Page 36 of Dagger in the Sea

My pulse drummed. Adriana stiffened at my side.

“What? Why?” spit out Alessio.

“His response out there was quick, efficient. Professional,” said Luca in that low, ominous Italian accented English of his. “I know who you are, Turo DeMarco, and I want you on this trip. You are of use to me.”

Of use to him? To Luca Aliberti?

The back of my neck razored with a thousand spikes like it did with every confrontation, expected and unexpected. Part excitement, part tense twitchiness. I let go of Adriana’s hand. “And what do I get out of this?”

“A few moments with my uncle. Isn’t that why you’re here?” Luca said, his lips curling at the edges.

Adriana sat up against the dense leather upholstery of the seat. “What are you talking about?”

Luca ignored her. “If you cooperate, Mr. DeMarco, my uncle may be open to discussion.”

“Adriana,” Alessio said, his voice just above a whisper, a hand on her leg. “You keep refusing to have security on you, even after everything that’s happened, and I keep telling you, your father keeps telling you, but you are stubborn.”

“Having security with me attracts more attention, Alessio. The kind of attention I’ve been trying to avoid,” she replied.

“No. After tonight, you need professional protection.”

“Now, you have Turo,” Luca said.

“Ti?” she said. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, what the hell are you talking about?” my voice snapped.

A thick eyebrow rose up Alessio’s forehead. “Don’t tell me you two aren’t pleased.”

“I’m not for hire,” I gritted out.

“Yes, you are.” Luca’s dark gaze slid to me. “For as long as we need you.”

Pulsing against my aching skull, that tick went off in my head. My what-the-fuck tick. My this-isn’t-everything-it-appears-to-be tick. My there’s-something-behind-door-number-three tick.

I’d been recognized by my targets, hired by them,andI had no choice but to go off with them on their yacht. Glass half full or glass half empty? At least there would be Greek wine in that damned glass.

Adriana muttered something in Greek, folded her arms across her chest and stared straight ahead, legs pressed together. Her body no longer touched mine. What did she object to more—having a bodyguard or having me as that bodyguard?

I settled back in my seat. There were worse assignments than being a beautiful young woman’s security detail on a yacht, Greek island hopping. Most definitely, incredibly fucking worse assignments and I’d had quite a few in my time.

Alessio rubbed a hand down his face. He was troubled by the shooting, by me, by plenty more. He sprang forward toward his brother. “Luca, everything this week in Mykonos must go perfectly. Cleanly.Capisce?”

Luca didn’t even look at him, his attention remained on the road ahead.

“Kaspar is flying in from Norway or Berlin or wherever the hell he is now,” Alessio continued. “All sorts of celebrities will be there, even the Mahmouds from Dubai. Tag is coming from Istanbul with friends from London and—”

“They are my friends too, Alessio,” Luca muttered, cutting him off with his low, grim voice in Italian.

“Yes, they are. But this is a very special time for me and my company, Luca. Adri and I organized this party for almost a year, and it’s fucking important. And you—” he shot his brother an even darker look, a snarl on his lips.

Luca’s eyebrow arched, his jaw set, offering his own warning, his own ultimatum. Weapons drawn against a threat.

Alessio’s shoulders rose, his teeth dragging on his lower lip as he took in a deep breath, maybe to help him rearrange his words, his argument, to get a grip on his temper. “You take care of what you need to do without the crazy, eh? If this gets fucked up for me—if you start—”

Luca’s eyes flared at his little brother.“Cosa?”He challenged him with a big ‘what are you gonna do about it’ in that smoky, ominous voice of his. No challenges tolerated. Alessio clamped his mouth shut and slid back in his seat.

There was tension between the Aliberti brothers.

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