Page 49 of Forging Caine

I rubbed my fingers together inside my pockets, a vain attempt to discharge some of the energy zipping around inside me. Seeing Elliot always did that, but this time, it was different. Normally, I was fighting back my desire to work for him, but this time I was fighting back my desire to kick him out, while still wanting to work with him. “I feel like there’s a but in there.”

Elliot flicked his gaze toward Antonio deliberately. “This differs from the cases or the manner I wanted to work with you. I wanted you researching, maybe even undercover, but in a tightly controlled situation. I’m not happy about this, but I suspect it will push the smuggling case to the next level. We’ve been dancing around the outside of the smuggling ring, picking off minor players, until we got to Giovanni Ferraro. He’s cooperating, but hasn’t given us nearly as much intel as I’d hoped for.”

Antonio took in a slow breath, grazing his hand down my forearm until it was almost in my pocket. Maybe holding my hand wasn’t about me. Maybe it was about him, and him borrowing some of my resolve.

No, that was silly.

Antonio Ferraro didn’t need something like that.

“Fiori said he’d call me tomorrow, after I’ve had some time with the painting. Should I tell him what I found? Or do the repair and pretend nothing happened?”

I took Antonio’s hand, more as a show of appreciation than anything. Normally, I was the one leading the charge, but since he talked to Cristian—had something else happened on that call he hadn’t told me?

“What do you think, Sam?” asked Elliot.

That I wanted to take down the smuggling ring and protect those I cared about. I turned to Antonio, looking up into his big brown eyes. What I really wanted was to get lost in them and have a few days of nothing but us. “Did you ever talk about Fiori in front of Vincenzo?”

Antonio shook his head. “I couldn’t say for sure. But after Zio Giovanni presented us with the fresco, it’s possible he said where it came from in front of his men. Or during the planning of the recovery, I suppose?”

“Then I think we approach this like we did Friday night. Pretend we don’t know what he does and make it look like we think someone cheated him with this painting. If Fiori calls us on it and says anything about Giovanni saying Fiori was behind the fresco theft, we say we didn’t believe him. We fought with Giovanni enough that Vincenzo probably passed that along.”

Elliot nodded as I spoke, while Antonio’s jaw grew progressively tighter.

“If we work on the assumption Fiori’s looking to recruit the pair of us as authenticity experts, and that he doesn’t know my link to the FBI, I think we should tell him what we found, but dance around it. Say we’re regretful and pretend we don’t suspect it was a test.” I squeezed Antonio’s hand. “And maybe you offer to continue with the repair if he wants, but that you recognized the painting from the Getty and suspect it’s a forgery.”

“I already alerted my task force that Fiori is in the area and reached out to you,” said Elliot. “Where do your vacation plans stand?”

“Up in the air, from the sounds of things.” Antonio’s voice betrayed the conflict inside him. He’d committed to finishing this, but obviously didn’t want to get as deep as we were getting.

“I’ll be at the Foster Mutual office tomorrow morning for a meeting,” I said. “Can we set something up for there, rather than having the FBI waltzing in and out of our home?”

“Wise choice.” Elliot gestured toward the stairs. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chapter 16

Antonio

“You’repacing,”saidSamantha.

I was not. I was simply looking out the glass wall to the patio and then returning to glower at Fiori’s forged painting. That was not pacing. Not even when I’d done it ten times.

“Why don’t we go to bed?” She sat in the office chair behind the desk, having closed her files for the evening. Apparently, her brain possessed a limit, after all.

“I’m not tired.”

“You’re exhausted.”

I halted in my innocent trek from the worktable to the door and dragged both hands through my hair. Our engagement was the only thing which had gone right since I arrived home. Everything else was a disaster. But I had to keep her safe and the only way to do that was to tackle this problem head-on. “You go ahead. I don’t think I could sleep if I tried.”

In the reflection from the glass wall, I watched her stand and come over to me. Her arms snaked around my waist from behind, finding their way to my chest. “Who said anything about sleep?”

I pressed her hands over my heart, admiring the two rings she wore. The diamond solitaire and the trinity ring. “No, bella, I need to be prepared.”

She twisted around me, nudging my arms up so I held her. “You’re a smart man and you’ve dealt with his type before. The only preparation you need at this point is to relax.”

A laugh burst free from deep inside me, and she smiled. “Who would have ever thought—”

“ThatIwould be the one tellingyouto relax? I’m guessing no one.”

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