“Noble?” I gripped the edge of the table. I needed something to hang on to before I caved inward. “Tell me something, Francesco. Is it noble to knowingly rip the heart from the one you love and then leave her all alone to pick up the pieces, without even an explanation?”
“Love is a tricky thing.”
“Love is the root of all pain.” I felt my expression darken as I looked over at him, exposing my soul. “It embeds itself in you and lays dormant like cancer, and when you think everything is wonderful and just how it should be, it squeezes its tentacles around your heart and lets you bleed out a slow, miserable death.”
I closed my eyes and gave in to the anger, letting it smother me in a toxic cloud.
“What can I do for you, Elio?”
“Go get her for me,” I whispered.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I slowly opened my eyes to see a pained expression on his face.
“The last I heard, she left the Di Vaiohouse, but then I lost track of her after a few days. I’m not sure if she went back or not.”
I stood at his news, shocked that he had not told me this yet.
“So, she could still be there?” I marched toward the door, but he stepped in my way and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Leave if you must, Elio, but maybe get some rest and wait until morning. Take a breath and search your heart again. You made the decision against having her live in this kind of family, remember? Yes, we love all of those around us, but we also shed blood and take lives. All I ask is that you really think, once again, about what’s best for her. Your father just survived a hit. Who is next? It isn’t safe for any of us right now.”
I shifted my jacket on my hot skin and headed for the door. He was right. I should take the night to think.
With a glass of scotch in my hand, I sat in the dark in my new home just below my parents’ Hill House. The place still smelled of fresh paint. No matter how many times I went back and forth, I knew I couldn’t walk this Earth without Sienna by my side.
By six a.m. I had my bag packed and a flight to Sicily booked for nine. I tossed my belongings in the back of my car, and as I went to ease behind the wheel, I spotted a square envelope tucked under the windshield wiper. Plucking the contents free, I found a photo printed on a piece of card stock of Sienna in the city. The photo looked to be taken from a bit of a distance. The words at the bottom had my hand on my weapon while I scanned the property’s perimeter.
“If you go after her, we’ll kill her before you can ever reach her.”
At that moment, Francesco arrived and caught wind of my mood.
“What is it?”
I handed him the photo and watched his facial cues to see if he knew anything about it.
“I’ll make some calls.” He pulled his phone out, and I sank to the hood of my car while a sick realization hit me. She could get hurt because of me.
When we parked at my uncle’s, I shook my head to clear the memory and focus on the now. I glanced over at Sienna, who looked more annoyed than anything. Her fists had her skirt bunched up between her white knuckles.
“Hey,” I turned to face her and gently broke her hold on the fabric of her suffering skirt and twisted her to look at me, “whatever is going through your head right now, stop your thoughts. Don’t go there, at least until we know more, okay?”
She swallowed and took a deep breath and seemed to shake herself out of it. “I’m okay.” She flexed her fingers. “I’m just trying to follow what happened back there.”
“Me too.” I kissed her freezing hands and looked out the windshield at the greenery that covered about half of the stone manor in front of us. “Let’s go inside and wait for the others.”
“Okay.” She reached for the doorhandle.
Buttoning my jacket, I held out my hand and took hers, then we started up the huge marble staircase. I didn’t have to worry about hiding who we were to each other here; this was our safe place. A place to conduct business. Anyone who might be a threat to us wouldn’t be leaving the property in one piece, anyway.
“Where are we?” She eyed the electric fences and the giant maze I had recently used with Stefano Coppola’s men. That reminded me, I should pay my new informant, Samuele, a visit soon.
“A place of business,” was all I offered.
She raised a skeptical eyebrow but didn’t press the issue.
“Elio,” my aunt caught us in the doorway, “what are you doing here?”