Page 85 of Massimo

Gemma's here; it seems to be going well

I won't say she's forgiven Gem, but it's a start

Relief cuts through me. Even though I’m keeping Nova hidden, the last thing I want is for her to feel isolated—especially as I suspect that’s what Mancini did to her. From what Gemma has told me, they had a strong connection and a friendship was forming before Gemma's deception.

I lock my phone, processing everything as we drive back to Vincenzo's estate.

Once we arrive, I dismiss the guards for the evening and walk along the front of the house. Vincenzo's guards nod at me, but leave me alone as I make it look like I'm out for an evening stroll, and I head into the garden that's lined with high hedge walls. There's little moonlight tonight as I move through the expansive space, making my way toward the pool house, as Renzo said.

I turn a corner and catch sight of a faint silhouette on the wrap-around deck of the pool house, a glowing cherry of a cigarette flickering in the dark. A dark shape moves toward me, and I reach for my weapon but pause when I realize it's Renzo.

A soft whistle cuts through the air, and Renzo instantly pulls me back into the shadows. We remain silent and still, listening, until the thud of boots on the ground signals one of Vincenzo's guards on patrol passing by the garden's entrance.

I watch Renzo in the shadows, recalling Anna's actions when I arrived this morning—her warning and her comment about owing a friend. She must've whistled to signal to him about the guard. I narrow my eyes at him. "Are you fucking Anna?"

Something flashes over his face that I can't decipher. "Not everything is as it seems."

"What's that mean?" I ask, keeping my voice low and quiet.

"Do you want to really talk about that? Or do you want to talk about what I know about your…situation?"

I inwardly stiffen, but keep my body from noticeably reacting. "Care to explain?" There's a warning of threat in my tone.

Renzo is a close ally. Other thanZioRiccardo, he's the only one of my 'Ndrangheta peers I'd consider a friend, but that doesn't mean I blindly trust him.

He threads hisinked hand through his hair, pushing back the top longer length. "I'm not asking for validation of what I suspect, Massimo. I'm giving you a warning."

I fully expect his warning to be that I need to return the princess to her father, so I only stare at him when he speaks. He's not onlynottelling me that; he's pushing me to take things one step further than I had planned.

He studies me as I remain silent. "You're being short-sighted. Marrying her alone won't protect her, Massimo."

"I don't know what you're—"

He shoves me lightly and snorts. "So that healing bite mark on your neck isn't from the princess?"

"That mark could be from anyone."

He narrows his eyes. "Don't fucking lie to me. You and I are cut from the same cloth. I knew the moment I saw you today—you're a manobsessed. Like recognizes like."

There's only one thing that I know Renzo has been obsessed with the past couple of years. He had a complicated relationship with his father—he'd wanted to kill him, but patricide in our world is severely punished. The Irish mob did the job for him. To the outside world, everyone’s waiting for Renzo to strike—plotting his revenge against Patrick Finley for Rufino’s death. But I know it's Kianna Finley who's the secret object of Renzo's obsession, and she has been for years.

Renzo is right in that we're alike in this regard: we both targeted the daughters of our enemies.

"Kianna is protected in Frolov Bratva territory," I hiss quietly. "You don't want to make an enemy of Rurik Frolov, Renzo."

"This isn't about me," he growls. "Massimo, listen to me; just marrying Nova will not keep her safe."

"Even if I have the Mancini Princess, why do you think I would even consider marrying her?" Disrespecting Nova makes bile rise like a solid mass in my throat, and it nearly chokes me.

He shakes his head, dismissing my comment. "The French are mobilizing. They’re not just increasing the bounty; they're preparing for war. They'll team up with Mancini and hit you with everything they've got. And Nova is your enemy's daughter—will your family stepup and protect her if something happens to you, Massimo? Think of what happened with Anna when her cunt husband was killed; his family left her for the wolves. Your family is cut from a different cloth than most, but can you say with absolute certainty they'll protect her if you're not there to give the order?"

I know my family isn't like like most crime families, including Renzo's. Creed always jokes we're the mafia version of theBrady Bunch. The Nucci family is more like the Lannisters fromGame of Thrones—minus the incest. But if something were to happen to me, after all the sins Mancini has committed against us,wouldmy family protect Nova even if she was my wife?

Doubt pushes in at Renzo's warning about me being short-sighted, especially as I think of what happened with Anna.

"Massimo, even if nothing happens to you, do you think there won't be resistance from your family and within your ranks? That they'll willingly risk the lives of your women and children—because Mancini and the French will go for them—to defend and protect your enemy's daughter? Because it's not a matter of if they'll come for Nova, it'swhen. And Mancini and the French mafia will come for Nova with everything they got."

Dread pools in my stomach because I can't answer that for certain. Especially if it comes to light that Mancini was involved in trying to deliver Sophie to a death ring. "Why does Julien Moreau and the French mafia want Nova so badly?"

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