“I know that, gattina, but you’re finished.” He circled her waist. “Put your hand on my shoulder. When you stand, it’s going to hurt like hell.”
“Vittorio.” There was protest in her voice, but she obediently put her hand on his shoulder.
Close to her he could see beads of sweat running down her skin. She looked close to tears. He should have intervened sooner. “Next time, bella, we won’t have you up so long before you take your meeting. If you’ll excuse us, Katie, I’ll have Merry show you out. I’ve got to get Grace to bed.”
Katie stood, really looking at her partner for the first time. “Yes, of course. I’ll give it a day before I come back.”
“Katie,” Grace protested again, but her voice was weak.
Vittorio kept her walking along the patio. Inside the house, he swept her into his arms and carried her back to her room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Phillips sent Grace a series of text messages, each more threatening than the one before,” Vittorio told his family. He passed Grace’s phone to Stefano, wanting his brothers and sisters to read the texts for themselves. He waited patiently until the phone was back in his hands.
“He’s definitely unraveling,” Stefano said. “I don’t need a psychiatrist to read those in order to assess his condition.”
“I agree.” Ricco slipped his arm around Mariko’s shoulders. “He’s losing it, and that means he’ll make mistakes.”
“But it also makes him more dangerous,” Mariko pointed out.
Emmanuelle picked up the glass of water in front of her on the table. “I admire Grace so much, Vittorio. She’s had to live with this monster all these years. She must be terrified to close her eyes at night.”
Vittorio smiled at his sister. She was so important to all of them. She’d always been their personal ray of sunshine when they were growing up and Eloisa had made things so difficult for them. She had compassion and empathy for others and they all loved that about her. “I have that same admiration, Emme. She’s an amazing woman.”
“Have you convinced her the engagement is real?” Giovanni asked.
“The ring is on her finger, but we’ll see. She wants to take her time making her decision. I don’t blame her for being afraid. I’m moving her way too fast, but I’m not taking any chances. Phillips can’t touch her here, so I want to keep her here, and I don’t want to risk losing her by giving her too much space. Also, before I forget, Phillips put a tracking device on Grace’s phone.”
“Of course he did,” Stefano said. “He can’t watch her every minute of the day and he’d want to know where she is, who she’s talking to or texting. He’s likely cloned her phone as well.”
“We can use that against him,” Vittorio said.
“Has there been any sign that Phillips has visited Grace’s apartment?” Taviano asked.
Vittorio nodded. “Emilio found his way in. The apartment building has a parking garage and one of the grills over the vent on the lowest level was loose. When he examined it, there were scratches around the screws holding the grate in place. He was too big to fit, so he sent Leone in. He’s one of the Palagonia boys, doing his early training with Emilio, but he’s only sixteen. Tall, gangly, hasn’t hit the wide shoulders yet. He found all kinds of evidence that Phillips spends time spying on the occupants of the apartment building. He’s left wrappers and other items behind.”
Stefano scowled. “Leone’s just a kid. Why the hell is Emilio using him for such a dangerous assignment? Phillips could have been anywhere in those ducts. If the kid had run into him, Phillips would have cut him to pieces.”
“I said the same thing to him,” Vittorio agreed. “He claimed he was certain Phillips wasn’t there. Something about the way he puts the grill back on to cover when he’s inside. We either trust Emilio to know what he’s doing, or we don’t. He’s never let us down. Not once.”
“I’ve got more bad news,” Stefano said. “We just learned that Lando Gori was found dead, sliced to little pieces, his eyes and nose removed, most likely while he was alive. This little bastard is one sick fuck. How your Grace managed to survive when she knew about him is beyond me.”
There was a short silence. Lando Gori was considered a top enforcer. Brutal. Dangerous. A very scary man. Phillips besting him, even getting near him, and then torturing him before killing him, would have been considered