Brutally.
That’s how Kace said he would handle Alexander. That’s certainly how Alexander has attacked Kace. It’s an eye for an eye, I know, but I can’t help but fear that in the end, Kace will not find the satisfaction he seeks. He’ll only find his father in himself and that is not who he wants to be. He needs his moral compass to guide him, not his anger, and if he acts in the moment—and after San Francisco, he’s in one—it will be with that anger.
For now, I give him his space while I grasp for any form of control I can manage, and standing here in a robe doesn’t seem to fit that plan. I dress. And with a meeting now scheduled for Riptide, that means in business attire. My gaze lifts and scans my clothes where they hang near Kace’s, a pinch in my chest. I’ve never shared a closet with anyone. I’ve never shared a home with anyone. I don’t intend to let Alexander, or Gio for that matter, screw this up for us. And as for all the clothes, there are more now, I think. Yes. The selection has grown.
“Kace,” I murmur, softly chiding him for the personal shopper he’s obviously employed yet again. I’m a mixed bag on this topic. I mean I could complain, but how can I? He loves me. I know he loves me. I feel that love. He’s spoiling me. And he’s just trying to take care of me and I need to do the same of him.
Gio is going to get on board with our plan.
The end.
He’ll find out today.
He’ll agree today.
I quickly dress in a cute pleated black skirt, a black silk blouse and high heeled boots, when my gaze catches on the outrageously expensive Chanel purse that I swore I wouldn’t use. My lips press together and an eternal war rages inside me before I reach for it. Deep in my gut, I believe Kace needs me to show him that I’m here, I’m staying. I’m back to his reasons behind the gifts. Somehow I think—I think this is all part of a war he’s fighting within himself. I’m not sure how or why, but Kace does nothing without a purpose or a demon. And besides, he knows I want to make my own money. He knows I don’t take his for granted.
I fill the purse, a little thrill in me as I do. I love the darn thing. I also love my daisy bracelet, which I quickly latch around my wrist on my way out of the bathroom.
Feeling like a princess in all my fancy clothes, I head downstairs, surprised to find Kace standing at the bottom with Blake. I like Blake. I trust Blake. However, his unexpected presence will still always stir that part of me I don’t want to exist, but oh it does. The part that expects the worst.
“Is there news?” I call out before I’m even down the stairs, my heart racing with the idea that something is going on with Gio.
Two sets of intense eyes and a whole lot of testosterone shifts in my direction. “No big news,” Blake replies. “Adrian and Adam will be escorting you today.”
I join them, stepping to Kace’s side and I do not miss the sweep of Kace’s stare over my body from tip to toe. Nor do I miss the approval in those blue eyes. He notices the new clothes. I believe he notices the purse. His fingers catch mine. “All is well, baby.”
“If all is well,” I say, glancing at Blake, “why are you here? I mean, you’re the big boss man for Walker, aren’t you?”
He laughs a low, deep laugh. “My brother Royce would not call me the big boss, but,” he winks, “my wife will if I play my cards right.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks and Kace laughs, sliding an arm around me. “Good thing we aren’t touring with the band anymore. You’d live with those red cheeks.” He kisses my temple. “Blake got us an update.”
“An update?” I untangle myself from Kace and fold my arms in front of me, my gaze locked on Blake. “What update? About Sofia?”
“Nothing on Sofia, but no matter where she is or what she wants, we have men on the ground in Italy preparing for your trip. We’ll keep you safe.”
“We were actually talking about Alexander,” Kace says.
“Right,” Blake agrees. “Kace wanted to know what you’d gotten in the middle of with Ed and Alexander.”
My brows dip. “I thought we already knew it had to do with a woman?”
“I suspected there was more to this to keep Ed punching back,” Kace says.
“And there is,” Blake replies. “Ed was mentoring Alexander and Alexander crossed him. He tried to push Ed out of the very deal Ed helped him get inside.”
