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Valentino

The phone vibrates.

I lift Amanda's hand off my chest. She makes a sleepy sound and I press my mouth to her knuckles before setting her hand on the pillow. She shifts toward the empty space beside her, chasing the heat, and settles back into sleep.

I close the bedroom door behind me and answer.

"Tell me."

"Enzo knows. They pulled the palazzo's backyard security footage. Exterior cameras caught you carrying her out. Your face was visible. Enzo had someone in Milan PD run facial recognition against his database. He matched you in under six hours."

I walk to the kitchen window and look down at the street.

"He's put money on you. Whoever finds you brings you to Enzo alive. He's not paying for a body."

Alive.

That one word is enough.

"How much?"

"Enough that every freelancer between Naples and the Alps is about to develop a sudden interest in their surroundings."

I rest my forehead against the glass.

"Have you communicated with them officially?"

"No. And I won't. Not yet. If Enzo doesn't find you on his own, he'll declare the vendetta formally. Through Palermo. Through the proper channels. The way it's supposed to be done. That takes time. A bounty doesn't."

"So we're running against the freelancers, not the family."

"For now. Which is worse. Freelancers are stupid and desperate."

I close my eyes.

"I need to get her out of here."

"That's what Vittoria said." Bruno exhales. "Demanded, actually. Her exact words were that if we don't get Amanda on a plane within forty-eight hours, she's coming to Italy herself."

"Cazzo."

"Exactly."

I rub a hand across my face.

"Get Amanda to the airport. Get her on a plane. We'll handle everything else from this end."

"Okay.”

"The passport's on its way. Luca will have it by morning."

"What name?"

"Canadian. Real enough to hold up. Fabio has the route. Fiumicino to Toronto, Toronto to O'Hare. Not direct. Direct flags."

"When?"

"Tomorrow night. Two of Luca's men stay with her through the terminal. Dmitri's people pick her up in Toronto. Our people meet her at O'Hare. She won't be alone between here and Vittoria's front door."