to enjoy your presence.” She sighed happily. “Eli, shut the door. Carlo won't be killing me today.”
“Come on, Gemma. You know I didn't mean to try to kill you,” Hunter said, walking through the room and taking a seat. He glanced at her book. “Really?”
“There's nothing wrong with the book, Carlo. Sex can have a storyline.” She snatched it from his grip and slid it onto a shelf behind her. “And yes, it may well have been a mistake, but the fact remains, you did almost kill me.”
He waved his hand.
“How do you accidentally try to kill someone?” I asked. I was really confused now.
Gemma peered at me sideways. “He was here for a hit on an associate who'd been double-crossing us with the Mancini's. He was messing with the Benitez Cartel, also. The hit wasn't a problem. The fact someone declined to share his arrival with us... Not so much. My bookcase hasn't recovered from the bullet.”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “I was working on Enzio's orders. You knew I couldn't tell you in case someone had us under surveillance and tipped the pezzo di merda off.”
“Mmm.” Her lips quirked up. “And I see you're following his latest orders to the tee, aren't you? She looks very much alive to me.”
“What can I say? Sometimes I like to ignore his shit.”
“Hello, I am here, you know.” I waved a hand. “Gemma, I don't mean to rush this, but I don't know how much time we have.”
“Ah, yes. Eli told me you entered the complex yesterday. Sit down and tell me what's happening.” She pointed to the chair next to Hunter's and sat down herself.
I gave her a brief run down of what'd happened since Hunter had arrived in his own deathly style, right through Isaiah showing up yesterday and the subsequent shoot out. A lump formed in my throat as I said I hadn't spoken to either him or Darien, although I couldn't care any less about Isaiah.
She remained stony-faced through the whole story, and her facade only cracked when I mentioned Darien. She took a deep breath and touched two fingers to her lips, nodding slowly as I explained we needed to get across the country undetected.
“Eli! Will you please come in here?” she called, looking toward the door.
It opened and the man who was guarding it walked in. At least I knew his name now.
Gemma smiled. “Please contact Armo Pontarelli. Tell him that Adriana Romano is safe and ask whether he's had contact with Darien Donato. If he's alive and well, give him one of the spare cellphone numbers to call Adriana on.”
“Of course.” Eli nodded once before he disappeared again.
I tried to ignore the twisting of my stomach when she said 'if he's alive.' He had to be alive—Darien had to be. I refused to believe any differently. He couldn't die on me, so he was alive, and that was the end of it.
Hunter reached over and squeezed my hand. Concern flickered in his eyes, so I forced a small smile, then took a deep breath to center myself.
I couldn't break down. I had to stay strong and determined, keep my eyes on the end goal.
Gemma reached over to the table and picked up a box. She tapped out a long, white cigarette, and offered the box to us. We both shook our heads, so she set it down and lit her smoke. “So,” she said on a plume of gray smoke. “Tell me how we can help you.”
“I don't know how to get to Enzio.” I paused on the admission. I'd never really thought of it like that before. “I don't know how to get from here to there, or who I can trust.”
“Yet here you are.”
“Mamma trusted you with her life. If she did, I can.”
She tapped some ash into a crystal glass ashtray and slowly met my eyes. They were the most startling indigo blue, like the night sky right before darkness completely falls, and the power her gaze wielded was unparalleled. Even as she lifted the cigarette to her lips and took a long drag, she didn't look away.
I didn't either.
I knew what she was thinking. She was wondering if I was half the woman my mother was, if I had her soul. She could look, but my soul would never come close to Mamma's. It was wholly my own, although highly influenced by her, so I'm not entirely sure exactly what Gemma was looking for.
“Your mother couldn't hold my gaze,” she said