Giorgio (Vigilance #1) - Silvia Violet Page 0,50

and think of England.”

He snorted. “I should hope not.”

“But it’s different with you.”

When I felt him stiffen, I knew I was likely pushing too hard.

He brushed my hair back and kissed my temple as if trying to soften his reaction. “Tell me more about Alan. How did you meet? Why did you break it off?”

“I figured my mother shared all my private details with you when she hired you.”

“She did, or at least what she knows of them, but I’d rather hear it from you. Your perspective is going to be different than hers.”

“I was participating in a charity art auction. Alan approached me and gave me his card. He owns a very well-known gallery. He was attractive, and like most artists, having someone interested in my work made me feel good. He brought me a drink and fawned over me for the rest of the night, but he didn’t push things. He didn’t even ask me out that night.”

Giorgio was so tense. I turned and brushed my lips over his. “It’s okay. You’re keeping me safe.”

I loved the bright smile he gave me. I didn’t think he shared smiles like that with many people.

“He called the next day, saying he wanted to follow up. I should’ve told him to talk to my agent, that my bookings were done through her, but I agreed to meet with him. He wanted to take me to dinner to talk about the sort of pieces I might show. So I went. At first, we did talk about my art, but then he started asking more personal questions, nothing off-putting, though. The more I drank, the more I loosened up. He was charming, older, sophisticated. And I was an idiot.”

“No.” Giorgio encouraged me to look at him. “You were manipulated. You wanted your art career to take off, and he preyed on that. You’ve struggled for your independence, so of course he would guess you’d be interested in someone older, someone mature who treated you like you were too.”

“Do you think he looked into my background?”

“I would say almost assuredly.”

“Why?”

“I’m not a profiler, but my best guess is that manipulating privileged young men is a game for him. He wanted to see how much he could get you to agree to.”

I’d known something seemed off, but I hadn’t thought he was that fucking creepy. “And then he would have killed me?”

“I don’t know enough about the circumstances of the other mens’ deaths to say, but one died of a supposedly accidental overdose, and the other was found in a mangled car, but the evidence doesn’t add up for him to have had an accident.”

“Where were they found?”

He frowned. “Are you sure you want the details?”

I was considering that when Giorgio’s phone buzzed.

19

Giorgio

I looked down at my phone and saw that it was X calling. I couldn’t ignore him, but it was going to be awkward as fuck to talk to him with his son cuddled on my lap.

“What’s up?”

“I just talked to Joe. There’s a clear connection between Hendon and Congressman Swain.”

“Oh fuck.”

Lane frowned at me, and I mouthed, “It’s okay.” I pulled him tighter against me, encouraging him to lay his head on my shoulder and trailing my hand up and down his back. He needed me. I wasn’t going to push him away because I was talking to his father. I was just thankful it wasn’t a video call.

“Is he involved in the same business as the brother we ran into?”

“I’m guessing Lane is nearby and can hear.”

“Yes. This place is probably six hundred square feet, tops.”

“Hmm, that’s definitely not what Sandra described. So far there’s nothing to indicate Alan is involved with the trafficking, but Joe is following a few more leads. Is everything okay there? No more incidents?”

“No, it’s been quiet here.” I was absolutely not going to tell him what had happened in town or that I’d told Lane more than I should have. “The man who came by hasn’t returned and no one else has approached the cabin. When we went into town, I asked a barista at a local coffee shop if she recognized the man, but she hadn’t ever seen him.”

“How’s Lane holding up?”

I glanced down at him, resisting the urge to kiss the top of his head. “He’s working on his art. He’s fine, other than being tired. I think all the stress has been exhausting and neither of us slept well last night. Any luck finding us a better place to stay?”

“No. We need