Page 7 of Where Wild Hearts Dance
“Okay, honey. There’s some lasagna on the side if you want it, just help yourself.”
“Thanks Allegra. I’ll be there soon.” I hang up and push the guilt of lying deep into my gut. The further we get from Manhattan and the closer we get to my home, the more I realize the guy might not have been following me. It’s late, I’m tired, and I’m still processing what Antonio meant when he called me ‘unhinged.’
I slide my phone into my bag. I’m probably just being paranoid.
As the cab pulls up to the house, there’s a familiar vehicle blocking the drive. I pay the driver and make my way to the car. A door opens and I slide into the passenger seat, lifting my gaze to meet Federico’s.
“Hey,” I say softly. “How are you doing?”
News of his uncle’s murder has spread quickly. I’ve only had to eavesdrop on Papa’s calls a couple of times today to know that people are already cutting ties with Mr. Falconi and his business.
Fed leans forward until his eyes are lit by the glow of the street lamps. I gasp at what I see. Rings of fire, swollen skin, a hard, bitter jaw.
“Wha—?”
His forefinger presses against my lips. “I can’t stay long, Tess.” His voice has thinned, like fragile glass, sharp enough to cut through flesh. “I shouldn’t even behere. If my father finds out I’ve left the house, he’ll go crazy.”
“What are you talking about?” I whisper round his finger.
His gaze roams my face erratically, and his eyes are filled with more than pure panic. There’s a kind of desperation there… almost like hunger.
“We’re leaving…”
I go to speak but he presses his finger to my lips harder.
“Tomorrow night. No one knows. And you cannot tell anyone, Tess. Do you understand?”
I swallow a large knot in my throat. Then I nod.
Federico sighs heavily. “The Di Santo’s have shut us down…”
“What?”
“According to Papa they’ve been chipping away at him for months, taking clients away and shutting down premises so he loses business. He’s been struggling to pay the lease on the warehouse and he missed one month.One month,Tess. And that’s all they needed. It isn’t enough that they’ve killed my uncle—they want toruinus. So, we’re leaving.”
Bitterness clenches its fist around my heart.
Fed’s lip curls in disgust. “The don couldn’t even grace us with his presence yesterday. He sent his fuckingconsigliere…”
My eyes narrow.
“Benito Bernadi,” Fed clarifies.
I realize who he means. The man in black, with thebronze eyes and heated gaze. The man who saw me through the gap in the door. I try to mask the shiver that coasts down my spine at the memory.
Fed blinks down then lifts his lids revealing soft, sad eyes. “I thought I had forever to do this.”
The air inside the vehicle shifts, taking away a little bit of oxygen. His finger slides down my lips and a short smile teases his mouth when he glances over my shoulder into the distance. “I don’t know when it happened.”
I somehow find my voice again. “When what happened?”
His Adam’s apple moves and his expression turns somber before his eyes fall back to mine. “When I fell for you.”
I swear my heart stops beating.
Federicofellfor me?
I can’t decipher which emotion wants to rise to the surface first—shock, because I had no idea anyonecouldfall for me; guilt, because I’ve never thought of Federico that way; or despair, because breaking someone’s heart wasnoton my to-do list this evening.
