Tommaso’s eyes flare with anger. “How do you know they didn’t follow me here then?” he asks.
“I don’t, not really…but it’s unlikely. They’re not nearly as good at their job as I am at mine,” I say with one last puff before I put my cigarette out. I sigh. “Fiona is the strongest. She believes they’re wasting time following you all around, and wants to move on with things.”
“I can relate to that,” he mumbles. “We’re all just biding time until one of us finally makes a move. I’d prefer to be the first one.”
“Well, you might be, if you move fast enough,” I tell him. “Though, they’re planning more than just following you around and having dinner in your territory.”
“Tell me,” Tommaso insists, finally sitting down beside me.
I eye him, wondering if I can truly trust him, but I’ve gone too far already. If I can’t, I’m screwed either way. Even if I back out now. I highly doubt he’d let that happen, and it would lead to blows.
My eyes shift down to his lips for a second. He’s so close to me. So warm. Strong. He smells like soap and leather. I lean in just a little bit closer to him.
“They’re planning to kidnap Carmine.”
5
TOMMASO
Ishould’ve expected Aleksandr’s words; the Bianchis are sure to have something nefarious planned after all their hard work peeking into our lives. Still, the fact that they’d be so cocky to actually plan on kidnapping the Don of the Dresvanni family? I wouldn’t consider that a smart first step to any plan, unless of course, that plan is to completely throw away any chance of not going to an all-out war.
“When?” I ask quickly, anger heating my body. Almost as much as Aleksandr’s close proximity. He’s so close that I can smell the scent of his sweat and skin. Salty, musky… His mouth only a few inches away from mine.
I force myself to lean back so that we aren’t so close together.
“During the charity ball,” he explains. “They’ll get Carmine alone and strike.”
My hands ball into fists. “They really think that’s going to work? Carmine doesn’t go anywhere without Soren these days.”
“They’ll find a way. They’re smarter than you think,” Aleksandr reminds me. “You can’t underestimate them. They wouldn’t be planning this if they thought it had a low percentage of turning out in their favor.”
“I didn’t plan on going to the event, so perhaps they’re right. Carmine and Soren, plus his cousins, would be the only ones there. Unless Alessio and Damian changed their minds about going. There wouldn’t be as many guards there, either, because we aren’t on edge about anything happening in public.”
“Exactly. But now you know. Now you can prepare,” he says in a low tone that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Now you’ll be ready.”
“I have to warn Carmine,” I say, standing up quickly. “He needs to know. He’ll be pissed that I’ve been talkin’ to you, but he’ll get over it.”
Aleksandr blinks at me. “Wait. Carmine didn’t want you to talk to me?”
“No. He didn’t want me to do anything but sit on my fucking hands and help a couple of teenagers learn to fight,” I grumble. “Bet he’ll be glad I didn’t listen to him now.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he insists. “You don’t want to jump into things too quickly.”
“You sound just like him,” I snarl, my face scrunching up. “There’s more to this than just waiting and watching. We have to make a move at some point. This just proves it. If I hadn’t come to you, we wouldn’t know about the kidnapping plan.” I wave my hand around. “At least, not until someone gets hurt. Now, we can control who gets hurt.”
“Can you?” Aleksandr asks as he stands up too. “The Bianchis aren’t interested in talking things out, believe me. So, you’re right; someone is going to get hurt eventually, a lot of people, actually, but it doesn’t have to be right here and now.”
“Who said anything about right here and now?” I ask him. “You act like I’m about to go straight there and try to start a shootout.” I adjust my leather jacket. “I’m going to tell my brothers about the plan. That way, we can be—as you said—prepared.”
“If you aren’t careful, they’ll know someone tipped you off,” Aleksandr says, looking at me with those cold eyes that somehow make every part of my body tingle. “I can’t risk being outed, not yet.”
“You won’t be involved, don’t worry,” I reassure him. “In fact, if you’re there, we can include you in the situation. Make it look like you’re prepared to do anything for them.”
Aleksandr shakes his head. “No. I’m not planning to be there. If I ask to be there all of the sudden, it will look suspicious.”
“Not if you tell them you’re worried that we’re catching onto them and want to be an extra set of hands, and gun,” I say.
He looks to the side for a moment. “No. It’s not a good idea. Besides, I have work to do.”
