Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Raphael got out of the car but left it running. He said something to Eric that I didn’t hear. I let Charlie out and went to Raphael.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
Eric nodded and gave some orders to the others. Raphael turned to me.
“Stay here. I’ll be back. Understand?”
“You can’t go to him.”
Raphael gave me a tight smile, his eyes not quite on me. I could feel the anger, the rage, coming off him.
“Raphael?”
“Go inside, Sofia. Swim if you want. Whatever. Don’t do anything stupid, am I clear?”
With that, he dismissed me, and I realized I had not one guard but two. Eric’s cousins stayed at the house while Raphael and Eric drove off. I watched them go, feeling powerless and afraid.
I went into the house, pacing for a little while, unsure what to do. Charlie lay down in the kitchen for his nap, and Maria and the others were working. I went up to my room and fished out the card Damon had given me and dialed him. He didn’t answer his cell phone, so I called the seminary where, after holding for more than ten minutes, Damon came on the line.
“This is Damon,” he said.
“It’s Sofia.”
“Sofia?”
“Raphael just left with Eric. He’s going to see Moriarty.”
“Moriarty?”
I nodded. “Yes. On our way back from taking Lina to Siena, this SUV started following us. It was pretty scary. Damon, he has a gun.”
“Shit.”
When I heard the urgency in Damon’s tone, I dropped onto the bed, too heavy to stand. “Damon?”
“Sit tight, Sofia. I’m going to meet him, try to intercept him.”
Stupidly, I nodded again. “Thank you, Damon. Thank you.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
He was almost gone when I called out his name. “Damon?”
“Yes?”
“Take care.”
“I will. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
I hated those two words. They always meant the opposite of what they said.
Chapter Twenty
Raphael
My fucking brother wouldn’t stop dialing my phone. I guessed Sofia had called him as soon as I left, and I knew he wouldn’t stop calling. Finally, after the eighth time, I answered.
“What is it, Damon.”
“Where are you, Raphael?”
“I’m guessing you know that.”
“On your way to Moriarty’s offices?”
“He’s gone too far.”
“Sofia said you have a gun.”
“Do you propose I go without one?”
“I propose you don’t go at all. Not until you’ve calmed down. He’s not some two-bit thug we’re talking about. He’s a legitimate businessman—”
“There’s nothing legitimate about him.”
“Unless you want to give him ammunition, you can’t go into Florence with a fucking gun.”
He was right. I knew it. But fuck. “He sent a car after us. Us, Damon. Sofia was with me.”
“I realize there has to be a meeting. Just not like this, not when you’re out of control.”
“Aren’t I always out of control? That’s what you were telling me a few days ago with your fists, wasn’t it?”
He sighed. “I need to be there too. This concerns me as much as it does you.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“The house may belong to you, but it’s my past too.”
“No.”
“Are you still protecting me, brother?”
“Oh, that’s right, you didn’t want my protection.”
“Goddamn it, Raphael. Just fucking wait. I’m on my way. I lost you once. I’m not willing to lose you again.”
I paused, as if hearing his words in slow motion. It took me a full minute to respond. “I’ll wait. I’ll get there in forty-five minutes.”
“I’ll wait for you, then. I’m closer. I’ll be there in twenty.”
Damon was right, I knew it. Moriarty may be an asshole, but he was a powerful man. Legitimate enough that I needed to do this right. If I walked into his office brandishing a gun, he’d have me tossed into jail. Considering my past, I’d just be making everything easier for him.
Traffic getting into Florence delayed both of us, but once we arrived, I found Damon at the café at the corner of Moriarty’s building, which was an old, three-story property, ancient on the outside, meticulously modern on the inside. I knew because I’d seen pictures in a magazine once.
I told Eric to wait outside the building and went into the coffee shop where, before I could protest, my brother had a waitress bringing me over an espresso.
“Sit.”
Although reluctant, I did.
“Drink and breathe.”
“If it was just me, that’d be one thing, Damon. But Sofia was there.”
“I know. I get it. And agree we need to handle this.”
“He wants the property. He’s made perfectly clear he’ll buy us out—after subtracting the amount our father owed him.”
“Generous of him.”
“I’d rather see it burn to the ground than give it to him.”
“Well, it almost did, didn’t it?”
I shook my head, feeling more at ease now that Damon was here too. I didn’t realize how much I needed him. And he was right. I was too angry. Moriarty wanted that. He knew having that car chase would scare the fuck out of Sofia, and he knew I’d react.