A constant dripping sound drew me from a dead sleep. I blinked the fog away and tried to process where I was.
Holy shit!
I shot straight up and looked around the crypt.
“Elio,” I whispered, terrified he had left again.
“I’m here.” I turned to find him in the corner of the room knees up arms resting on top. His shirt was partially open, and his pants and shoes were back on. “Vinni will be here in ten.”
“What time is it?”
“Just after three a.m.” He glanced at his watch to be sure.
I nodded and wrapped the cloak around me tighter as I reached for my dress.
“Are you going to tell me who we’re running from?” I turned away from him as I shrugged on my dress, but when I reached for the strings, I felt his hands take over.
“This time, Stefano Coppola,” he replied as he tied the bow.
I whirled around and held up my hands. “As in the Coppola syndicate from Rome?” I had once chased a story about a young artist that led me to the Coppola family. Only when Georgio got wind of the direction I was going in, he shut it down with zero explanation. By the look on his face, I knew not to question him, and I let it go. I barely found anything on them.
“That’s the one.” He held my gaze.
“Why? Why would he be after you?”
He licked his lips and turned to gather up the cloaks, and a moment later he pulled his phone out when it lit up his pocket.
“Yeah?” he offered as a greeting and listened. “All right.” He hung up as he rubbed his tired eyes. He handed me one of the cloaks. “Put this on.”
“Elio.” I dropped my tone and put my hands on my hips, annoyed that he wouldn’t answer me. He tugged the knot from the sleeves of his coat and released it from the door handles then shrugged it on, the wrinkles a stark reminder of what we had been through.
“Look, Sienna, I’m sorry that you’re tangled up in this mess—”
“Don’t do that,” I warned. “Jesus, we just had sex, Elio.”
“Yes, we did, in a mausoleum.” He chuckled darkly. “Never done that before.”
“Fine, avoid the topic, then.” I wrapped the cloak around me and opened the door to a downpour of rain.
“Sienna,” he called after me, but I didn’t care. I had opened myself up to him, and now he was holding out on me. I would not be played, and I would not be kept in the dark anymore.
I moved quickly between the tombstones while the rain soaked me to the bone. My breath puffed out mist as I went, and even more mist swirled around my feet, making it hard to see the dips in the ground.
“Hey.” He hooked my arm as he caught up with me. He tugged so hard I had to turn to him, and I glared up at him in fury. “I want to share everything with you, but—”
“Then do it!”
“What if you can’t handle it!” he shouted, sending rain drops spraying. “What if you can’t love me after knowing? What if you lea—”
“Leave you?” I shouted back in his face while tears burst through the dam. “Well, I guess that’s a risk you’re just going to have take, Elio.”
Headlights flashed and lit the stones next to us, proving just how hard it was raining.
“Why is Stefano after you?”
“Because now I’m after him.” His chest heaved as he looked around us.
“Why?” I knew we were in danger standing out in the open, but if this was the only way to get some answers, I was willing to risk it.