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“I’m resourceful,” Blake says, “but that’s not all of the story. Ed didn’t lie down for Alexander. He made a financial move on a deal he knew Alexander needed to happen. The result hurt Ed, but he took the calculated loss to destroy Alexander. The problem for Ed is that Alexander had scooped Kace’s music, and survived. Now, they are financial equals.”
I glance at Kace. “Are they—”
“His financial equal?” Blake supplies before Kace can reply. “He’s too humble to reply, so I will. No. Kace has the resources to crush Alexander.”
In other words, Blake is here because Kace plans to crush Alexander. I’m suddenly crystal clear on how easily Kace agreed to me doing this today on my own, even after hearing I was going to Riptide.
I tangle my fingers with Kace’s again and shift in his direction. “Can I talk to you before I leave?”
Blake’s phone rings and he motions to the door. “I’ll wait in the foyer.” Smart man that he is, he doesn’t wait for a reply, nor does he waste any time getting lost.
I watch him, waiting until I’m sure he’s out of range before I face Kace, my hand on his chest. “What are you going to do when I’m gone today?”
His expression is impassive, but he doesn’t touch me, which to me speaks of withdrawal. “I told you. Work on the song.”
“What are you going to do about Alexander?”
“I’m still deciding.”
“Kace, before you act—”
“Aria,” he says, and now he touches me, his hands pressing to my waist as he steps into me. “Go see Gio. We only have a week and a half until we leave for Italy.”
My fingers curl on his chest. “Will you talk to me before you do anything?”
“Go see Gio. I’ll meet you at Riptide. I want to talk to Mark about Alexander, anyway.”
Relief washes over me for reasons I can’t quite explain. I think they’re about control, though he’s not agreed to talk to me about Alexander before he acts. Still, if he’s decided to join me at Riptide, he’s not shutting me out. Or he’s made me feel better about shutting me out. I’m not quite sure. “Then we’ll come home together,” he adds, in that soft raspy tone of his that always does delicious things to my nerve endings.
It’s an unfair play.
So are the words “come home together.”
To our home. There’s a pinch in my chest with those words and for just a moment, I forget Alexander. “I like that this is my home, Kace.”
His eyes soften and warm. “I like that your home is here, too. So, go do what you need to do so we can get home.”
I bundle up and Kace walks me downstairs, and to the backdoor of the Walker-driven SUV, where he kisses me goodbye. I climb up into the backseat and he shuts me inside. The door is then between us and I have this moment when I feel as if it represents a new wall, a barrier between us we cannot climb. Which is ridiculous. Kace and I are in love. We are closer than we have ever been to each other.
The vehicle begins to move and I’m left with Adrian behind the wheel and Adam in the passenger seat, who even sitting is clearly a really tall man with dark wavy hair and a polite manner. He greets me with that polite manner, after which, Adrian’s personality takes over. Apparently, Savage isn’t the instigator with him that I’d thought. Adrian does plenty of talking all on his own. “Ever been to Texas?” he asks, glancing back at me at a stoplight.
I open my mouth to say that my mother is from Texas but I quickly bite back the confession to speak a simple truth. “I’ve always wanted to visit.”
“The tequila and food are heaven, but be warned,” he says. “It’s packed with rednecks and cowboys.”
I bite because he wants me to bite, but I am actually smiling as I do. “And the difference between rednecks and cowboys?”
“Ingenuity. Rednecks do dumb shit but they get the job done.”
“And a cowboy?”
“Thinks he’s smarter,” he says, “but anyone who thinks he’s smarter, isn’t.”
“Are you a cowboy or a redneck?”
“He’s just a pain in the ass,” Adam says, giving me a wink. “But he saved my life once upon a time, so I put up with him.”
I laugh again, thankful for the distraction they offer right about now, and Adrian continues on as if Adam hasn’t spoken. “Did I mention the tacos in Texas?” he asks and then honks his horn and curses at someone.
“The sign says no honking,” Adam says.
“Only New Yorkers would put up a sign that says no honking,” he grumbles, before settling us in motion and eyeing me in the mirrors. “It’s also hot as hell in Texas.”
