Page 71 of Isle of Beauty

I eye Lisandru with a pout like it’s his fault we’re late to that meeting. It totally is. I may have a responsibility too but I won’t admit it.

“Babbu, cumu sì?”

“Figliola, Julian’s in the hospital. He’s gravely injured. He was in a car crash. Get here with Lisandru as fast as you can and bring Giulia too. All men will gather there for a briefing.” His voice is frantic and he’s speaking too fast.

I barely have time to process the information before he hangs up on me.

My face falls and I push Lisandru away who is now frowning. “Fuck! We need to get dressed and drive to the hospital. Julian’s been targeted and he’s in critical condition.”

We rush inside the hospital where both our fathers and Igor are waiting. The agony on my friend’s face tells me everything I need to know and I run to embrace him. A sob racks his body but he holds it in and I can feel him clench his muscles and lock the emotions away. It’s a fucking stab to the heart.

Julian is our sunshine, the one that makes everything seem less dull and dire. Same as Giulia. I hear the clicks of her shoes on the cheap linoleum and turn to take in her sombre expression. “Tell me what I need to do,” she simply says, frown etched deep on her usually soft face. Her eyes glow with fiery anger and I’m so relieved to be able to count on her.

“After we go see Jules, I need you to get down to the station and get the men on our payroll on the investigation. You and Pierce need to assemble a team to scour all our security cameras and the public ones, as soon as possible. No one takes their own vehicle until we have them tested and checked.”

“We know the threat is coming from the UK and my mother admitted to me that both my uncles would have brought war upon Kalliste for her, dad,” Lisandru says and I look at Alessio. If I hadn't been paying attention, I’d have missed the way Alessio straightens and preens at that but we don’t have time for a heartfelt conversation. “It’s possible they decided that twenty-five years is enough time to wait.”

“We don’t have proof, though,” Giulia chimes.

“Pierce, you said your cousin Andrea is a hacker of some sort but that it seems unlikely he’d be the one to do it. You should call him, ask him to help.”

Lisandru wrinkles his nose. “I’m not sure of anything where he’s concerned.”

It’s Giulia who retorts, “We don’t have time for comparing dicks. Someone is targeting the future heads of the Moretti-Bartoli empire and the only one who’s been spared is you, Pierce. You’d inherit everything if Jules or Lana die. We need to pay your cousin a visit. Best case scenario, he helps us. Worst case scenario, I hang him by his balls for threatening my family.”

“Jesus, G. You’re bloodthirsty.”

“I learned from the best,” she kisses me on the cheeks and we all move to Jules’ room.

His body is hooked to the heart rate monitor and all sorts of catheters line his arms, resting above the light blanket. He looks so frail and pale. I swallow my tears and move to take his hand in mine. I take a fortifying breath and murmur closer to his ear “I vow to find whoever did this and rid them from the face of the Earth, fratellu. Hold on for me please. I love you too much to bury you.” My lips taste like salt when I press them to his forehead.

The doctor said they put him in an artificial coma because of a head trauma when his skull bumped against glass and the airbag. A truck that wasn’t supposed to be there hit the car from the passenger’s side at full speed.

It’s a fucking miracle Julian still lives. But I don’t feel like I’m living a miracle at all. I feel like our enemy is getting antsy and raising up the stakes.

Lisandru’s body trembles next to mine when he replaces me next to his brother, his fists tightening until the knuckles have turned white. He drags a chair to sit and stays like this, unmoving, just watching over Julian, for a long moment.

With both hands on his shoulders, reassuring him that I’m here, I lay a kiss on his crown. “I’m going to get a shower and organise at the garage to get our cars checked.”

A nod.

I don’t insist and get out of the room. Igor follows after me but I stop him in his tracks. “You should stay, Igor. If he wakes up, Jules will need you by his side.”

Ever since Pierce landed on Kalliste and claimed his title, Julian and Igor have been able to spend more time together for the first time in years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them so carefree and smiling. I’m happy for them and I want to give Igor what I’ve had with Pierce ever since my own ordeal. He’s Julian’s soulmate, no matter what anyone says.

“Whoever the enemy is, you’re the mark, surella. I’m coming with you.”

“You stubborn asshole, go to Julian, that’s a fucking order,” I yell. I don’t like pulling ranks on him and I try to do it as little as possible. He never gives a shit anyway and ignores me most of the time but this is serious. “I’ll go home, shower, get all hands on deck with our men and be back in no time, okay?”

His jaw clenches for a moment but he relents and goes back to Julian’s bedside without a word.

I release a heavy sigh. I need a moment to collect myself before I get back out there, strong and unyielding, a lighthouse in the dark for my family.

The whole way from the hospital to my flat, my mind is racing to find answers we’re still chasing.

It makes no fucking sense. Why would Pierce’s uncles start a war for his mother? It was such a long time ago. We’re missing something.

My man loves his mother but if Alessio’s tales are anything to go by, she was a bitch and never got over her being sold out like cattle to her husband. She’s the one who threatened Alessio. Could it be that she’s behind all this? After all, if Julian dies, Pierce inherits everything. With Julian dead, there won’t be anyone to contest my husband’s place in the Bartoli hierarchy. And Alessio will probably die of a broken heart. But then why target me?

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