Page 36 of Dark Desire

"Why are we going to Italy? Won’t it appear like I’m fleeing the country? This won’t help me when I am arrested.”

I watched as Massimo, and Antonio settled in their seats. The plane was taxing down the runway and about to lift off. My nerves coiled in my gut. I had just killed Dmitri Ivanov, leaving his bloody body in the alley behind my restaurant. Not to mention the woman I loved, an FBI agent, was the one who'd found me.

Massimo glanced at Antonio and nodded. “Now that you can’t jump off the plane, I think I should tell you what's going on. But before I do, I need your word that you're not going to lose your shit. We have a long flight, and I don’t need you going berserker on me mid-flight.” I nodded for him to continue. “Riley has a plan to keep you from being implicated in his murder.”

I leaned forward in my seat, looking between my brothers. “I don’t understand.”

I watched my brother close his eyes and sigh. “I don’t quite understand myself, Vin. All I know is she called Madison and asked that we come and get you. She only told us having you gone would help her plan.”

My fingers dug into the edge of the armrest as I shifted my body, trying to get comfortable. But the anxiety I was feeling rose to ten decibels. “Give me my phone.”

“What are you going to do? You can’t call her while we're in the air, Vincenzo.” Antonio crossed his leg over his knee and leaned back against the seat. “Do you trust her?”

I answered without hesitation. “Yes.”

As strange as it seemed, I trusted her. I knew she had been at war with herself when I left her standing over Dmitri Ivanov’s body. Her body language told me she wanted to turn and pretend she hadn’t seen what I'd done, but her heart was conflicted. She was the FBI. How was she supposed to leave and pretend I hadn’t just killed a man?

She couldn’t.

And I didn’t expect her to. I'd known our time together would likely end. We were from two different worlds—even if I desperately wanted to pretend we weren’t.

“Then you have to trust she knows what she is doing.”

“I don’t like this. Why didn’t she tell me what she has planned? I could have helped her.”

“No. Vin. You couldn’t have. I know you, and so does she, apparently. She knew, whatever it is she is planning to do, you wouldn’t like. And therefore, she needed to remove you from the equation.”

I pressed my head to the back of the headrest and closed my eyes. “This is bullshit.”

Even though I trusted her, something was wrong. The only way to keep me from being implicated was if she framed someone else. But that would be nearly impossible. Unless…

“Mother Fucker.” I bolted upright and glared at my brother. “She’s going to say it was her, isn't she?" When Massimo refused to meet my gaze, I knew I was right. "Turn this plane around, Massimo. Now.” I tried to stand, but Massimo pushed me back down.

“Calm down. We don’t know if that’s what she’s planning.”

“It is. There’s no other explanation. She is going to have to say someone did it, and who is that going to be? Tell me. Who do you think that is?”

The realization spread across Massimo’s features as the reality of my words set in. “Why would she do something like that?" He glanced at Antonio, who just shrugged. "It would be career suicide—not to mention she would be arrested for murder.”

“I don’t know." I tugged at my hair in frustration. "But in my gut, I know that’s what she is planning.”

“Maybe not, Brother.” Antonio pressed his hand to my knee. “Let’s land and then we can find out what's going on. Madison stayed behind to make it less suspicious. It’s not unusual for us to go to Italy, and only the pilot knows when we left. To the world, we are already there and have been for days.”

I shook my head. “I fucked up. I dragged her into this mess… This is my fault.”

“No. It's Dmitri Ivanov’s fault. You know as well as I do, he was there to kill you. I would have done the same thing.”

My mind whirled with a myriad of thoughts. I wish Riley had simply arrested me. I belonged behind bars for the horrific things I had done, and not just in the last twenty-four hours. Everything I touched turned to darkness, and now, I had ruined the one thing that meant more than the breath I took.

Twenty-Two

Riley

The lights flashed, filling the alley with an eerie barrage of colors. I watched in fascination as my team… well, former team, filled the narrow space. The pavement was covered in red and lined with yellow tape. Even the smell filling the air spoke of death.

Death of a man.

Death of my career.

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