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"Listen to me." His thumb presses gently. "I'll kiss you. I am kissing you. But I'm not doing anything else. But not because I don't want to." His eyes close again, briefly. When he opens them, they're almost in pain. "It's because I want to. Too much. And you deserve better than a safe house and whatever's still running through your system."

I stare up at him. "You're going to be impossible, aren't you?"

One side of his mouth moves. Not a smile. Something close. "Probably."

"Kiss me again, then."

He does. Thoroughly.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Valentino

Ipull back an inch, just enough to breathe air that isn't her.

That's when it hits me, and it's worse than the wanting.

If she changed her mind right now, I would let her.

Then I'd spend the rest of the night finding reasons she couldn't leave.

The Basiles. The phone. The roads. Enzo Basile looking for her. Every one of them real. Every one of them something I could hide behind.

I'd keep her where I could see her. Where I knew she was safe.

I'd keep her until the danger passed or until she hated me.

I've buried men for less than what I'm thinking right now.

I open my mouth, but my phone rings before I know what to say.

I have never been so grateful for Bruno's timing.

"Stay here," I tell her.

She raises one eyebrow, lips still flushed from my mouth. "I literally can't feel my legs from the kissing or the drugs. Take your pick. I'm not going anywhere."

I answer on the second buzz and step to the window. "Bruno."

"Four hours," he says. "You're moving to Rome. Fabio's already there with his team. The apartment in Trastevere is set."

I look through the gap in the curtain. Nothing moves on the road.

"Why Rome?"

"Because this safe house turns into a coffin the second someone makes the wrong call. Rome is neutral ground."

I glance back at Amanda. She's watching me from the bed.

"Enzo knows a woman was seen with Aldo that night," Bruno says. "He's looking for her. And he's looking for one other person."

"A name?"

"No name. Not yet. That's the part keeping me awake."

"If he knew it was a Sartori who put his son in the ground, we'd already know it."

"Exactly. Sicily would be moving. Instead he's quiet."