Page 113 of Empire of Temptation

“Nope.” Mrs. P handed her credit card to Bev. “There’s a big fire out by the river. One of those mansions.”

I froze and the room seemed to shrink along with my ability to breathe. No, it couldn’t be. “I’m sorry, which house?”

“Oh.” Mrs. P seemed to notice me there for the first time. Her expression turned sympathetic. “I’m sure everything is alright, sweetie.”

“Is it Mr. DiMarco’s house?”

She gently removed my fingers from her arm, which was weird. I hadn’t even realized that I was holding onto her. “Well, now,” she said. “I can’t say, as I didn’t take the 911 call. But I was told it was one of those Italian men we’ve been seeing around town and he reported a fire in his home.”

I swayed on my feet as the edges of my vision wavered. Luca . . . fire. Was he okay? They senttwotrucks. They never sent two trucks unless it was serious. “Oh, my god.”

“Valentina.” Roberto took my hand and patted it, like he was trying to keep me awake. “Let’s stay calm. I’m sure everything is okay.”

This was no time for calm. I needed to see with my own eyes that he was alright. I couldn’t take it if something happened to him.

Did that mean . . . ? Was I in love with him? It seemed crazy, falling in love with someone in such a short amount of time, but I was physically sick at the thought of losing him.

Pulling away from Roberto, I started hurrying toward the door. “I have to get out there.”

“Val!” Someone called, but I didn’t stop. I had to get my van and drive out to Luca’s.

“Wait!” Bev was right behind me. She grabbed my shoulder and thrust a set of keys at me. “Here, take my car. It’ll be faster.”

Roberto opened the shop door and held it for me. “I’ll come with you, signorina.”

Bev’s car was behind the store, so it took no time at all to get in and set off for Luca’s. My hands were shaking as I steered, panic fueling me as I punched the gas. Roberto grabbed the doorframe with one hand and the dashboard with the other. “Slow down, signorina. He would not want you risking yourself to get to him.”

It was like all the worry and panic had rage babies inside me and words began rushing from my mouth. “Donottell me what to do right now! The last thing I need is to be coddled and ordered around.”

He quieted, though I could feel his anxiety leaching into the car interior. But I was a safe driver. I’ve been driving these roads since I was fifteen, even before I had a driver’s license. I knew every turn, every bump. When to slow down, when to speed up. There wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

Then everything went wrong.

A loud pop sounded, and the tiny sedan began skidding and lurching wildly. I screamed as my fingers locked in a death grip on the steering wheel.

“Don’t brake!” Roberto yelled. “It makes it worse.”

I couldn’t see how that was possible, but I trusted him. Taking my foot off the brake, I let the car slow down on its own. I instantly discovered he was right because the swerving stopped and it was easier to keep the car on the road. Finally, we rolled to a halt in a grassy patch off to the side.

Both of us gripped the interior of the car, panting, our adrenaline racing. “What the fuck?” I wheezed. “We almost died.”

Roberto glanced behind us. “There was something in the road. We drove over it and the tire popped.”

“Shit!” I slammed my palm into the steering wheel. “Bev is going to kill me. Let’s get out and see how bad it is.”

As soon as we got out of the car, I realized our mistake.

This hadn’t been an accident. Whoever placed something in the road had put it there purposely.

And that person was my father.

Flavio materialized out of the woods, dressed in head to toe camouflage, a gun pointed at Roberto.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I said as my father eased closer. “Flavio, have you lost your mind? I could’ve beenkilled.”

“It was only the front tires. I knew you would be okay.” He gestured to me with his free hand. “Come with me, Valentina.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely not. I need to get up to . . . ” Pieces of information connected in my brain, the events of the morning coming together like ends of a magnet. “Oh, my god. The fire. Please tell me you aren’t responsible. Did you do all this? Why?”

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