Page 48 of Enduring Caine
“That new painting Cesca’s copying?”
I bit my tongue, heart racing against my ribs. I’d promised Antonio no investigating. But Elliot told me they weren’t after Giovanni—there was someone else they wanted more. So if they knew he had this piece, it wasn’t a danger to him, was it? “It was stolen from a private residence in Boston in 2012.”
“How do you know that?”
Because I was in the FBI for all of one week.“I remember seeing it on a TV show or in a magazine or newspaper or something.”
“Well, your memory hasn’t changed.” A faint smile tugged at his lips and—damn it all—that smile made me proud. “I can do a dead drop tomorrow and provide that information. Maybe they’ll respond to that, maybe not, but the least I can do is try. You’re sure?”
Was I though?
I was. I always was with this sort of thing. That’s why Elliot had been after me to rejoin the FBI since I left. I was certain, all the way down to my toes. “I am.”
“I knew it was my lucky day when I saw you here.” The faint smile grew and he clasped his hands, shaking them as if in thanks. “Now get that sweater on, so we can go back down to your adoring boyfriend.”
I scowled at his back as he walked toward the door.
Before turning the door handle, he looked over his shoulder at me. “And by the way, Johann’s working tonight, but Leo’s scheduled for the morning. You two need to be stealthier with your sneaking around while he’s on duty.”
Chapter 21
Antonio
ImetSamanthabehindthe bathroom door that night. My hand drove into her hair without a word, our bodies and mouths crashing together. She’d slipped into my room again, as Johann opened my pill bottle. It would be an easy act to repeat each evening for such an intense payoff.
She pulled back with a shuddering breath, lips already swollen. “Johann knows.”
“Knows what?”
“Vincenzo warned me about our sneaking between rooms.” Her fingers laced together behind my neck, playing with the hair at my nape. “And he said Leo’s working the tower in the morning.”
My eyes slid shut as the energy seeped out of my body. Not as easy an act as I’d expected.
“I can’t stay the whole night.” Her ankle rose around my calf, rubbing up and down. “Johann will let us get away with it, but—”
“There’s no way Leonardo would.” I let my head roll forward so I rested my forehead against hers. “I’d hoped my uncle was keeping his promise about decreasing your guards.”
“Probably smart of him not to.”
I straightened to see her clearly, good hand frozen in her hair. “Scusami?”
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. This was not herI’m not investigatingface.
“You learned something else from Vincenzo, didn’t you?”
Her foot fell from where it had been wrapped around my leg. “He says there’s a painting that’s going to arrive in a crate that he needs to get out of here.”
“And…?”
“He doesn’t have the passcode to the gallery, so he wants me to get it.”
My hand dropped to her shoulder. “You’re not thinking about doing that for him, are you?”
The lip-worrying continued. Shewasconsidering it.
My stomach began to churn. “You come up here with him for twenty minutes, now all of a sudden you believe his story?”
“It makes sense.” She gave a half-hearted shrug.