Page 32 of Heart's Temptation

As always, sage advice from the shadow.

Romeo nodded at Dante’s words. “Fausto, I need you to put together an entirely new plan and have it for me tomorrow.”

Fausto didn’t flinch, despite the impossibility of Romeo’s request. It would take most people at least a week to reconfigure how to move billions of dollars through alternate sources, but Fausto wasn’t a regular guy. He was easily as brilliant as Gaetano, but not in identic memory. Fausto’s gift was mind-mapping.

“That’s the answer, Don Vitale.” Gaetano, recently back in the fold of the family business, always insisted on addressing our brother by his title when in the war room.

Romeo nodded for him to continue.

“We need to beat them at their own game. Who do we know that hates the Éannas?”

“The O’Connors,” Dante replied. “My informant, in fact, is undercover for the O’Connors. If we’re looking for co-conspirators, they may join us.”

Interesting. I wanted nothing more than to find out how Dante knew the true identity of his informant, but I needed to check on Niki.

Romeo swung his attention to the clubs by addressing me and Tony. “Despite no direct attacks on our club and gambling establishments, please anticipate that there will be, until we can execute a plan to beat the Irish at their own game. Simon, I want scanners in place at every single club, feeding back to our central intelligence. No one Irish is coming through our doors.”

We all grunted in agreement at his words.

“If you’ll excuse me and my consigliere, Ro—Don Vitale, we have a pressing matter that needs our attention.” I figured the more compliant I appeared, the more Romeo would believe I was down for whatever he was planning, and would let me and Marko go and attend to Niki.

Romeo smirked at me, indicating that he knew full well what, or rather who needed my attention. He nodded his head in approval for us to leave.

I kept my cool until the door to Malvasia closed behind me, then I moved quickly through the bowels of the mansion until I was at the door to my suite.

She’d done it for me, all to protect us. She’d given up comfort and security and love to ensure Marko and I lived. Now it was my turn.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Marko

The urgency I felt was mirrored in the way Gio hustled through the passageways that eventually led to his suite.

At the door, he turned to me, his eyes full of so many emotions. “Are you ready to reclaim what’s ours?”

“I am.”

“Then let’s prove to our girl that we were worth her arduous journey.”

He opened the door to the suite to see Vittoria, Gaby, and Niki giggling. Nicolette held a glass of wine in one hand and her cheeks glowed with life. Seeing her with the Vitale wives was a two-point punch in the gut for me, because she should have been the first Vitale wife, and because we’d missed so much time with her. At that moment I realized that Gio hadn’t been the only one on pause since her disappearance.

Every woman who’d needed me had been but a reflection of my need to care for someone, to feel as alive as Niki looked in this moment. Instead, Gio and I had been dragged through the trenches of what this life handed to us. Had we lived well? Spectacularly so. It had come with a cost, absolutely it had, but I would pay it a thousand-fold and more, for her.

Niki turned her eyes toward us, and I knew I was sunk. There would never be another for either one of us, so we’d better do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Gaby and Vittoria turned to see what had garnered Niki’s attention. They exchanged knowing looks and quietly rose from their seats, leaving the three of us alone.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife after the other two women left.

“Breathe, tesorina.” Gio’s rich, velvety voice broke the silence.

Niki’s shivered response was just what we were looking for. As we moved toward her in measured steps she muttered, “Hail Mary, full of grace.”

“Mary can’t save you, tesorina, only I can,” Gio responded.

The words from our first meeting moved through my body like a healing balm for my injured soul. We were back at the beginning.

Niki’s pupils dilated.