Page 55 of The Last Vendetta

“I want to speak with her.”

“To bond with your future sister-in-law?”

I grimaced. Not happening.

“Are you coming?”

“Giulia. Listen to yourself. You can’t just go and act like a soldier or operative. You?—”

“Do not give me the illusion that you actually are just like every other man in my life.”

He growled. “Let me handle this.”

“No. Are you coming with me, or not?”

“That’s what partners do, isn’t it?”

I bit my lip, smiling again. Partners. I wished we could be paired for life.

“I shouldn’t be partnering with you at all,” he admitted. Just that simple admission cheered me. I heard every note of longing in his words. He knew better than to seek my company, but he was just as beholden to me as I was to him.

“But there’s no way in hell I’ll sit back and let you wander off like this without me.”

It wasn’t I love you, but it proved that he cared.

18

RENZO

Renzo

When Giulia called, she caught me off-guard. I couldn’t risk the capo listening in while we dealt with a traitor, so I stepped outside. I wasn’t sure that I had to be there personally, anyway. Luka used to supervise fucking everything. It was taking time for me to retrain everyone in the organization that I didn’t need to be right there and watching over their every move.

If he said that the man had to be punished and killed for his incidents of lying, then I believed him.

At her word, I planned to leave. Traveling used to be a routine for me. Before I had to assume so much responsibility, I could do whatever I wanted, and I enjoyed taking off and going wherever I pleased.

Heading out of town with Giulia was the first chance I had to leave the city. I looked forward to it—both the opportunity to get away and the time I would have to share with her alone.

We were asking for trouble. Ever since the night Luka was killed, we struggled with resisting each other. Already, we’d lost so much ground in that fight. I made her come. We kissed. She came on my dick and milked me so perfectly. The other day, when we both knew better, we succumbed to kissing again.

Keeping my hands and mouth off her was an epic struggle. Hearing her admit how much she'd liked fucking me only goaded me to want her even more.

So, heading up along the coast with her was nothing but flirting with temptation. But it wasn’t enough to keep me away from her.

I picked her up, as planned, at a seedy restaurant her Family owned. She was waiting in more casual clothes than what I’d ever seen her wear, and the laidback look suited her. I had no doubt her short black skirt was designer, as was the white blouse that accentuated the large swells of her breasts. But she looked looser. Calmer.

The smirking smile she gave me as I pulled up to the curb hit me square in the chest. She was radiant. Gorgeous. Full of life and excitement. And I reveled in the fact that simply seeing me coming for her made her grin like that.

Careful. I couldn’t afford to fall any further for her when we were doomed to sink into a pit of hopelessness.

If Isabella was already making official plans for her to be with Nickolas, time was running out.

But maybe today will change all of that. A big reason I wanted to seek out Cecilia was to gain information about Luka’s death, and probably Rocco’s as well since it seemed that the same person had killed them both.

If Giulia and I could uncover who was killing these prominent men, there was a chance that Isabella might change her mind about foisting Giulia onto Nickolas. The Romanos were always shady as fuck. While an alliance with them suggested more wealth, at what cost would Isabella want them tied to her name?

I drove away, feeling more confident and in control with Giulia in the passenger seat. She didn’t speak until we were further from the city. Once she opened her mouth to say something, my phone cut her off.

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