“It wasn’t that kind oftracking.”
She let that sink in. Malcolm had bugged her phone to find her in Italy. How long had he been doing it? How long had he been following her movements beforeCapri?
It gave her the creeps. He might have been tracking her when she went to the community garden, when she did errands, when she first met up with Damian right after their meeting atVelvet.
She took the phone. “Can Iusethis?”
He met her eyes. “I’m not going to tell you not to use it,” he said. “But I am going to ask you not to contact Primo for the timebeing.”
Anger flared inside her, a fire she’d thought was dead sparking back to life. “He’s mybrother.”
“I know,” Damian said. “And I know it’s a lot to ask. We’ve been… focused on getting you out of Athens but soon we’ll have to finish what we started. Contacting Primo will only complicatethings.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “He had nothing to do with Greece, if that’s what you’rethinking.”
His expression went blank. She recognized the tactic from their earliest meetings, before their feelings for each other had gotten out of control. He didn’t want her to know what he wasthinking.
She just didn’tknowwhy.
“As far as we know, Malcolm is still Primo’s second in command — and Malcolm was in Greece. We don’t know what kind of information Primo will feed back to Malcolm. At the very least, it’s reason enough to steer clear of Primo for the timebeing.”
She looked away. Primo wasn’t well. His mental illness was being manipulated by Malcolm. Without Aria there to run interference like she had in the past, there was no telling what would happentohim.
What might already have happenedtohim.
“He’s mybrother.”
It was the thing she came back to time and again. One of the few things in her life that had alwaysbeentrue.
Damian reached out, tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I know. I’ll see if I can get more information for you, but I need you to stay disconnected. For now, atleast.”
War raged inside her. She was with Damian. Had been with him since the first night she’d spent in his arms. She’d chosen his side when she’d left New Yorkwithhim.
When she’d abandonedPrimo.
What was she supposed to do? Leave Damian? Go back to Primo amid the madness of the turf war with the Syndicate and under the auspices of a man like Malcolm who had her kidnapped and heldprisoner?
Not exactly anoption.
“I’ll leave it alone for now,” she said. “But I need to know if he’s okay, Damian. Can you find that outforme?”
“I can try,”hesaid.
“Thankyou.”
He folded her in his arms. “I’d do anything for you, Aria.” He pulled back to look at her, his brow furrowed with concern. “You know that,don’tyou?”
She nodded. She’d never been more sure of anything inherlife.
She drew in a breath as they continued walking. “So what now?” she asked. “What’snext?”
He looked down at her, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “How do you feel aboutParis?”