Page 152 of King Of Order

At some point, Mauri and Lorenzo stalked away, leaving us alone.

I pulled back, looking up at mybellowarrior, at his chiseled, sculpted face. ‘Tell me, what are you planning?’

He cupped my face, brushing my lip with my thumb. ‘We’re setting up a sting that will guarantee a conviction, working with our contacts in the police to make sure it sticks.’

I blinked at him, overwhelmed with shock and gratitude. I snuggled back into his arms, relaxing against him as he kissed my head.

‘The Tirones might be your past, but I am your future. I wouldn’t let anyone take that from me,’ he rasped with brutal fierceness. ‘Non posso vivere senza di te. Woman, I can’t live without you, so protecting you is my vow.’

We stood like that for a while, the warmth of the afternoon sun on our skin, the distant sound of the ocean filling the silence between us.

Chapter 32

CHIARA

The plan was audacious.

So bodacious, I was as skeptical as all hell.

It all hinged on the fact that Don Fabian Mariano was an infamous fine art aficionado and was willing to pay top prices for private sales of collectible masterpieces.

Like most collectors, he had a wish list, a high price tag one.

Through the art world grapevine, I discovered the top five canvases that werehiscream of the crop. The items he desired most to own, the ones that would make him drop everything and come running.

Next, we hunted for the right piece.

Lorenzo came up with the goods.

We borrowed a wildly rare artwork from hisamico, a discreet collector who had recently spent over $25 million to acquire it.

The anonymous lender agreed to the risky move only because Lorenzo called in the favor using his Calibrese name and diamonds in collateral to vouch for the risky gambit.

Seeing that masterpiece delivered to my gallery was surreal.

It was shielded under layers of protection—tags, sensors, cameras, and a new security feature specially designed for such situations.

The stakes were high. If we tempted Fabian with this artwork, we’d offer him a way out of his clusterfuck with Claudio.

He had the choice to either keep the painting, paying us $10 million for its $20 million value, or sell it for its true worth and give us the same amount back.

Regardless, he’d recoup his money.

I was confident he’d not be able to resist the piece. Not one so highly sought after.

With Rio looking over my shoulder, I emailed Claudio the irresistible hook.

I had an answer in 24 hours.

Don Mariano had taken the bait.

We staged the showing at my gallery.

It was 9 p.m. on a Thursday when Fabian finally arrived with his son, Damian, and Claudio.

In the low light of the Galleria, I studied the man.

The infamous Don filled a room with the clout of his presence.

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