“It’s pretty hot here, too,” I point out, “but we do have seasons. And snow.” My mind flashes back to a rainy Christmas in Cremona, the Christmas before my father vanished. “In Cremona, it rained a lot, all the time it felt some weeks.”
It’s out before I can stop it, and my heart starts to race. I don’t talk about Italy or myself. I don’t know what just happened and I barely know these two men. Adam leans around the seat. “Relax, Aria. We know who you are. We’ve both done our share of high-risk overseas jobs with big paydays. Neither of us need money. Neither of us want what is yours. We’re just here to protect you and help you. That’s all. You can speak freely with us.”
Of course, anyone can say the right things, but I’ve not only chosen to trust Walker, I don’t even have the formula and they know it. “Years of conditioning,” I reply.
“I’m a former SEAL. Adrian’s a former undercover FBI agent. We both know a thing or two about hiding, and the utter damn joy of just being ourselves.”
“Amen to that,” Adrian adds, and I relax back into my seat because apparently, I’ve tensed up with my misspeak.
“Thank you both,” I say. “It’s been a long time hiding for me. My entire adult life.”
“And we’re here to help you keep hiding,” Adam says, “or stop hiding safely.”
Clearly Blake has told them everything, but there isn’t much time to think about that right now. Adrian pulls us up to the shop and my old home or rather, my old safe, familiar space. I am reminded of Kace telling me we will meet at Riptide and go home together. This place never felt like home. Kace does. He feels like home. He is home. It’s almost terrifying how much I need that man now, but I comfort myself with how much I believe he needs me, too. We need each other.
Adam is leaning around the seat to study me. “My gut is always to escort you to the door, but I know that’s not how we’re playing this. I’ll exit after you and be close to the door, but no one will know I’m with you. And we have a man watching the security camera in a vehicle a block down the road.”
“I’m not afraid of my brother.”
“If we’re watching him, someone else might be as well,” Adam replies.
And probably are, I think before I nod. “Right. I won’t be long.”
I exit the vehicle and hurry toward the door, where I key in my security code and waste no time opening the door. It’s ridiculous for me and Gio to be the opposite sides of any coin. Ever. “Gio!” I call out, entering the store, but there is only silence. “Gio!”
Still nothing.
Frowning, I hurry forward and make it three steps when I freeze. The hair on the back of my neck is standing up. Something is wrong. Seconds tick by and there is no movement. Suddenly I’m more afraid for Gio than I am myself. I start running forward, but I don’t call out. In my heart of hearts, my fear is that Gio is lying somewhere dead. I need to see him. I need him to be in bed asleep or in the shower.
I pass his empty office and dash up the stairs, fumbling in my purse for the key to open his apartment and do so without knocking. “Gio?!” I call out as I open the door, but a quick scan shows me nothing. I rush around the apartment, enter the bathroom, the closet, and come up empty. Gio isn’t here.
He has to be here.
Walker is watching the building.
I dash to my apartment and come up dry. I’m barely breathing as I run back down the stairs and enter his office, stepping behind his desk and sucking in a breath as I find a piece of paper that reads: Aria. The script belongs to Gio, and with my heart in my throat, I flip it over to read: I left. Your precious security team didn’t know. Still feel safe?
“He climbed out a window right as you punched in the security code.”
I glance up to find Adrian standing in the doorway, a skull on his snug black T-shirt.
“Where is he now?”
“We have a man following him.”
In other words, my brother’s wrong. Walker knows exactly what he’s doing. And so do I. He’s trying to scare me away from Kace and back to him. Anger simmers in my belly. Adrian crosses to the desk across from me. He’s tall and broad, his goatee and strong jawline accenting the confidence about him. He indicates the note in my hand. “May I?”
I hand him the note. He reads it, and then his lips quirk. “Bold. Cocky. I might like him.” He sets the card down. “But I’ve killed people I liked about as much.”
My temper flares. “This is my brother you’re talking about.”
“And?”
“He’s my brother.”
“If he tries to hurt you, we won’t choose him, Aria. We’ll choose you.”
