Page 27 of Courting Danger

With a shout I threw the device into the water below, then stormed back to my car, climbed in, and pulled the door closed. The car took off as I sat back in the seat, my gaze focused out the window, carrying me to the other side of the bridge just as the storm finally hit and it started to rain.

CHAPTER 10

Alex

A drop of wine slid down the rim of the glass and over my fingers. I sat in the middle of an elegant staircase with a half empty wine bottle at my side. There were more comfortable places to sit in the front room of my family’s house, but that spot gave me the best view of the portrait hanging over the door.

Raising my glass, I toasted the painted image of my father.

“Long live the King. Killed by his own empire.”

“Don’t speak about the departed like that.”

I had known Valente his whole life and easily recognized the man standing at the bottom of the stairs without even looking. Rather than respond right away, I first drained the rest of the wine in my glass.

“What? It’s true isn’t it? He went and got himself killed and left me with this mess to clean up. He’s not even in his grave yet and he’s probably rolling in it.”

Looking at the empty glass, I considered pouring myself another drink, but it would take too much effort. Instead, I let the wine glass dangle by the stem from my fingers and watched the last drops of red fall to the floor.

“Maybe it’s good that he died before he had to see me take over. This way he can’t be disappointed.”

A pair of spotless leather shoes stepped into my vision. As usual, Valente hadn’t made a sound when he moved.

“I don’t know what your father would think about you right now, but he would have supported you.” In an odd show of emotion, Valente’s mouth and eyes drew tight around the edges. He looked back at the portrait on the wall. “Being the head of the Mariano family doesn’t leave room for soft emotions, but I know your father loved you in his own way. In fact, I think you’re the only one he loved.”

As much as I wanted to argue, I couldn’t find a single word to say.

If anyone could claim they understood David Russo, it was Valente. The man who had stood beside my father since before I was born.

The relationship between my father and I had never been easy. I knew, in many ways, I wasn’t the son my father wanted. I didn’t blindly follow orders. I didn’t commit myself to the role of the perfect heir. I didn’t live, breathe, and die for the family.

Yet, I couldn’t think of a time when my father truly didn’t support me.

When I insisted they take in my cousin Ghita, who was only twelve at the time, to keep her out of her father’s clutches, my father had agreed.

When I came out and turned down the marriage that had been set up for me, my father hadn’t fought me about it or tried to make me hide my sexuality.

When I had insisted on enjoying my freedom and refused to get too tangled in the family’s affairs, my father had given me that freedom.

I shook my head. If I went down that train of thought I’d end up questioning everything about my life, and I wasn’t ready for that level of self-reflection.

Instead, I set my empty glass aside and climbed to my feet, adjusting the cuffs of my sleeves to hide the wobble in my balance. I hadn’t bothered to read the label, just grabbed the first bottle of wine I found. It must have been a stronger vintage than I realized. I wasn’t fully drunk yet, but I was more inebriated than expected.

“You’ve questioned the surviving assassins from the aquarium, right? Any updates on who tried to kill me.”

When Valente looked away from the portrait and back toward me, his neutral expression was back to normal. “A little, yes. We suspect it may have been the Bianchi family.”

I nearly missed a step as I descended the stairs, but this time I could blame it on surprise rather than alcohol. “Really? Of all the possibilities, I wouldn’t have thought...”

I’d met the heads of two rival families during the meeting at the aquarium. The Bianchi family, and the Vidales family. Between the two, I’d always been on better personal terms with the Bianchi family. Their leader, D’Angelo Bianchi, shared many of my same values.

Caprice Vidales, on the other hand, was a hard woman who could make enemies with a bat of her eyelashes. Her distain for me was as bold as the polish on her nails.

Especially, after I turned down the marriage to her niece.

I came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. “You said you suspect the Bianchi family is behind it? So, you don’t know for sure.”

Valente gave only the barest nod of his head. “We haven’t gotten a clear answer out of anyone yet. However, they’ve hinted that they’d be willing to trade information for safety, since their employer probably isn’t happy with them. One man let slip that the person who hired them was at the aquarium and got shot in the crossfire.”

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