Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 148612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 743(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 743(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
“We’re going to have to take prisoners with this one, hopefully Angelo or Miceli. I have to break them, Emmanuelle. I don’t have a choice.” He poured steel into his voice. Resolve. He would find that place of darkness in him, that hole that allowed him to do unspeakable things he never wanted Emme around to see. “If I don’t find out who is behind this, we saved these kids but didn’t do a thing to stop it from happening to others.”
She reached up to cup the side of his face with her palm. Her blue eyes stared intently into his, as if she knew what he was saying to her—and she probably did. “We’ll find him. The one behind all of this. We’ll find him and we’ll stop him. I have every faith in you, Valentino.”
“I’m sorry I’m not a decent man, Emmanuelle.” His hand came up to cover hers. He pressed her palm tight against his skin. It hurt to know he wasn’t and never would be. “You deserve better, but I knew I could never be without you. You give me peace when I didn’t think I could ever have it.”
“I love you so much, Valentino. More than I can possibly ever express to you. I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. Just love me back the same way, and that will be enough for me. You be whatever you have to be to get to this man. Selling children has to stop. It has to. There is no doubt in my mind that you will find the way to stop this particular trafficking ring. Whoever this person is, man or woman, behind it, had better be worried, because you’re going to get to them.”
She made him weak. He couldn’t afford to be weak or vulnerable and she made him both. It didn’t matter. She was also his greatest strength. He bent his head and took her mouth gently. Sometimes the fire raged between them. Sometimes it was a slow burn of a promise, like now. He promised her everything he had to give. His heart. His soul. His complete loyalty.
“Angelo has several places he hides the children, according to Marge. We have to check them out without them knowing. Stefano offered to do that.”
“He didn’t contact me.”
“I asked him not to. I wanted you with me,” Valentino admitted. “I needed you with me,” he added before she could voice a protest. He glanced at his watch. “Let’s go, baby.” He buttoned her suit jacket, enclosing her breasts. The bruises were still there, standing out starkly against her otherwise flawless skin. “Ride with me. You’re a Saldi. My wife. Stefano and his crew can use their own cars, but I want you with me.”
She framed his face with both hands, her expression one of regret. “We’ll use the shadows. You told Stefano where the places to look for the children are. He will have sent my brothers and cousins hunting. Once they’re found, he’ll report back to you and then call for us to set things up and be ready for you. I have to be part of that. I’m a shadow rider, Valentino. I work best in the shadows. That’s where I’m an asset to you. It was okay to ask Stefano to have me spend the night with you, but I need to be with them when we take down your cousin and uncle. It’s the best way I can help you.”
Valentino knew he couldn’t protect her as he wanted to. Maybe staying in the shadows was more of a protection for her. He didn’t even care if Elie Archambault worked as her partner, as long as he protected her.
“You have your wire?”
She nodded. “I’ll put it in when we have to give up our cell phones. Stefano will contact my bodyguards and let them know where I need to meet him. Until then, I have to stay with Drago and Demetrio.”
“And my men, Emmanuelle. You have to get used to Levi and Axel. They’re going to be assigned to you at all times. When they aren’t with you, Pace and Lando will be.”
“Honey, I have to disappear into the shadows. What then?”
He hated the gentleness in her voice. The way she spoke to him as if he wasn’t quite thinking things through. Dario knew about the fucking shadows. Maybe he’d take her four bodyguards into his confidence as well. If they said one word of it to anyone, he’d slit their throats. They knew what he was. They knew he’d do it.
“We have to go.” He’d discuss it with her later. There were going to be quite a few discussions later, apparently. “When did you get so stubborn?”
She burst out laughing, slung her arm around his waist and looked up at him with soft, glowing eyes. That look always melted him. He shook his head and looked away, putting his stone face on. Letting the cold settle into him. Giving the outside world nothing of what he felt. As far as anyone was concerned, he was Valentino Saldi and he would end a life on the slightest hint that someone had betrayed him or the famiglia. He was ruthless and merciless. His reputation was already rising fast, and it had only been a couple of days.