Page 35 of His to Honor

I consider that for a moment before dismissing the idea. If Antonio, in his wisdom, has decided it’s okay for the Russian to pursue our sister, who am I to interfere? Unless Livvy asks for help with Reznov, I trust her to handle him herself. She may get emotional at times, but she’s a Volante to the core.

“I’ll speak to Livvy. If she needs me to deal with Reznov, I will. It’s not your problem.”

While we do business with the Russians and my mother is engaged to marry their Pakhan, our Italian cousins have historical ties to them through some pan-European organization they’re involved in. It’s all very hush-hush, and even Antonio doesn’t know the details of what they do. Whatever they’re into, I don’t want Livvy’s love life to cause issues for them.

“Let us know if you need us.” Damiano gives me a pointed look. “Business is important, but family comes first.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Speaking of family.” A sly grin crosses Lorenzo’s lips. “Will the lovely Giulia be joining ours soon?”

Despite my gut telling me to lock Giulia down as soon as possible, I know she’s not ready for that yet. “It’s too soon.”

“She’s good for you, Matteo,” Damiano says. “You’re different around her, content.”

“We’ve known each other a long time. I’ve loved her for years.”

“Doesn’t that complicate things? Having a woman as a friend and then a lover?” Lorenzo actually looks pained as he thinks about it.

“Nah.” My dismissive tone masks the anxiety I’m working hard to suppress. I’ve never had so much to lose with a woman before. I’ve only just got Giulia back in my life. The thought of fucking this up worries me. Not willing to confront that right now, I change the subject and turn to Damiano. “Did you track down that kid who was in the woods?”

“What’s this?” Lorenzo clearly didn’t know about this yet.

“Matteo saw someone close to the house. My men identified him as Adamo Gianotti. He lives in Cetona.”

“Does he have something to do with the Montalbano girl?” Lorenzo asks.

“He was in school with Sofia, but a couple of years ahead. There’s nothing to suggest they were friends.”

“Did your men find him?” I bring Damiano back around to the original question.

“No. His father claims the boy is missing. My men are searching, but he’s gone to ground.”

That doesn’t reassure me that his presence near Gabriele’s villa was innocent. If the boy wasn’t there to cause harm, why would he go into hiding?

“I’ll need protection for Giulia while she’s at the club.”

Damiano strokes his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll assign Roberto to drive her and I will personally watch over her at the club.” He looks up as Giulia approaches the table. “Discreetly, of course.”

“I appreciate it.” I stand to allow Giulia to get back to her seat. She smiles at me as she squeezes past. Her eyes are glazed from the wine she’s drunk this afternoon, but she doesn’t look stressed or unhappy, so I guess her talk with Livvy didn’t turn nasty.

“Is Livvy okay?” I ask.

“She’s upset about the mess she made back home.” Giulia bites her bottom lip. “She’s convinced Antonio hates her because he sent her away and she thinks you’ve turned on her too.”

“Why?” It takes only a second for me to realize the answer to my own question. “Because I sent her away after the shooting.”

Giulia nods. “Deep down she understands you wanted to keep her safe, but now you’re letting me stay at the villa…”

She lets the thought hang so I can work it out for myself. Livvy believes Giulia’s presence is confirmation I actually sent her away because I didn’t want her around anymore. It’s far from true. I push to my feet. “I’ll go speak to her.”

Lorenzo drains the last of the coffee from his cup. “We’ll head down to the warehouse. I want to show Giulia what we do here.”

A flash of panic zips across Giulia’s face. I suspect she knows as well as me that the tour will involve my cousins bombarding her with questions about herself and our relationship that they didn’t want to ask her in front of me. For a moment, I consider staying put to spare her the interrogation, but Giulia straightens her spine and twists her lips into a challenging smile. “Sounds good.”

“Okay, sweetheart.” I bend and kiss her forehead before glaring at each of my cousins. “Take care of my girl.”

As I walk away Damiano makes a remark about me in Italian that roughly translates to ‘he’s drunk on pussy.’ Thankfully, Giulia doesn’t speak the language, a shortcoming she’s lamented, but done nothing to change. I’d hate for her to be embarrassed.

---