“Be careful.” He meets my gaze. “You can’t trust her. She’s not the same person she was a lifetime ago.”
That’s why Santino’s my second. He watches out for me better than I watch out for myself. But in this, he’s wrong. Apollonia may have tried to escape this life, but she’s back. And this is her world, no matter what she’s been telling herself over the past few years.
“I’m not the same person I was then, either.” I glance at the bloody mess on the floor.
“Yeah, you’re more of a dick.” He grins.
“Go shower your whores with cash.” I push past him knowing that’s the last thing he’s going to do, but I needle him anyway. He thinks a woman will ruin you if you let them. He makes it a habit to not be ruined. “I’ll call you if I need advice on how to spread the clap.”
A laughing Santino and I walk into the hall as our cleaning crew hurries into my office. Not a trace of gore will remain when they’re done, but my soldiers will remember the price of disloyalty.
“Touchy.” He says it quietly so only I can hear. Santino knows better than to speak to me as an equal in front of anyone else.
I turn toward my bedroom as he heads toward the kitchen. After a shower and a change of clothes, I should go to the dining room. Instead, I find myself walking to the guest wing of the villa. The open portico allows the wind to whisper past carrying the scent of rain and olive blossoms.
I pass through the main foyer, then walk down the guest hallway. Her door is ahead and slightly open.
When I get closer, I quiet my steps and stop. Peering through the crack in the door, I feel my heart begin to race. And the sight that meets my eyes steals the breath from my lungs and has me pushing inside, forcing my way to her.