She shifted her gaze away from the guards who were disarming Aleksei and focused on Dante’s grandfather. Don Lorenzo Moresco was an aged version of Sal, a mirror image of his son, just older, thinner, more wrinkled, and silver-haired—except for his eyes. Where Sal’s eyes were hard pebbles of arrogant disdain, Don Moresco’s were gentler, suggesting wisdom tempered by compassion.
Her mother always said you could read a soul through a person’s eyes. She hoped her mother was right, and that the kindness in Don Moresco’s eyes would extend to Aleksei and her.
Having been released by the guards, Aleksei sidled next to her, circling a steady arm around her waist and pulling her close. Dante positioned himself on her other side. She was sandwiched between one man who loved her and another who respected her enough to trust her with his family’s secrets. Despite the darkparking lot and the guns, she felt safe. Just like she’d always felt with her mother and sister.
It felt good to have people to lean on. This caring was what she’d given up by trying too hard to prove her independence. If she and Aleksei got through tonight safe and sound, she was letting go of her guilt. She was going to accept the support of her friends and family. She was going to accept Aleksei’s love and work on building something special together.
“Let’s go inside and sit while you tell me what’s happening,” Don Moresco said. “I am old. I do not like to stand in the cold.” A large gold ring glinted in the light as he raised a graceful hand toward her. “My grandson says you are a smart woman, but you do not have the good sense to wear a hat. You must be cold as well.”
A hat?No one else was wearing a hat, but now that he’d put the idea in her mind, her head actually did feel chilly.
Aleksei’s arm tightened around her. “She doesn’t need a hat. She’s a warrior. Her scalp is a badge of honor. She has every right to show it if she wants to.”
Her scalp is a badge of honor. She has every right to show it.She slowly lifted a hand to her head and felt nothing but cool, smooth skin.
Her wig was gone.
She was standing completely bare in front of all these people.
Of course her wig was gone. She’d thrown it at Kemper. She’d been bald since the moment she ran from that car. Every person she’d come in contact with since then had seen her bald head. Frankie and Niko. Sal and his posse of muscle. Now Dante, Don Moresco, and their guards. The world hadn’t ended. She was still standing. Standing with a friend on one side and the arm of the man she loved around her.
Aleksei.
She’d been bald and bare in front of Aleksei this whole time, and he hadn’t said a thing. He’d held her. He’d told her he loved her. He’d kissed her so fiercely, her mind had blanked on the danger they were in. He hadn’t seen weakness or sickness. He’s seen only her.
She dropped her hand from her head, straightened her spine, and pushed her shoulders back. There was nothing to be embarrassed about. Like Aleksei said, she was a warrior. It was time to start acting like it.
“I don’t think your son wants to see me,” she said to Don Moresco. “I think he wants me dead.”
The old man’s eyes turned to polished granite, and she saw a glimpse of what had made Lorenzo Moresco the don.
“You will be safe. My son will do as I say.”
Don Moresco’s voice was strong and sharp as a blade.
She believed him.
* * *
Sitting on a luxurious couch in the middle of a warehouse surrounded by armed mafioso and stolen goods was not the way Aleksei thought he would spend the night, but Don Moresco had been true to his word so far. Rose was safe, at least for the moment, and tucked at his side. It was the most he could ask for, considering the FUBAR the day and night had been.
If he and Rose got through this, he would have to tell his mother she was right. The Romani luck she always said he was blessed with had come through in spades.
Christian had answered on the first ring and readily agreed to help, throwing stealth—and likely his job—to the wind by hacking into Kemper’s personnel file, pulling Kemper’s phone info, and then feeding him Kemper’s location. He and Virus had found Kemper’s abandoned, crashed car and then located theonly warehouse with lights on. He’d incapacitated the guard at the door and left Virus in the bushes, covering the warehouse while Aleksei circled the building. He’d come around just in time to see that asshole push Rose out the door. Virus had made a perfect shot with that tranquilizer dart.
He glanced over to where Salvatore Moresco and Don Moresco were in deep discussion at a poker table. Dante sat on the other side of the table behind Rose’s laptop and a shitload of other computer equipment he’d hauled in. The tension in the warehouse was thick as morning fog.
Don Moresco’s arrival appeared to be unexpected. Sal looked like he was going to have an aneurysm, and his men were restless. Aleksei could hear snippets of whispered conversations about what it meant. He eyed the door, hoping Virus had the sense to keep his ass outside for the time being. At this point, a puff of wind might start a gunfight.
“Rosemary, please come here,” Don Moresco called.
Aleksei rose with her, gripping her smaller, pale hand in his own. She gave him an encouraging smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. He slid his palm around her neck and pressed his lips to the cool skin of her forehead.
“I’m here.”
That was all he could say. That was all he could be. He would be there for her. Like he had been there for Phillipe. He would offer love and support, but it was up to Rose to choose which paths she walked alone and which paths she asked him to join her on. Just like it had been Phillipe’s choice. Love was letting people make their own choices and respecting them.
“Come with me,” she said, and his heart soared. They would face Lorenzo and Salvatore Moresco together.