she joking? Why do you speak with an English accent?”
Julio scoffed. “Natalia, she always did exaggerate. I sell insurance.”
Natalie snorted loudly. “And I’m the queen of England.”
“You’re the queen of my heart,” Julio said proudly.
“I’m going to be sick,” Natalie announced, pushing her chair back.
Knox sighed, speaking to nobody and everyone at the same time. “Just when you think things are going to settle down.”
Julio raised his hands in mock surrender. “I want no trouble. I just came to get my wife.”
Natalie bristled. “I am not a package. I’m not going with you, Julio. My life is here now.”
Julio nodded slowly. “I see.”
Natalie continued. “So you might as well go back to Italy, or wherever you are living now because I want no part of that life.”
“Insurance can indeed get a little dicey,” Julio said, straight-faced. “However, if this is what you want and what makes you happy, I have no desire to take that away from you.”
Natalie’s eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t sound anything like you.”
“People change, Natalia.”
I could tell that the handsome man was getting to her. There was a flush on Natalie’s cheeks, and she had a death grip on the arms of the chair.
“So,” she said faintly as she licked her dry lips. “When are you leaving?”
He smiled widely. “You misunderstand. If you are happy here, I will move to join you. I shall have to get used to my new home. It’s far different from Italy.”
11
Two Weeks Before & Half a World Away, in Italy
The private investigator sat impatiently, waiting for the head honcho to call him in. He was tired from the long international flight, followed by the car ride that led to the villa in the Italian countryside. He wasn’t often pulled in to speak with the main boss, though in his line of work, he found himself constantly boarding planes and adopting new personas.
Several months prior to this moment, he had been called in to investigate a shady individual named Forrest Coswell. The best way to get to know someone is to work with them, and so, when Forrest needed a PI, ours was Johnny-on-the-spot.
A beeping on his phone shook his thoughts. He glanced down to see a text had just come in.
JENNINGS: Read the report and forwarded it to Julio. Good work.
The man rubbed his face, knowing he should be thrilled at such words of praise, and he was. It was only that he had a feeling of dangling on the precipice on something far grander than he could even imagine. With a sigh, he texted Jennings back.
JACKSON: Thanks Boss, on location, will inform you of the next mission.
“Jackson?” A thin, beautiful woman with dark hair and a kind smile approached him, “Thank you for your patience. Mr. Cerone will see you now.”
Jackson followed the beauty down the marble hallway and into a large library.
“Thank you, Isabel, that will be all.”
Jackson turned to see Julio Cerone seated at a rich mahogany desk. He was surrounded by opulence, yet he seemed perfectly at ease with the loaded pistol in his hands.
“Well,” Julio’s eyes were intent, and his words clipped.
Jackson had served as a sniper for a special forces unit for over ten years. A bullet to the shoulder and some torn tendons in his knee had earned him a medical discharge. But it didn’t negate the fact he was wickedly good at killing people.
Once back stateside, it was difficult to find work that fit his particular skills. Indeed, it had been something of a godsend when his buddy and comrade in arms, Brian Williams, had started a private investigation service, and Jackson went to work for him.
One of their clients, Will Jennings, was a retired paid mercenary. Jackson didn’t know a whole lot about Jennings, other than he was deadly and had ties to the Mafia. All he knew was that there were occasions when he needed a PI, and because of the delicate nature of his work, Brian often put Jackson on the case.
These past few months had been something of a tangle. Brian and Jackson were shocked when Jennings contacted them about Sutton Landry, now Sutton Williams. Brian had immediately been defensive, considering she was his new sister-in-law.
But as things began to unravel, they learned that Elliot Brand had contacted Jennings as a personal favor to look into the case. Apparently, Elliot’s wife and Sutton were close friends, and because of that, they were concerned.
Jackson never did discover the relationship between Brand and Jennings. It seemed odd that the billionaire mogul