Page 73 of Sinner's Vows

“The only thing that helps is having him out of the house.” I call for a guard down the corridor, and the man comes to lead away the reluctant dog. I give Bruno a hard stare as he gives methoseeyes. Yep, it’s been more than a month of raw bison, and clearly, Bruno was enjoying having Portia and her tidbits too much, but— “I’m not cooking with you in the kitchen.”

I strip my suit jacket as I watch the dog slink off. I’ve long ago lost the tie and now take off my shoulder holster and safeguard the gun before I put it all on a side counter then walk over to the wine fridge. “Red or white? I always feel carbonara can swing either way.”

Ariana shrugs. “White? You know I don’t drink?—”

“When in captivity. I know.” I reach for a bottle of chardonnay and get two glasses. It’s been a long day, and fromwhat I’ve seen, she needs to loosen her tongue. “So you two got along?”

“Portia and me? Yes, totally. Especially since she didn’t wield a gun at me.”

“Ha. She takes no prisoners, that’s for sure.”

I place the wineglasses in front of her and search for a corkscrew in a drawer. I get busy uncorking the wine, overly conscious of her gaze studying my hands, homing in on my pinkie, which for once, molds to the object I’m holding. I can still feel her touch as she traced the ring around it in the dark, asking what happened. My response of how she’ll need to earn that answer.

She could have guessed it already, with everything that happened this morning at the swimming pool. I still feel her hand on my side, my fingers resting on the scars on her lower belly. It was a level of intimacy I’ve never experienced with a woman before. Nobody who has crossed my path over the years had been through this exact thing.

I can’t afford to get close to her. Intimacy on that level isn’t my thing. It’s too dangerous. I’m too needy. It will weaken me and make me lose focus on what I’m here to do: protect my family.

With a sigh, I pop the cork, and to reel myself back to reality, I tally the things that have been off with this woman from the start.

One: Randazzo’s seal for his prostitutes on her body but shy as a virgin.

Two: knows how to use a gun and as alert as gazelle getting a whiff of lion.

Three: has a need to run away, even though she knows it’s futile and that she’s stuck, which she knows because…

Four: clearly, she’s from a Mafia background, but not keen to talk about it. This one is protecting someone or something.

After this morning’s work, I’m not in the mood for another interrogation, but here we are.

“You’re back early,” she says as I pour her a glass. “Portia hoped to have everything ready by the time you got home.”

I top up my wine and hold the glass up to her for a toast.

“After Matteo’s, I went to the office.” I needed a reminder that I’ve got some control over something after getting rid of the last of the Ukrainians in our care. “Everything’s going smoothly so I came back early to see if you two were productive.”

I watch how she picks up the smooth crystal, leaving perfect fingerprints right where I want them.

“Office?” she asks as she tips her glass to mine with a softsalute.

“Salute.” I take a sip. “I own a security company which I run outside ofIl Consiglio.”

Her eyes widen. “A real one?”

“Yes, sweetheart, a real legit company with a physical street address and an office folks can walk into. Not just an obscure postal address. It even has thousands of reviews on Google. The whole nine yards.”

“Oh, wow. How did you manage that?”

It’s the easiest thing to answer in the world. Maybe not the easiest answer to stomach, but it’s the truth. “When you’ve done what I have, your biggest fear is that someone you care for, someone you love, falls into the hands of someone like me. To protect my brothers became a bit of an obsession after Alex—our brother who came just after Matteo—got killed in a shootout. The Don knew where to channel my fears, and I have a knack for tech, so…”

“So…”

I smile at the way she teases me. “So I started a security company to protect them, over and above the usual protection we have, but I’m not client-facing. I have a back office at ourpremises and have a team in place who runs the show.” I reach for the bowl of flour she had measured out on the scale and the eggs. “When things are going well, I spend a lot of time there.”

“And when things are not going well?”

“You already know what I do when things aren’t going well.” Which brings me to the real reason why I’m early. “Are you going to tell me what you and Portia discovered, or am I going to have to tease it out of you?”

39

---