I’m going to kiss every inch of her.Thiswill be my life’s great work.
…Provided her brother lets me live.
Seven
Allegra
Diego answers the phone with a grunt. “What.”
“Charming.” I speak in a whisper, tip-toeing down the safe house stairs. Dr Raul Ossani is asleep in my bed, the worry lines all smoothed out from his forehead, and I don’t want to wake him. “Did no one ever teach you how to answer a phone?”
My brother’s right hand man huffs, and I can picture the exact way he’d glower at me right now, scratching his beard with one meaty, scarred hand. “Sorry, princess. What can I do for you at,” he pauses, “two in the morning?”
Oops.
“Sorry. I know you need your beauty sleep.”
“Allegra.”
“How’s Santo?” It’s definitely pathetic, but I want an update on my big brother. He works so hard, and he never truly lets his guard down around anyone except me. I’m worried about what that means for his stress levels in my absence.
“You know I won’t report on him.” Diego sounds bored.
“I’m not asking you to spy on him, asshole. I don’t care about work stuff. Just—how’shedoing, you know? Is he sleeping?”
“I’ll have to check my nanny cam.”
Ugh. “Diego. If you can’t answer one single goddamn question—”
“He’s fine, Allegra.” The mobster sounds irritated, and in the background, I hear the thump of a glass on a table. Oh, IknewI didn’t wake him up. “What do you want me to say? Santo’s the only one without a hit on him, so yeah, he’s fine. Nico and I are good, by the way. Your friends with actual targets on their backs. Thanks for asking.”
There’s a long pause.
“Allegra?”
My lips are numb.
“Allegra. Come on, you knew that.” Diego’s words have an edge of desperation—like if he wants it enough, it’ll be true.
“Who else?” When he doesn’t reply right away, I drag one hand down my face, warping my features. A glance around me shows that apparently, I’ve found my way to the shadowed safe house kitchen. “Who got hits put on them, Diego? I want the full list.”
His words are resigned. “You, Raul, Nico, me, and Leah.”
“I… who the fuck is Leah?”
“Nico’s wife.”
I slump against the refrigerator, ears ringing. “Nico has awife?”
“Yeah, but we think that her name on the list was a mistake. Nico was hanging around her bookshop everyday, and she got caught in the crossfire.”
Who. Cares.
“So let me get this straight. You bitches all lied to me, shipping me off to a safe house while the rest of you stayed home. Like I can’t handle myself. Like you can’t trust the stupid little woman to handle a hit.”
“No, it wasn’t like that—”
“And while I was gone,” I continue, volume climbing with my rant. Because who cares about stupid Raul’s stupid worry lines? He deserves them, the rat. “Nico got married without a single word, never mind that I’ve known him my whole life. Never mind that you just called us allfriends.”