She wrapped the towel around her, going to the sink to brush her teeth while he dried off and then wrapped the towel around his hips. He’d brought a small case with him. Brushing teeth together in the bathroom felt almost domestic. He’d never had that experience before, and it made him want to smile.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Emmanuelle bandaged Valentino’s wounds, acutely aware of his dark gaze fixed on her the entire time she worked on each of his wounds. She knew what she was doing. It was part of her training. All members of her family were required to know how to stitch up their own flesh, let alone someone else’s.
It was just, Val’s gaze never wavered from her face, not for a second, and she felt it like a physical touch. He’d always been able to do that to her. Her skin reacted with goose bumps, and her stomach did that silly, slow somersault that made her feel like such a fool. No one else had that effect on her. She had such composure, with the exception of when she was with Valentino.
She wished he’d cover up. His body was beautiful. Truly beautiful. All muscle. The scars he had didn’t detract in the least from his beauty. Neither did the tattoos he wore, and she couldn’t say she was all that fond of tattoos. But Val’s, yes. He was so comfortable in his own skin. He always had been, and he’d taught her to be as well. She was grateful to him for that, but with that came the continuous need for physical, sensual contact. Emmanuelle knew they weren’t going to be given much more time to work things out between them.
“Stop looking at me like you’re going to chain me to the bed and start talking, Val. Seriously.” She avoided his gaze by glancing out the window, the one with the view overlooking the lake.
It was impossible to say why she was so uneasy, but she was. Perhaps it was the fact that shadow riders never disclosed what they were to anyone else. If someone else found out about them, it was a death sentence. She’d been so careful to keep her family away from Val for that very reason. Now, Stefano knew Val was aware of all of them. She had no choice but to tell her brother that Valentino Saldi knew the Ferraros could slide into the shadows and that they were assassins, although by now, she was certain Stefano already was aware. There was very little that got by her brother.
“I like that you’re so efficient with wounds. We always employ our own doctor, but having my wife able to handle gunshots and stabbings might just come in handy.”
She lifted her lashes and looked him directly in his dark, beautiful eyes. “I’m also handy with guns and knives, just so you know.”
“I find that incredibly sexy, Ms. Ferraro.”
“I’m sure you do, Mr. Saldi. Where exactly is Dario? Please don’t tell me he’s in my living room.”
“Why would he be in your living room when you have several very comfortable bedrooms?”
“My house should have told on him.” It hadn’t. She hadn’t caught one single vibration. Even her brothers and mother gave off energy that sent alarms radiating through her body. She felt it through the floorboards of the house. The walls. Sometimes the windows. She understood why she wouldn’t with Valentino, they shared a physical connection now. Dario? No way. There were no ties whatsoever to him. “Both of you went all through my house, didn’t you?”
“Only I did. We needed to know all the entrances, exits. Anywhere an enemy might get to us. I mapped out your home and sent the information to Dario. He’s on the roof. I couldn’t convince him to act like a human being and come inside. He’s up there with a sniper rifle. Said you always know when someone gets too close. Better me taking a chance than him.”
That made her feel better. At least Dario wasn’t somewhere in the house and her radar had let her down.
“I like your home, Princess—it suits you.”
Emmanuelle couldn’t help the warm feeling his praise of the house brought her. She’d taken her time finding the perfect property. “I really love it.” She drew her knees up and rubbed her chin on top of them. “Val, I get that you would want to protect your wife and children. I’m going to reiterate that it isn’t as easy as you might think to go into the shadows, and not everyone can do it. Not even those born specifically for it, or those trained from childhood for it. That aside, you said when the man first ties the woman to him, those ties can be broken. That’s when he has to be close to her when she’s spying on his enemies. What’s the second phase, when the ropes are heavier? When he’s managed to put more of them on her shadow?”
She kept her gaze fixed on his face. She’d decided to go one step at a time, not jump straight to the endgame. Val clearly didn’t want to go there with her and kept stalling. She needed to know each phase of the Saldi myth just in case. If not for her to get out, then to pass on to Stefano so he could relay it to the council to protect all female riders—and so she could protect any daughters she might give birth to.
“There’s still time for the two to part ways, although it is much more difficult,” Val said. “At least, according to the original source I translated. It was old, Emme. It took a while for me to find it. I was lucky in that Giuseppi had insisted I learn multiple languages, Sicilian being one of them. Depending on how strong the bonds are, the knots can be untied, but both parties have to cooperate, or the male can kill the female or the female can kill the male. Those are the only ways to break the bond at that level.”
“Lovely. So he knows he can kill her, but she is unaware of that fact, I suppose. You certainly didn’t enlighten me.”
He gave her a faint grin. “You most likely would have gutted me without a second thought for trapping you.”
“Very likely. A nice, slow death would make up for the trouble you’ve caused me. What kinds of things would your prisoner do for you?”
“Emme, you’re not my prisoner.”
“I am, though, Val.”
“If you’re my prisoner, Princess, then I’m just as much yours.”
“Perhaps. What does she do for you?” He hadn’t asked her to do anything for him.
“She can spy from a much longer range. The tether between the two is longer, but he still has to be fairly close to her. I’m uncertain how close. I never put it to the test. I wasn’t looking for a spy. The idea of me ordering you to put yourself in danger to spy for me never entered my head. I want to protect you, not have you somewhere an enemy might kill you.”
Emmanuelle wasn’t going to point out to him that she couldn’t be killed so easily. She believed him. His voice rang with sincerity. At no time had he asked her about her family secrets, and he’d never once suggested she look into what Miceli, Angelo or Tommaso were doing. In fact, he’d told her to stay away from them. Often. He wanted to put bodyguards on her. That had infuriated her since her brother already had put them on her and she continually had to find ways to elude them.
“After that stage? When the ropes and knots are really being packed on. When the knots are intricate and nearly impossible to sever. Ricco is especially good with knots, and he said it would be extremely difficult to undo those knots.”
“That’s where things get very dicey with this myth, which isn’t a myth. It seems to be reality. You know how the original fairy tales always seemed to be very dark and grim? This one is as well. The couple can live together happily ever after if they stay together and cooperate, but if not, really sinister and bad things begin to happen.”