Why did Mateo even ask him to protect me? He probably has no idea. If he knew, I’m sure he wouldn’t have.
I need to leave this place.
I can’t stay here knowing he’s capable of doing all those things.
I’m not safe here.
Chapter 12
Damiano
Katarina sleeps the rest of the day, after she asked me to leave her alone. The next day, she refuses to eat the meals that the maids bring her. Gio is guarding her door while Lorenzo’s guards train Julian. He needs to learn about my family, the Five Dons, and the property if he were to protect Katarina well.
When I revealed my true identity to her, her face shifted like a sky before a storm. She didn’t scream. She just... stopped looking at me like she used to. That was worse. I wish she had screamed and gotten angry, but she just looked defeated. And if I hadn’t lost her before, I feel like I just did.
She wasn’t mine to lose to begin with, but it feels that way regardless. And that fucking feeling lingered, like a quiet ache that gnawed at me, reminding me of the version of myself I thought I could run away from. The version of myself I thought I could hide from her.
As I stay away to give her time to calm down, I spend my time spying on Guidicelli and gathering more information about Mateo and Katarina.
Nicolo seems to be lying low and hasn’t made any unusual moves since we arrived. But I cannot find any relevant information on Mateo and Katarina that would have piqued his interest.
Katarina and Mateo moved to Argentina after their parents died in a car accident in Spain. A woman from Argentina adopted them. They were raised on a small estancia in a quiet province called Mendoza. When their adoptive mother died, Mateo moved them to Buenos Aires so Katarina could finish her studies. Mateo eventually opened his security company, and Katarina became a celebrity.
I hit a dead end with their biological parents. They supposedly died in a vehicular accident in Madrid, but I can’t find any records that fit what Katarina described to me before. And because they were adopted, I can’t get a copy of their original birth certificates either.
I just know that the missing information is the key. I can feel it in my gut. And there is only one person who can help me dig deeper.
I pick up my phone and dial Andreas Moretti.
"Allura, si nun è lu figghiu pròdigu di li Cotrini."A low, smoky voice comes onto the line and tugs a smile on my lips. I missed the fucker’s voice. Andreas is the only son of Don Moretti, one of the Five Dons.
Andreas has been my best friend since we were barely walking—him, me, and Lucian Soleri. We were inseparable until I left the mafia two years ago. I haven’t seen them since.
“How are you, my friend?” I settle back into the leather office chair and say. I stare out the window. It has gotten dark already.
“Don’t ask me how I am. Tell me why on earth you are back in Sicily with a strange woman in tow,” he says.
Leave it to Andreas to know everything before you tell him anything. When it comes to gathering intel, no one is better than the Moretti heir.
“She needs my protection. Nicolo Guidicelli is interested in her,” I explain, standing up to walk toward the balcony. The crisp autumn wind sweeps over my face as soon as I step out.
“Interesting. Why would our dear Nicolo have such an interest in your woman?”
My woman. The title shouldn't feel so right, but it does.
“I was hoping you could find out for me. She’s my responsibility now,” I say.
There is a sudden disturbance on the other end of the line—a flurry of raised voices and a sharp exchange of Sicilian curses. Then, someone snatches the phone away.
"A cu stamu attaccannu?"Another familiar voice blares into the earpiece, and I have to pull the phone away to save my eardrum.
Lucian. I guess he was listening in. He is the only son of Don Soleri, the last of the five Dons of the La Famiglia.
“Comu stai, amicu meu?"I chuckle. A genuine smile pulls at my lips for the first time in days. Lucian lives for violence. He is probably already planning which bombs to use in retaliation as we speak.
It’s good to hear their voices. Despite my determination to leave this life, I never wanted to part with them. Our bond is stronger than the one I have with my own brother. These two are my ride-or-dies.Thick as thieves,as my mother loves to say.
When I left the mafia, I made them promise not to follow me. My leaving my family was forgivable because I had Lorenzo to pick up the slack and take care of our father and the business. But Andreas and Lucians are both their father’s only heirs. I couldn’t have them give that all up because my father had no faith in me.
