fake name doesn’t feel accidental, nor is the bite to my voice as I say, “Amnesia doesn’t mean stupid.”
“Right. Just . . . absentminded. And as eager as you are to fill in your blank spaces, I’m surprised you haven’t asked about those activities that I mentioned on the phone.”
“On cue to please you,” I say, steeling myself for a bullet. “What activities?”
“Those that include a man who consorts with the mafia and a drug cartel. That, Eleana, means you are, as well. I’d have thought that would disturb you, yet you didn’t even blink when I mentioned it.”
“My knowledge of the mafia and cartels comes from movies like The Godfather. And if anything I’ve seen is true, they’re terrifying. I’ve also seen enough of Kayden’s world to know the difference.”
“Another of those amnesia anomalies. You remember The Godfather but not how you got to Italy.”
“I told you—”
“You have a selective memory. I get it. And since you have an apparently selective understanding of the English language, despite using it better than I do, let’s go back to visuals.” He grabs the picture he showed me of Kayden standing with Niccolo and points at Niccolo. “Mafia king.” He points at Kayden. “The man in your bed. They’re laughing. They’re friends.”
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” I say. “You, it seems, just throw daggers at yours.”
“‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’ Interesting concept there. Since you’ve gotten to see inside Kayden’s world, maybe you can enlighten me on how that saying applies to the people around him.” He sets the picture of Kayden with his boss in front of me. “Is he one of Kayden’s friends or his enemy?” He replaces the photo with the one of Kayden and Niccolo again. “What about him? Because to me, it’s hard to tell where his allegiances are. And you know why? Because his only real devotion is to himself. Kayden Wilkens is an opportunist.”
“Says the man using a young, grieving girl to exact revenge.”
He gathers the photos and stuffs them back inside the folder, then crosses his arms in front of him and levels me a hard stare. “I think you know a lot of things you aren’t telling me.” He leans forward again. “A good fuck does not make a good man.”
Anger knifes through me. I stand, and seeming to anticipate my action, he stands as well, his folder in hand. “We’re done,” I say.
He studies me several moments that feel eternal. I’m not sure what he wishes to find, or if he’s simply trying to intimidate me, but the result is a twist of his lips. “For now.” He slaps a few euros on the table and starts to walk away.
“Wait,” I say quickly, and he backs up a step and gives me another arched brow. “Leave Giada alone.”
“Not until she’s out of the castle. Same story with you, Eleana. Because what you can’t see for the blinders you’re wearing is that I care, and you need someone like me.”
“Don’t try to make this about me and Giada, when it’s about you and Kayden. Leave us out of this.”
“He hasn’t, so I can’t.”
“So you’ll hurt us to hurt him? Is that really who you are?”
“Maybe I don’t show it in the way you want me to, but I’m not a man of vengeance. I’m a man of the badge. I’m protecting you.”
“By treating me like a criminal?”
“I know people. I read them and I know how to get their attention. Had I pleasantly warned you that you were sleeping with the enemy, you would have dismissed me. But you aren’t dismissing me. You’re thinking about what I’ve told you now. I see it in your eyes, even if you don’t see it in yourself. I am protecting you. Call me when you figure that out. I will be here for you.” He starts walking again, and I don’t stop him, a memory of my father filling my mind.
I’m standing at the window of our living room and there are two men in official Army uniforms, though my father is dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, home for a rare month. I watch as one of the men steps close to my father and they square off.
I hold my breath, afraid they’ll come to blows, but abruptly they step away from each other. The two uniformed men turn and start walking away. My father watches them get into the Army jeep, and I run to the door and