So what does that mean?
I turn the glass in my hands. Maybe it’s only that we’ve been together every hour for weeks now, working the same problem and sleeping under the same roof. Maybe it’s a habit. People who fight next to each other start to cover each other, and that’s all.
But I’m not sure I believe it, because I could’ve let him take the shot. I think about that more than I want to. One second slower and he’d be gone, and maybe I wouldn’t even need a partner since now everyone seems to have accepted me.
I set the glass down before I crush it. The trouble is, I don’t want Matteo gone. At some point, I started looking forward to the sound of his voice. I like arguing with him. I like that he backs my calls, even when he thinks I’m wrong, and that hetells me about it instead of just nodding along. None of that was supposed to happen. We had a deal, and feelings were never on the table.
I rub my forehead. This is exactly how people get killed in our world. You let yourself care about someone, and then they become a weakness everyone aims for. Tomasso drilled that into me before I could even hold a gun. He said the moment you love something, you hand your enemy a weapon, because now they know what to take from you.
But I’m not made of stone, no matter how much easier it would be if I were. I loved Tomasso like a second father, and look where it got me. He’s dead, and instead of letting it go, I swore I’d put Dominic in the ground for it. If I were truly cold, I’d have done what my father would. Tomasso’s gone, the business is mine, and I’d move on. But I didn’t do that. I started a whole war over my grief, and now here I am, risking everything for a man Dominic almost took from me today.
Maybe caring is just what I do, and I can’t switch it off. If I let myself stay like I am, soft for Matteo and burning for Tomasso, it’s going to get me killed. I know it. My father would say so. A woman who feels too much doesn’t last in this life, and I’ve already given Dominic one way to hurt me. I don’t need to give him a second.
Does Matteo even feel anything back? Or am I the only fool catching feelings in a marriage that’s supposed to be only on paper? Men like Matteo are good at making you believe things. He could be playing me, keeping me close, and loyal to me only because a partner who’d take a bullet for him is worth more than gold. I’d think like that if I were him, and I’d use it.
So maybe he’s using me, and maybe I’m letting him. I let out a long breath and shake my head. None of this will get me anywhere. I can stay here and pick at my own heart all night, or I can do the thing that actually matters, which is finding out whosold us out at the dock. Dominic knew what he wasn’t supposed to, which means I’m the one who has a mole.
I need to figure out who it is and catch him before it’s too late.
Chapter 25
MATTEO
AMALIA SHOVED ME DOWNinto the dirt without a second of hesitation, and I can’t get it out of my head. She just threw herself in front of a bullet meant for me, and no one in my life had ever decided I was worth that before.
I head down the hallway toward her room with no clear plan, just a thing I want to say and no idea how to start it. Maybe I’ll ask her why she did it, even though I think I know, or I want her to say it out loud so I’m not the only one feeling something.
We had a deal that feelings were never part of, but somewhere along the line, I started wanting her for reasons that have nothing to do with the work. I like her. I can admit it to myself, at least, even if I have no clue what to do about it.
Maybe we should talk about it, or maybe I’m an idiot for thinking she’d want to.
But as I get to the end of the hallway, something moves near the window at the far end, just a flicker behind the curtain that’s gone before I can get a good look. I go still and watch the spot where I saw it. Nothing. The house is quiet and dark, and I tell myself it was an illusion.
Except it wasn’t. I see a shape slipping along the wall toward the side door, so I break into a run after it. Someone is inside who shouldn’t be, and I’m not about to let them get to Amalia. The shape ducks through the side door and out into the dark, and by the time I reach the threshold, the yard is empty. Whoever it was moves fast. Faster than me, and I’m no slouch.
I look around the garden, the hedges, and the wall along the back. Nothing but shadows. They’re gone. Where the fuck are the guards? Why aren’t they here? It makes no sense. They should’ve caught the intruder and never let them get close to the house in the first place.
I spot a folded piece of paper on the step, pressed down by a stone so the wind won’t take it. I pick it up and tilt it toward the light.
Matteo, come out alone.
Well, that’s not ominous at all.
I pull my gun from the back of my waistband. Whoever left this is probably watching me right now, and they want me away from the house and away from Amalia, which is exactly why every instinct I have tells me to go back inside, lock the door, and find the guards. But I’m also curious.
So I head out into the yard, keeping close to the wall, and I check every dark gap between the hedges before I move past it. My heart thumps harder the deeper I get, but my hand is steady, and that’s what counts.
There’s another note pinned to the gatepost at the edge of the garden.
Keep going.
I rip it down and shove it in my pocket. They’re leading me somewhere, and I know better than to follow a trail laid out by someone who won’t show his face, but turning back just makes me a target. Besides, if they wanted to kill me, they probably would’ve already attacked.
I spot the two guards posted at the front.
“Did either of you see anyone come through here?” I ask, keeping my voice down. “Anyone at all?”
The taller one shakes his head. “No one, sir. It’s been dead quiet all night.”