“He won’t try to hurt me. He’s my brother.” I’m a broken record and I don’t even care. “We are family. We’re close. We’re a part of each other.”
“I said the same of my brother. Now he’s dead. He would have preferred it to be me.”
My lips part in shock. “You—you killed him?”
“It was him or me. And we were close, Aria, but money and power changed him. It happened and I never saw it coming.”
My hand goes to my throat. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“You don’t need to say anything. Just listen and think. You don’t know where Gio’s been, or what he’s been doing.”
“He told me.”
“Eight months later. Maybe it’s longer than that. Maybe he wasn’t telling the truth at all. I know what you’re facing. Many of us at Walker know betrayal by someone close to us. That’s why Kace hired us.” He leans on the desk toward me, his brown eyes meeting mine. “He’s a good man, Aria. He loves you. He wants you protected. You need to entertain the idea that Gio might be dangerous.”
“Did Kace ask you to tell me about your brother?”
“Yes. I did.”
At the sound of Kace’s voice, Adrian pushes off the desk and turns toward him. Kace gives him a nod and steps into the office. Adrian glances at me. “I hope he’s the brother you deserve.” He heads for the door and disappears.
I’m now alone with Kace. He stands in the doorway, in a thin, sleek black leather jacket and boots, his dark hair a rumpled, spiky mess, as if his fretting fingers have been running through it. Because of me. Because of Gio. “I thought you were meeting me at Riptide?”
He closes the space between us and drags me to him, cupping my head and resting his forehead against mine. “I had a bad feeling about this.”
I pull back to look at him. “You thought he would hurt me?”
“I don’t know what Gio will or will not do, Aria. But I believed you’d fight. I thought he’d hurt you emotionally during that fight. I decided you might need me. The way I needed you in California.”
My fingers curl on his chest. “You don’t trust him,” I press.
“I told you, baby. I don’t know him, And I share your fear that you don’t know him either.”
My words. My truth. Both I agree are hard to swallow. Instead of trying to respond, I hand him the card and he reads it before glancing up at me. “You know—”
“Yes. I know he didn’t really fool them.”
“He wants you to walk away from me.”
“That was my first thought, too, but Kace, if that’s true, then he’s not after the formula. And he wants it. He also believes you are the path to getting it. He needs me to stay close to you.”
“Then what’s his agenda?” He indicates the note. “What is he trying to prove?”
“I don’t know,” I say, my brow furrowing in consternation. “That I need him, too?” I wave that off. “That feels too basic. I’m back to I don’t know. I just don’t know.” I pull my phone from my purse. “I’m going to call him.”
He nods and leans on the desk. I punch in Gio’s number and it goes straight to voicemail. “Come to dinner tonight. Or I can meet you for dinner. We need to talk, Gio, and clearly, you knew I’d come to see you or you wouldn’t have left the note. Enough with the games.” I disconnect. “I should have just told him that I’m coming out as myself, but after this game he’s played with me, I need to think about what I’m going to say. And I don’t know what he’ll do, especially when Sofia and her people are out there. I can’t believe he didn’t take my call.”
Kace catches my arms. “What if he wants the formula, but not enough to put you in harm’s way and he sees me as harm’s way? Remember, we believe Sofia was behind the note that led you to the auction and me.”
“Now you’re just trying to make me feel better about Gio.”
“I’m trying to make you look at all options. Let’s go to Riptide and then we’ll come up with a plan. Or we can skip Riptide and just get right to it.”
“No. No, I am not altering anything for Gio. Not anymore. Let’s go to Riptide.”
“Aria—”
I push to my toes and kiss him. “Thank you for worrying and showing up. Thank you for convincing Adrian to tell his story. I needed to hear it.”
A few minutes later, I’ve texted Crystal a heads up that I’m on my way and shortly after, I’m bundled up in my coat, and Kace and I settle into the back of the SUV. It’s then that I decide that my life has been one big puzzle. Gio and I were always the two pieces that fit, and deep inside, I always believed that together, we’d find the missing pieces. Now, I’m not even sure we’re living inside the same puzzle.