet. "Kon asked, and I owed him a favor. I said no to him before when he was dealing with the Aurora, and I regret not being there." A faint curve touched her lips. "Besides, I couldn't let you have all the fun. This felt like a job that needed a bit of subtlety, and you do subtle about as well as a big bear does ballet."
Dario barked a laugh, the sound sharp in the quiet car. "Subtlety's overrated, Frederica. Sometimes you just need a big fucking hammer. Or a very fast car."
He saw the A4 sign and swung the Audi onto the on-ramp, pressing the accelerator. The engine roared, pinning them back in their seats as they merged into the light stream of trucks and late-night travelers.
The miles blurred past, the landscape flattening from rolling Tuscan hills to the greener, more ordered plains of the Veneto.
Vineyards gave way to industrial outskirts, then the sprawling suburbs of Verona and Padua.
Frederica remained mostly silent, a focused presence, occasionally murmuring updates. "Slowing slightly near Vicenza Ovest exit… maintaining speed… taking the Treviso Sud exit."
"Treviso Sud," Dario muttered. "Not heading into thecentro storico. Interesting."
He followed the directions she fed into the car's nav screen, leaving the autostrada and navigating onto smaller provincial roads.
The surroundings became less industrial, more residential, and then gave way to open fields and scattered farmhouses. Dawn had fully broken now, a pale, watery sunlight filtering through the high clouds.
"He's stopped," Frederica said, her voice tightening a fraction. "Rural address. Nice and isolated."
