Ella laughs now, too. “I think I’d have liked your father, Aria. As for practice, I have a dance studio at the top of the tower. It’s a perfect spot. Maybe I can even dance when you play. I was an aspiring ballerina, right before I became a CIA agent.”
I blanch. “CIA agent?”
“That’s an interesting combination,” Kace comments.
“Yep,” Ella says. “I can plié in my pink slippers while shooting a bad guy. It’s a rare talent.”
“No truer words have been spoken,” Kayden assures us, giving Ella a wink before he gets back to business. “Adrian and Savage will be in the opposite tower with Marabella. Adriel, my right-hand man who lives in that tower is away for a few weeks so you’ll have plenty of room.”
“Only a few days for me before I leave for France,” Savage says, wrapping his arm around Marabella. “But I can do a lot of eating in that time.”
Marabella grins and I have this crazy sense of being in the middle of a secret society that is also just one big family. “I’m going to feed you all,” she announces. “In fact, I have fresh chocolate croissants about to go in the oven now.”
“My stomach just growled,” Adrian says. “Bring ‘em on, Marbella, goddess of my belly.”
Marabella laughs and Kayden motions to Savage and Adrian. “Let’s chat.” He eyes Ella. “Can you—”
“I can,” she says with a smile, and when he kisses her, I feel the spark between them, the closeness, and for the first time in my life, I feel no envy. I have what they have with Kace. I glance up at him and he arches a brow. I just smile. He reaches up and strokes my cheek, heat in his eyes, and an intimate promise in the curve of his perfect mouth.
Ella then motions toward the tower to our left. “Let’s get you settled.”
A few minutes later, we’re standing in an amazing room with stone floors, a fireplace, and a canopy bed, our coats on a chair in the corner. Ella indicates a switch on the wall. “This controls the fireplace.” She flips it and the fireplace lights up. “Use it as liberally as you want. The castle gets cold. I’ll give you a few minutes to settle in. I’ll be in the kitchen just off the living room making coffee for those croissants. Kayden and I thought it would be nice if we chatted a bit, just the four of us.”
She disappears and shuts the door behind her. I immediately turn to Kace. “Why did you get upset?”
“I’m not sure what you’re referencing.”
“You do. I called you a hero and you went cold on me.”
He closes the space between us, his hand settling on my shoulders, his touch possessive, powerful. “I’m never cold with you.”
“Okay. Topic set aside for now, but you’re on notice. We’ll be discussing this when I can be more demanding.”
“Naked?”
“If that’s what it takes. Yes. Naked.” I curl my fingers on his chest. “I see you, Kace August. Even when you don’t want me to see you.”
“I never don’t want you to see me.”
“Wrong answer,” I say. “We both know that’s not true, but for now, I’ll let you off the hook. But only because we have to go meet with Kayden and Ella and I need to check my messages.”
“And I need you to prepare yourself for the fact that he might not have called.”
My heart pinches at the idea. No, it pinches at the idea that he might not ever call again. “I know. I do. I just need to know if he has or not.”
His forehead comes down on mine. “Baby—”
I pull back to study him. “What do you know that I don’t know?”
His mood shifts, darkening, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “What I know is that you almost died last night. Had Savage not been with us, you might have. We can’t do forever if you aren’t here. This fight is for nothing if you leave me. And so, I cannot, and will not, blindly trust Gio with your life. And I’m asking you not to either.”
“I’m not.” My hand settles on his chest. “You know I’m not.”
“You say that. I hear you say it, but I watched you on the plane go from persecuting him to protecting him in a matter of minutes.”
I bristle, stepping out of his reach and folding my arms in front of me. “He’s my brother. Of course, I want him to be good. Right now, I just want to listen to the messages. Can I do that?”
He studies me a long moment that turns into three, and then inclines his chin, turning away to open his suitcase. After a quick grab, he hands me a phone. “This one is for your use here in Europe. Don’t use it to call anyone but me, Walker, or those in Kayden and Ella’s circle. Adrian already programmed all the numbers in for you, including mine.” He holds up another phone. “I have it with me.” He shoves it in his pocket and adds, “Use another phone for anything else and destroy the SIM card afterward.” He reaches into the suitcase again and tosses a half dozen phones on the bed. “We have plenty. But it’s safe to check your messages on your new personal phone without risks.” He then gives me instructions to check the messages.
“Got it,” I say when he finishes.
His reply is one of his heavy-lidded stares that I can’t begin to read. Then without a word, he walks to the fireplace and leans a hand on the mantel, staring into the flames, his broad shoulders bunched. The Gio thing is getting to him and I get it. I’d react the same if he’d been drugged, but I can’t just shut Gio out. Not yet.
Sitting down on a giant oversized chair at the corner of the fireplace, I dial in the codes to get my messages. There is one new message that begins to play. My heart sinks when I hear the weak, elderly voice that is not Gio. “Ms. Alard, this is Donelle Bianchini. I realize that you planned to visit me here in Italy later in the month, but I am not a well man. It would in both our best interests if you could meet me sooner. Please call. I’d like to die peacefully with all that is dear to me properly attended to.”
I swallow hard and set the phone on the chair. “Kace,” I say, setting the phone on the mattress.
He pushes off the fireboard and turns to me, tilting his head. “What’s wrong?”
“Gio didn’t call, but Donelle Bianchini did.”
His eyes narrow, his spine straightening. “The seller of the 1685 Fetzer Stradivarius that we’re supposed to meet here in Rome?”
“Yes,” I say, feeling chilled to the bone with where this leads me. “He says he’s sick and doesn’t have much time left, as in dying. He sounded weak, Kace, but this all feels weird.” I stand up and we close the small space between us. “We’ve talked about this, about him,” I say, my hand settling on his chest, my need to touch him right now almost urgent. “It’s as if we were being lured to Rome and now we’re here, and—”
“It’s almost as if he knows we’re here,” he supplies.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE