Page 36 of From Italy With Love

She looked up at me, her eyes searching my face. “You’re serious.”

“Completely.”

“You would start a war for me?”

“I’d start a hundred wars for you.”

She kissed me then, hard and desperate, and we didn’t talk about it anymore. But I knew she’d heard me. Knew she understood I meant every word.

CHAPTER NINE

I had been ignoring my phone for a week, letting it buzz and ring and pile up voicemails I didn’t listen to. But when Luciano’s name flashed across the screen for the third time in an hour, I finally answered.

“What?” I barked, my voice rough.

“Jesus Christ, Sal, where the fuck have you been?” My brother’s voice was sharp with worry. “Giovanni’s been trying to reach you for days. We thought something happened.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re fine? That’s it? That’s all you have to say? You disappear for a week, don’t return anyone’s calls, and all you can say is you’re fine?”

I looked at Madigan, who was watching me from the bed, wrapped in a sheet. Her hair was tangled from my hands, her lips swollen from my kisses. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

“I’m still in New York,” I admitted.

“We know you’re in New York. The question is, why are you still here? You should be back in Nevada by now.”

“I decided to stay a while longer.”

There was a pause. “Sal. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. I know you. Something’s going on. What is it?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. The more people who knew, the more dangerous it would be.

“Fuck,” Luciano breathed. “Sal, please tell me you’re not doing something stupid?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Christ, Sal, are you thinking with your dick instead of your brain? Because that’s Lo’s job.”

Rage flared in my chest. “Watch it, Luc.”

“Or what? You’ll come kick my ass?”

“Luciano.”

“I’m serious, Sal. Whatever you’re doing, you need to end it now.”

“No,” I hissed.

There was a long silence. “What do you mean, no?”

I refused to give him what he wanted.

When Luciano spoke again, his voice was softer. “My opening at the gallery is tomorrow night. Since you’re still in the city, come and bring her.”