“Just so you know, I shot the guy in the foyer,” Uncle Frank says, smoothing his jacket once Massimo lets him go. “I thought I saw him moving, so it was really me who killed him.”
“Yeah, after I bludgeoned him with that lead crystal vase. Blunt force trauma would have killed him immediately,” I say, my voice flat. “But thanks for being so thorough. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I was hoping we could, ah, talk about Fire and Ice,” he blurts. “Maybe later this week? Just some things your dad and I talked about before…everything.”
I turn a cool gaze up at him. “I’ll see if I can make time.”
He gives a quick nod.
“Get the fuck out,” Massimo mutters, shoving him out the door.
Uncle Frank’s nostrils flare and he balls his fists tight like he’s considering throwing one or both of them in the direction of Massimo’s face.
He must have second thoughts about that move because he slinks out of the office and a minute later, I hear the front door slam closed.
My stomach spirals with the fear that the danger hunting us is getting closer to winning the battle, the battle with a nameless, faceless enemy leading the charge.
And with each day that passes, I lose more and more soldiers.
Chapter Twenty-Two
MASSIMO
“Don’t be so naïve, Kristina. What the hell else would Frank have been trying to do?”
Kristina’s jaw hangs open, her eyes popping open wide. The bruise on the side of her face stains her skin with an array of colors — dark blue, purple, and gray. “Are you serious right now? Accusing my uncle of using those men to break in here? What the hell for?”
“You heard Maria. She said they were going through your father’s things. That wasn’t a robbery. It was a planned attack. And let’s not forget that your uncle ‘conveniently’ forgot his gun in the car.”
Her eyes spit fire, singeing my skin when I get too close.
And fuck, I deserve to get burned…incinerated, even.
There is no end to the lies and the deceit I’ve woven around us.
No possibility of escaping the thick net I’ve cast.
Makes me think I’m actually worse than that slimeball uncle of hers.
It’s been hours since the cleaners showed up to eliminate any and all traces of the dinnertime ‘mess’, and Savio hasn’t responded to any of my texts or calls.
He’s been radio silent, which has my nerves pretty damn frayed because I have no idea what to expect next from him.
The only directive he’s given me is to keep close tabs on Kristina.
And that near-lethal break-in tells me there could definitely be something in Anton’s office that can be used against Savio.
Something that could save me, Joey, and everyone else who is being dangled over the flames by my snake of a father.
But a gut-twisting feeling tells me the scumbags who barged in here weren’t sent by Savio.
That only leaves one person to point an accusatory finger at.
“Look, I’m not defending him at all but let’s be real here. My uncle is a total self-serving idiot! He’s not slick enough to plan a break-in like that! And why would he when he’s already here all the freaking time? I’m sure that fact hasn’t escaped you! Why would he need to risk his own life if he knew you’d be here to stop them?”
“All I’m saying is that he seemed really interested in what your dad had in the office. And maybe he couldn’t get to it fast enough on his own. You need to be smart about this, Kristina.”
She holds up a hand, her eyes narrowed. “Hold it. How did you know about anything that happened in the office? We were alone in there.”
Shiiit.
“He wasn’t exactly quiet about it. I overheard him talking when I was upstairs.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, the unconvinced expression on her face telling me in no uncertain terms that my excuse is weak, at best.
“Were you spying on us?”
I roll my eyes. “I have no reason to spy. I’m being paid to keep you safe. Guys broke in and I protected you. So your Little Miss Suspicious act is directed at the wrong person.”
“Don’t forget that I handled one of the guys and the other one got away.”
“Are you gonna accuse me of being in on the sabotage now?” I growl, inching toward her. “Are you gonna say I had something to do with it?”
“You were ‘conveniently’ in the shower.” She cocks her head to the side. “See how that line of argument works? One could say you both look guilty as hell.”
I grab her by the arms, anger coursing through me because she’s right and I’m a goddamn liar if I try to convince her otherwise.
But her fresh, soapy scent infuses my senses, her hair still damp from the shower she took while the cleaners worked to get her home back in a livable condition without blood and guts baked into the floors and walls.
“Don’t touch me,” she hisses. “I hired you and I can fire you just as fast.”
“You’d be stupid to do that. I’m the only one who can keep you safe.”
“That’s only true if you’re the one who knows exactly what’s coming next.”
“Don’t make threats if you’re not gonna keep them,” I seethe. “You want me out? Say the word. And then good luck with your asshole uncle.” My pulse slams against my throat. “You think you can defend the castle on your own? You think you know how to handle these people because you got lucky that there was a vase sitting around? Luck is fucking fleeting, Kristina. One second you think you have it, and in the next one? It’s gone. And then you only have yourself to rely on, not fucking dumb luck.”
Her nostrils flare. “I only have myself to rely on now.”
“Is that what you really think?” My fingertips dig into her flesh, tingles shooting up my arms as the electricity crackles in the air between us, the tension so thick and heavy in the air around us, it damn near chokes me.
“That’s what I know,” she whispers. Her fingers grab the bottom of my t-shirt, fisting the fabric tighter and tighter, and the noose around my neck pulls harder and harder.
“Then you don’t know anything,” I growl, crushing my lips against hers, careful to not press my face against the bruised side of her jaw.
“You are an arrogant jackass,” she pants as I tug the back of her head, dipping her head backward to give my lips full access to the smooth column of her neck.
“And you are an uptight control freak,” I rasp, tugging on the lobe of her ear with my teeth.
“Fuck you. You say I’m a control freak?” She gasps, her hips bucking as she melts into me. “You’re a million times worse.”
“It’s because I’m trying to keep you from getting killed.” I lean her backward on an incline bench, my body hovering on top of hers. She glares up at me, her eyes glittering with unbridled lust and unflinching hunger, the very same emotions swirling through my insides with an unparalleled voracity.
Her hands slip into the waistband of my shorts, sliding over my hips. My cock presses into her Spandex-covered thigh, thick, hard, and anxious to impale. “If you think I’m an arrogant asshole, fine. But don’t lie and tell me you don’t want me. Don’t tell me to leave when you want me to stay.”