toward Florence, but that could also lead farther south.
I pull my phone out and dial my pilot. “Have the chopper ready as soon as possible. I’m on my way. We’re taking a trip south.” I end the call and jump onto my four-wheeler. I would suspect they’re taking her to Rome. But something in my gut says they’re going farther, back to the beginning, back to where everything began.
“Heading past Rome,” Santino calls.
“They’re going to Naples.”
“You really think it’s Antony--”
“It’s him. It’s been him this whole time. I simply didn’t want to believe it.” I gun the four-wheeler back toward the house. The chopper will be here soon, and I need to gear up before it lands. Weapons. So many fucking weapons. But when I find the man who’s taken my lioness, I will make him hurt. No one will suffer as he will.
Antony Lantino. He took her. First he took Carter from me. Now my Apollonia. I kept tabs on him after I killed his father, Don Lantino, those years ago. He was away at school when everything happened, and I’d lost track of him shortly after he graduated. But perhaps I hadn’t truly lost him. He must’ve gone into hiding, then gotten backing from other families looking to take me down.
I should’ve known all along.
His father killed Apollonia’s parents, and now he’s back to finish the job. To crush the Simonettis as a sign of his strength, and as an opening salvo against me.
I cut my engine and jump off, then hurry into the house.
“Naples. You were right.” Santino turns his phone around to show me the map.
“He’s going to the old Lantino estate, the one on the cliff.” I own that property now. It’s a rundown ruin that could crumble into the sea at any moment. “We have to get there.”
The sound of the chopper is already echoing off the hills as I fling open the doors of my armory and load up.
Santino begins strapping weapons on as well.
“You’re staying.” I holster two pistols and tuck a third in my waistband.
“Like fuck I am.” He grabs an assault rifle.
“You are. Apollonia and little Carter are the most important things in the world to me. I’ll handle my lioness. You handle my cub.” I grip his shoulder and squeeze. “I need you to promise me, Santino. Promise me you will protect him.”
His jaw clenches, but after a few tense moments, he crosses himself. “I swear on the virgin mother that nothing will happen to that little boy.”
“Thank you, my friend.” I walk past him, then pause. “And if I don’t return--”
“Shut the fuck up and go save your woman.” He grabs a shotgun from the wall. “I’ll keep watch.”
I shake my head at him as I burst from the armory and sprint across the villa and out into the cleared garden where the chopper is landing.
I’ll return here with Apollonia, and we will begin our lives anew. But any birth, including a rebirth, cannot begin without blood. I intend to shed enough to earn our new lives and end the threat to my lioness for good.
17
Apollonia
My head throbs. I swallow and try to remember what happened. It all floods back to me in waves. I killed a man. He got off lucky. His death was quick. Cato would have dragged it out for days, I’m sure.
“I know you’re awake, Apollonia.”
Shit. My stomach tightens as I slowly open my eyes. It takes a minute for my vision to adjust. I stare up at the painted ceiling where baby angels romp. How fitting.
“Sit up, or I’ll do it for you. You won’t like my way.”
I take a deep breath before bracing myself to sit up on the hardwood floor. Of course these bastards don’t even have enough respect to treat a woman right.
I notice Nico first, lounging on a sofa without a care in the world. So stupid. It doesn’t matter if I live or die. He’s a dead man walking. All of them are. Who is stupid enough to cross Cato? Well, besides me.
I turn my head to find a man staring at me from behind a giant desk. His dark eyes feel familiar, but I can’t place them.
“You grew up into a beauty. No wonder Cato wanted to keep you for himself. He wouldn’t only have a Simonetti but a pretty wife of his own. Lucky, since with arranged marriages you usually get what you get.”
“It wasn’t arranged.”
“Are you sure about that?” He picks up a cigar and