If I needed proof that I’m living in a completely different reality, I’ve just had it. I’ve never heard Seb talk like this. Open dissent? If another man even hinted at it, he’d shove their head through the wall.
“What are you saying?” I ask him, because I want to be sure.
He just shakes his head again. “It doesn’t matter what I’m saying, Orsini. You’re not gonna be part of it. You’ve got one job right now, which is to keep that kid safe.”
“But you know I’ve always got your back, Seb. You can call on me any time.”
He looks troubled. His talk has gone too close to the edge, and I can see him pulling back from it, the way a man steps back from a cliff he didn’t mean to walk so near. “I should go,” he says, and gets to his feet. He puts out his hand. “Whatever happens, Orsini, I want you to know it’s been an honor working with you.”
I take his hand and shake it, though I don’t like what he’s saying. I don’t like the implications. “Whatever else he is, Big Gee is your brother. He’s got some wild ideas right now, but he’ll get over it. You’ll find a way to bring him around. You always do.”
Seb turns to leave the room. I follow him down to the foyer, where he takes his jacket from the rack and pulls it on. “Thank Rosa for the coffee, will you?” he asks. “Feel like I could go another twenty rounds now.” Before I can open the door to show him out, we hear footsteps coming down the stairs.
It’s Caligula. And from the look on his face, I suspect he’s been waiting for his chance. He’s coming down from the second floor, unhurried, dressed in dark pants and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His hair is pushed back. His face is calm. He looks every cent of the ten million I paid for him—and more.
He’s not a prince. I don’t know why I ever called him that.
He’s always been a king.
He descends the last few stairs and walks right up to Seb. Doesn’t hesitate, just crosses the foyer and extends his hand.
“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced,” he says. His voice is warm but formal. “I’m the new Don Clemenza.”
Seb looks at him. Then, briefly, at me.
And then he takes Caligula’s hand and shakes it. “Sebastiano Conti,” he says. “It’s an honor to meet you, Don Clemenza. Maybe once your Family gets properly established again, you and I could sit down and talk business.”
Caligula inclines his head. Just a fraction. “I’ve always heard Sebastiano Conti was an honorable man. I’m pleased to see the reputation was earned.”
There’s just the smallest change in Seb’s manner, and I’m pretty sure I only catch it because I’ve known him so long. Something in that line about honor really hit him.
Caligula Clemenza, snake to the last. But this time, I’mgladto see his manipulations at work. I think Seb needed to hear it. Needed to remember who he really is. If there’s anyone in this world who can persuade Big Gee to take the better path, it’s Seb.
“Dami,” Caligula says, turning his eyes on me now. “When you’re finished, come and see me.”
I watch Caligula go back upstairs, and when I turn back to Seb, I findhe’swatchingme. I see the expression on his face changing in real time—surprise first, and then a softening of understanding.
And then my stomach clutches, because I’ve never seen Sebastiano Conti look at me withpity.
“Oh,” Seb says. “Is that how it is?”
“Is that how what is?”
He puts a hand on my shoulder and says, more gently than I’ve ever heard him, “You keep him safe in the days to come, Orsini. Don’t forget, now. You made a promise to me.”
Now I really am confused. “Of course I will. And you know I’m your man, Seb.”
We really are in new territory, because Seb doesn’t growl at me and remind me I should be Big Gee’s man. He just slaps my shoulder and turns to leave. The cold air rushes in when he opens the door, and the last I see of him is his back as he waves to me and steps out into the dusk.
I give a shiver, but not from the cold. I have to fight the instinct to run out and pull him back, make him stay here in the house so I can protect him, just like I’m protecting everyone else under my roof.
I force myself to close the door instead.
If Sebastiano Conti can’t look after himself, who the fuck can?
CHAPTER 40
DAMIANO
