“You sound it.”
“I am.”
Vittorio sighed. “Paolo told me what’s going on.”
I shot a dark glare at my housekeeper, and he sidled farther down the hallway.
“It’s not your problem.”
Vittorio chuckled. “You see, it kind of is, because you’re my friend. You can’t go alone.”
“And yet, I’m going to. I’m not afraid to die, Vittorio, you know that.”
“But you aren’t afraid of failing and leaving her there?”
That question cut through the hot, urgent storm in my head.
“You need backup. Someone on your wing.”
“I won’t ask you to kill anyone, Vittorio. You’ve left that life behind.”
“Yes I have, but I can watch your six.”
I argued a little longer fruitlessly, then hung up. The only way to stop Vittorio when he’d made his mind up about something was to try and leave before he got there. But I had no control over that, seeing as Giada seemed determined to make sure her brother could arrive before she sent me the address. I had no idea what I’d done in my sorry life that made these people work hard to protect me, but they had to be fools.
I went upstairs and forced some food down. Bread and cheese, olives and tomatoes. I needed energy to fight. I couldn’t afford to be weak.
While my hands moved mechanically, bringing food to my mouth, reaching for water, my mind kept returning to Blackwood’s crowded office.
I couldn’t stop seeing it. The hospital logo at the top of the paper. I couldn’t stop Giada’s voice from speaking again and again in my head.
Katarina never met her outside the hotel.
For the first time in a long, long time, I had something to fight for. It didn’t matter if she was mad at me. It didn’t matter if I’d fucked up beyond forgiveness. I’d told my angel that she wasn’t alone anymore. I meant to keep that promise. No matter the cost.
The message camefrom Giada a few hours later. I’d nearly worn a hole in the parapet waiting for it.
Giada:14, Corso Giuseppe Gabetti, Borgo Po.
Elio is en route.
Me:You seriously made me wait this long just to give your brother a chance to get closer?
Giada:Yeah, I seriously did, because I knew you weren’t going to wait
Me:Waiting means giving that man longer alone with Katarina
Giada:I’m sure she can handle herself. She survived just fine before you came along. Girl’s a fighter.
I blew out a breath of frustration.
Me:You should know, in the interest of our future work relationship, that trying to control me isn’t going to work.
Giada:Isn’t that what your wife said to you? Or you just don’t like it when the shoe is on the other foot?
I growled with frustration, her little dig getting under my skin. Goddamn it, she was right, after all.
Paolo hovered near the door when I headed that way.