Page 110 of Empire of Temptation

To keep from strangling my brother, I gripped the armrests and watched her. I couldn’t see her face, but it was clear from her body language that she was telling Segreto off, arguing with him.Good.

Then she tried to leave and her father grabbed her arm, moving forward just enough where the side of his face was revealed to thecamera for a split second. “There he is,” I hissed. “That’s Segreto. Touching her.”

She ripped her arm out of Segreto’s grip and continued arguing with him. I couldn’t see her father any longer, but the two of them seemed to be going back and forth. She threw her head back, as if laughing, but I doubted this was amusement. Then she marched toward the kitchen once more.

Abruptly, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. Segreto must have said something upsetting, because she whirled around and started gesturing with her hands, talking back to him. She folded her arms angrily and listened to whatever her father was saying. Was he trying to warn her about me? Forbid her from seeing me? Finally, she pointed in Segreto’s direction as if telling him to go away, then hurried back inside the kitchen.

Once there, Valentina wasted no time in returning to our table, where she gulped wine and told me she was ready to go. The two of us walked out into the night.

Sergio shut off the video.

Very slowly, I turned toward Rico, the leather chair creaking beneath my weight. In any other situation I would collect my thoughts, give my emotions time to level out before speaking. But I was too fucking angry right now. There was no reason left inside me, no grace to be given. “Get out of my sight. Go back to Catanzaro. Immediately, fratello. Because if you stay, I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”

Sergio and Dante remained quiet. Both of them knew better than to intervene.

Rico sighed heavily. “Perdonami, Luca.”

“Go!” I roared.

I dragged both hands through my hair, then rested my elbows on my knees. Cristo santo, this was unbelievable. Segreto was right under our noses last night—and we missed him. Worse, he somehow got to my woman and upset her.

“Should we follow her?” Sergio asked quietly. “Maybe he will try to approach her again.”

“No, he won’t. She wasn’t receptive to whatever he said last night. It’s a waste of time for him. And by now he knows that we’ve seen him.”

“So what will he do?”

The answer was obvious. It was exactly what I would do if I were in Segreto’s shoes. “He’ll try to kill me.”

Sergio nodded his head in understanding. “You should stay here, safe, while we search for him. And we need to keep Valentina away from you, or else she’s at risk.”

“He won’t hurt her. Last night was about warning her. He wants her to know who I am.” Yet she still came to me, went home with me. Let me fuck her for hours. My chest pulled tight as a lump of emotion gathered behind my sternum. It was like a boulder sitting there, pressing down on me, weighing me down. I hadn’t felt like this before, protective and grateful. Greedy for her. Never wanting to let her out of my sight.

Am I in love with her?

Was this what love felt like? Obsession with a dash of panic?

It seemed improbable. What would a man like me know about love? I loved my brothers, but we grew up together, took over the empire together. We banded together as boys to endure our father’s ruthlessness.

But a woman? An outsider? An American? I couldn’t possibly?—

“What is that smell?” Sergio swiveled his head, inhaling.

I took in a deep lungful of air and realized the scent right away. Cazzo madre di dio! Shooting to my feet, I raced for the door. “That is smoke. ”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Valentina

Roberto and I were walking to Leaning Tower of Pastries, discussing last night’s opening, when the city’s two fire trucks roared by. They were headed out of downtown, toward the neighborhoods.

“That’s weird,” I said, shielding my eyes from the morning sun as the trucks disappeared. “They don’t usually take both trucks for emergency calls.”

“Maybe it’s a fire.”

“Maybe.” But we rarely had fires. More than likely it was someone not feeling well or a gas leak. But I had to focus on Roberto. I needed to have a private conversation with him, which was why I’d asked him to walk with me. “Listen, I have to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?”

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