Page 19 of Not Mine to Keep

Yeah, we made a deal to trade in our souls for our freedom.I locked my arms across my chest, growing tense at the conversation. “In part, yes, I do what I do because of Bianca’s death.”

“And her killer? What happened to him?” She copied my move, folding her arms.

“What do you think happened?” The words sliced like a blade through the air, my anger toward the loss of Enzo’s twin catching up with me whenever I thought about it.

I spied the movement in her throat as she swallowed. “So you did kill him?”

“I had a hand in her murderer’s death, yes.”Story for another day. Or for never.“What else did you discover in your Wikipedia search of me and my life?” I’d dug through the details of her life all night. Hacked. Poked. Prodded. Knew almost everything about her I could find online, right down to discovering the deleted photos of her old boyfriends from her Instagram profile, post breakups.

From what I could tell, she hadn’t dated since she’d moved out of her ex-boyfriend’s home last year, which was right before Armani had come into her life. I didn’t blame her if he’d been secretly trying to set her up and she didn’t want to risk accidentally falling for one of his plants.

Since the photos of her and that bartender—I’d identified him as Braden Davis—remained on her Insta and Facebook, I had to assume they were only friends like she’d said. Not that it mattered. He was a veteran, and I hadn’t been able to find a reason to dislike him other than the way he’d looked longingly at my future wife last night.

Wife. Temporary. Not real.Well, just under the eyes of the law and God if the plan worked out. So it would technically be real.

My stomach banded tight, like I’d just done a thousand sit-ups. What was this feeling? Foreboding? Panic?

“You didn’t lie about serving in the military. Army Ranger.” She pulled me free from my thoughts. “Parents are from Sicily. You started school in New York when moving here at eight. And your family has a lucrative business. Nothing I could find on your supposed side gigs, though.”

“We don’t exactly take ads out in the newspaper for jobs,” I shot out, forgetting I wouldn’t win this woman over by being a dick. “Anything else interesting about me?”

“The fact you held my hair back last night doesn’t seem to be a playboy-like thing to do. Probably should say thank you for that.”

“Get the feeling one isn’t coming.”

“Not sure if I can trust you yet. Still on the fence.”

“I need you to hurry up and get off that fence.” I huffed out a semi-exasperated breath, the word she’d called me just now registering. “And playboy, huh?”

She stepped a touch closer to me, her eyes meeting mine like a dare. “You date a lot.”

“I don’t date,” I grunted.

“Okay, sleep around.”

I mulled over what to say to that. It was hard to defend the truth in who I was and how I lived my life if I said it aloud, which was why I rarely did when my shrink tried to push me to open up. It’s not like I had a heart to give anyone anyway, so why waste a woman’s time? “Maybe I—” I let my words go when I spotted a flash of movement inthe distance. Not just a flash ... but two shadowy figures were watching us from behind a bank of trees. It wasn’t the guard who’d been parked out by her place, that was for sure.

It’d been a relatively quiet morning while on our walk so far. Not many people out. Most probably on their way to church. So whoever was playing hide-and-seek behind the trees would soon make their move.

I focused back on her and gently snatched the sides of her arms. “Do you walk every Sunday morning around this time? Always in this park?” Why the hell had I left my sidearm locked in the rental?

“Yeah.” Her eyes went wide. “Why?”

“Someone, other than your guards, knows of your routine. They’re here for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Probably someone who doesn’t want Armani to have an heir,” I snapped out, gearing up for an impending fight. I pointed to the tree with those dangling arms for branches I hadn’t been a fan of before, but now I needed her to ... “Get behind the tree,” I finished aloud. “And get down.”

She blinked in shock, remaining frozen in place instead of moving like I needed her to do. I looked over her head, realizing the shadows had morphed into two hooded men who were coming in hot and fast.

“Go.” I unhanded her, tossed my hat, and cracked my neck, spying knives in their hands instead of firearms. They wanted a quiet kill.I can work with that.When she’d yet to get her ass moving, I gritted out, “Just do what I say, and take cover. Now, dammit.”

CHAPTER SIX

Calliope

Two hooded men, in their thirties from the looks of it, surrounded Alessandro with switchblades in hand, and he was all that stood in the way of them getting to me. Well, aside from the old tree I was hugging and peering around.

---