I’m mere feet from Lena now. Close enough to see the vein in her neck pulsing with an agitation she won’t let show in her eyes. “And if he doesn’t believe you?”
“He’ll believe me.”
“How do you know? You’re stakingmylife onyourability to convince your uncle that he’s been wrong about me for, what? Weeks? Months? That’s how long you’ve been stalking me, right?” Comprehension flashes over her face. “Oh my, God.That’s how you knew where I worked. And that I love peonies. And the exact shade of my favorite yellow sweater.”
Lena’s hand shakes as she points in the direction of Ari’s envelope that’s still on the floor. “And now, after all that, and contrary to evidence that somehow keeps showing up, you’re telling me you’re going to convince your uncle I’m harmless? And you expect him to believe you? You expect a brutal and violent mafia boss to just wave the whole thing off? To say, ‘Oops, my bad! I was wrong. No need to kill her after all!’?”
I shake my head, not willing to consider the alternative. Refusing to even think about Lena’s connection to Aldo’s missing woman.
I curse under my breath. One fucking problem at a time.
“Aldo trusts me. For good reason. I’ve been a good nephew, a loyal member of this family since before I even knew what it meant to be a Cerreti. He’s trusted my instincts for years. When it comes to this, you and me, I’ll share everything I’ve learned, and he’ll understand that we were wrong from the beginning. I’ll make sure Aldo understands that you were never a threat.”
I reach for her left hand, saying a silent prayer when she lets me trace the rings there. “Aldo will know you as my wife. As an important member of the Cerreti family.” I lift her fingers to my lips, kiss the place where the platinum bands mark her as mine. “He’ll know you as the most important member of my family. Nothing less.”
Lena considers me. Her hair soft and wild. Breasts so tempting in the white t-shirt she stole from my closet. Eyes hard, chin set. My beautiful, defiant wife. “You make it sound so simple. But you’re forgetting something.”
“What?”
“Someone in your family doesn’t give a shit what you think about me, Rem. If you think I’m a threat or not. If I’m your wife or not. Someone still wants me dead.” Lena pulls her hand free. “Let’s say I believe you, that you weren’t in my apartment to killme. That doesn’t change the fact that someone else wants me dead. That’s why they shot at me. That’s why they set fire to my aunt’s house. Why Mable ended up dead. Why that Russian guy showed up at my work.”
Lena’s voice is pitching higher and higher. The hardness in her expression is twisting into true fear and I watch, speechless, as she reaches across the island for the knife block. I have to swallow a surge of ill-timed pride when I see that, despite the emotions coursing through my wife, her grip on the knife is steady.
“That’s why,” she says, gesturing with her weapon, “my apartment was destroyed, my violin smashed to pieces. Why Bianca and I were attacked. Maybe even why someone tried to blow you up.”
Lena’s voice cracks. I swear my heart does too. “That man in the parking garage had your family’s mark on his hand. Maybe you weren’t in my apartment to kill me, Rem, but someone in your family is trying like hell to end my life. And they don’t care who they hurt in the process.”
The emotions on Lena’s face tap into the fear that’s been chasing me since the moment I realized I was falling for her. The fear that, no matter what I do, I’m not going to be able to keep her safe. Fear rapidly chased by rage that anyone would dare hurt this woman, no matter who she is or what her last name might be.
“Don’t you think I know that?” I say, barely able to keep my voice under control. “I’ve been doing everything I can to keep you safe. Every fucking thing I can think of. Because I know the Pagano connection is complete bullshit, but I’ve finally found the real reason there’s a target on your back.” I haul in a breath, my throat constricting around the truth I don’t want to admit. “Vaffanculo!”
“What?” Lena’s knuckles are white as she grips the knife. “What did you find?”
I close the gap between us, capturing her wrist in my hand, guiding the knife tip down to the floor. “Fuck,piccola. I’m so sorry. I confirmed the evidence yesterday, only after someone tried to turn me, Ari, and our men into fucking fireworks. I was going to tell you, but not like this.”
Lena’s skin is ice cold beneath my grip. “Enough with the fucking suspense, Rem. Spit it out.”
With my free hand I trace Lena’s necklace where lies against her throat. Draw a line down to the pendant that has been haunting my nightmares since the night of our wedding.
“It’s not about you, Lena. It’s about your birth mother. She betrayed my uncle decades ago, and in our world, that’s enough motive for the Cerretis to want you dead.”
32
LENA
“My birth mother? I don’t understand.” Questions explode like gunshots inside my skull. Too many to process all at once. “How is that possible? How do you know? What—” My voice falters. “What was her name?”
Rem flattens his hand over my chest, my heart rioting against his palm. “Maria.”
“Maria?” I don’t realize I’m crying until I taste salt on my lips. “Tell me more.”
Rem’s expression darkens, concern pinching his brows. “I don’t know very much,piccolina, and I doubt you’re going to like what I do know.”
“Not a good enough reason to keep any more secrets.”
After only a slight hesitation Rem nods, stepping away and settling himself onto a nearby barstool, muscled arms crossed over his gorgeous chest. His attention dances between my face and the knife I’m still holding, my meager defense against what’s happening right now. “A few months ago, Aldo told me to find a missing person. He gave me a name, a location, and a date.”
“That’s it? You can find someone on so little?”