9
Cristiano
She’s ruffled me. Gotten under my skin.
I’m distracted when I walk out of the room. I fist my hand, relax it. I swear I can still feel the pulse at her throat in my fist. I need to be careful. I need to check my rage. I may need her yet.
And I don’t want to hurt her.
“Cristiano,” Alec calls out. He has to do it a second time before I stop and turn. I didn’t even see him outside the door. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Stay with her. She can spend five minutes with her brother after she eats. Then I want her in that room unless she’s in the kitchen with Lenore. She’s not to go outside and you’re not to leave her side, understand?”
He appears momentarily confused and I realize how intense I sound but he schools his features and nods.
“Good.” I look at my bedroom door behind which is my infuriating captive. I give a shake of my head to clear the assault of her words. I’m walking down the stairs but before I’ve even reached the bottom, I smell it. Burnt sugar.
I inhale deeply and when I look at my mother’s portrait, I see it. A flash of memory. Us in the kitchen. All of us. Her four boys. Elizabeth wasn’t born yet. My brave little men, she’d call us when we were young. We were always her brave little men.
And for a moment, for an instant, I hear her say those words in her soft voice. I swear I fucking hear it.
“Cristiano?”
I blink and it’s gone. Gone like it never even happened.
“Are you all right?” Lenore is rushing to me and I realize how I must look.
I straighten, scrub my face, glance up at mom.
My brave little men.
Lenore is calling for Alec to hurry down. He’s the only one she trusts, too.
“I’m fine. It’s fine.” I take a steadying breath. “Is it ready?” I ask eagerly.
She appears confused but then her face breaks into a warm smile. “No, not yet. It’ll take another half hour to bake and it needs to cool. You can’t have it for breakfast until tomorrow. Do you remember how your mother would let you boys eat dessert for breakfast?”
“Yeah,” I say, wanting to remember. Wishing that if I say that I do, maybe I will. “I remember.”
Her smile falters a little and I wonder again if she hears the lie. If she knows I can’t remember, not the events themselves. And not my family.
“It’s all right, dear. It’s very painful, I know.”
I clear my throat, steel myself. “The girl.” My voice comes out hoarse. “Feed her, make sure she eats every meal. I’ll be back late. Only when she eats does her brother eat.”
“She’s very young and the boy even younger.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I snap, and the look on her face makes me pause. I take another deep breath in, wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. “They’re part of the De La Cruz Cartel. Blood of those who killed my family. Our family.” Because Lenore is as close to family as one can be.
“I know. I know who they are. But they were children, Cristiano.”
“Like Luca and Gianni were children. Like Elizabeth and Mara.”
She steps back and looks down for a moment. “Come have breakfast.”
“I’m late to meet Charlie.”
“Better Charlie than David,” she says with an edge to her tone.
“What is it? Why don’t you like him? What is it with you two?”
“It’s not that I don’t like your uncle, of course. I just worry because you’re different when you get back after time with him.”
“Hm.” I check my watch. “I have to go.” I think of something then. “Do one more thing for me. Have someone change the lock on Elizabeth’s room. Put it on the outside.”
She understands why, I’m sure, but doesn’t comment. Just nods.
“I’ll see you tonight, Lenore.”
“Be safe, Cristiano.”
That’s her standard goodbye whenever I leave the island.
I get my shoulder holster from the study and tuck my gun beneath my jacket. I head toward the front doors, two eight-foot steel reinforced doors. I’m not taking any chances. The pilot of the chopper is in close conversation with Antonio, the head of my security detail.
“Cristiano, you want us to ready the chopper? You didn’t call down, but it’ll just take a few minutes.”
“No, I’m taking the boat today. Alone.”
“That’s not a good idea. Tensions are high. People are anxious,” Antonio says.
“Then follow me with another boat. I don’t care but I’m taking the boat. Alone.”
For a moment I’m sure he’s going to argue with me, but I walk out the door into the bright sunlight. It’s late fall so even though the sun shines, it’s a cool day. Good. It’s just what I need to clear my head. Today is a big day.
10
Cristiano
By the time I dock the speedboat in Naples, I’m more focused.
I’m surprised when I see my uncle David is here to greet me. He’s standing beside the first SUV, one hand in the pocket of his pants, the other around the phone he’s got to his ear. He simply nods in greeting, expression serious.
Antonio and the soldiers who will accompany me dock beside my boat as I secure mine. I wonder what we look like, me ahead of the three, all of us in dark suits, dark sunglasses, heading to the row of waiting SUVs with their tinted windows.
Money, I guess. We look like money.
And trouble.
The Grigori family back to take its rightful place at the top. Except that we’re not much of a family anymore. We’re a two-man show.
“Uncle,” I greet him. “I didn’t expect to see you this morning.”
He tucks his phone into his pocket and shakes my hand, glancing behind me. “You should take the chopper. It’s safer.”
“I’m fine. I needed the air. Why are you here?”
He studies me as he considers this. “I have two names.”
I feel my jaw tense but nod.
“Tell me you did what I said,” he says.
“Which part?”
“The girl. Is she out of your system?”
“She was never in my system,” I lie.
“You didn’t do it, did you? You didn’t get rid of her.”
“She’ll warm my bed for another few days. Leave it. She’s not your concern.”
“She’s a threat. Her family will want her back.”
“Her family’s dead. You mean the cartel will want her back. Maybe. Maybe not. And if they do, it could be to make her queen or to kill her. If it’s to make her queen, then she’s valuable. There are those who are loyal to her, to her family. We have to think farther down the road, Uncle. We can still use the cartel and if I have their princess, then I hold something of value.”
“And her fiancé?”
I raise my eyebrows. “He’s no longer her fiancé.”
“Call him what you want. He can use her to secure his position with the cartel. It’s easier to be rid of her.”