Page 115 of Love Without Control

EIGHTYEARSINHIDING

“Hey, there are my favorite lovebirds,” Fiero said as soon as his face popped up on the FaceTime call. I was sitting on Dane’s lap with his arm wrapped around my waist.

“What’s going on, Fi?” my husband asked. We’d both been anxious since he’d texted earlier and said we needed to talk. It had to be important if he was interrupting our trip.

“First of all, how is Treviso? I haven’t been to Italy in years.”

“Completely magical,” I sighed, tilting my head to rest against Dane’s. “I’ve gained approximately forty pounds in the past three days.”

“She’s crushing my legs, bro,” my smartass husband said, giving my thigh an affectionate pat to assure me he was kidding.

He’d brought me to Treviso, the home of tiramisù, because the dessert had a special meaning to us. Dane had made it for me for breakfast on my first birthday away from my family, and when I thought back, that was probably the first pivotal moment that led me from hatred to love of this man. He’d done his best to make the difficult day not so crappy for me.

“Glad you two are having fun,” Fiero said, picking up a glass and taking a long sip of the amber liquid inside, which surprised me. With the time difference, I knew it had to be around nine in the morning there. Then he ran a hand back and forth over the top of his head before sliding it down his face. He had the same eyes and dark hair as my husband, but that’s where the similarity ended. Besides the obvious lack of facial hair, his facial features were sharper.

“What’s wrong?” Dane asked, and I could feel the tension in his body.

“Luca was arrested last night.”

Boom.It was like a bomb had exploded inside my chest and filled me with tiny shrapnel of hope. “For what?” I asked quickly.

“Murder.”

Those two syllables had my eyes widening, but before I could say anything else, Dane jumped in. “What happened?”

“There was an altercation in an alley in midtown two nights ago. Luca shot a guy who was some kind of mid-level arms dealer. There was apparently a witness who came forward and identified him as the shooter.”

Every vein in my body thrummed with excitement. “So he’s in jail?”

Fiero snorted and took another drink. “Hewas, but he made bail and is on his way home as we speak.”

“Who’s the witness?” Dane inquired, tightening his hold around my waist.

“No clue, but the prosecutor will have to divulge that if they go to trial…” He let the words hang in the air, and Dane immediately picked up what he was putting down.

“And then Luca will know and can get to them.” His voice sounded resigned, and I sagged back against him, remembering Robert and Dane’s stories about how Luca Cappitani dealt with witnesses against him. Fear. Intimidation. Threats. More death.

Fiero nodded. “Maybe it will be different this time. He’s never been brought up on murder charges before. It’s usually weapons or racketeering or something.”

“You weren’t involved, right?” Dane asked his brother, concern lacing his voice.

A lascivious smile took over his face. “No, I was at the club that evening, and then I spent the rest of the night in the company of a very lovely lady.”

I smiled, only rolling my eyes slightly. “Anyone special?”

“Oh, she was special all right. She had a tongue piercing, and the things she could do—”

“That’s enough,” Dane broke in. “My wife doesn’t need to hear about your exploits.”

“Yeah, we have enough of our own exploits to deal with,” I retorted, making my husband choke and my brother-in-law roar with laughter.

The latter shook his finger at the screen. “You’ve met your match with this one, bro.”

“No lie. She gives me shit all the time,” Dane said, dropping a kiss on my shoulder. “So you think the charges will stick?”

Fiero shrugged. “Who the fuck knows? It depends on if the idiots in charge can manage to keep the witness alive. I’m sure Luca’s lawyers will postpone the trial as long as possible. Could be years.”

Dane rubbed a comforting hand up and down my side. “Thanks for letting us know, Fi. Anything else?”

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