Page 42 of From Italy With Love

“I’ll kill him!”

“No, you won’t, Mr. Valentinetti.” Sinclair stepped forward, taking control of the conversation. “Kelley is nothing more than a pawn. I will handle him myself. But I need you both to listen to me and listen carefully. The two of you have stepped into a war that neither of you have any hope of surviving. This war has been going on for generations and the players won’t think twice before killing either of you. Everything you think you know is a lie. There are factions at play right now that make this problem look insignificant. So listen to me when I say this: Say nothing. You know nothing.”

I stared at him, trying to process his cryptic warning. “Why?”

“Because your lives depend on it.”

“You expect me to trust you?” I snapped. “I barely know you.”

“Better the Devil you know than the one you don’t. I’m offering you a deal, Mr. Valentinetti.” Sinclair’s eyes were sharp, calculating. “Your silence, in exchange for my help.”

“Help with what?”

“With keeping her safe.” He gestured to Madigan.

I looked at Madigan, saw the hope in her eyes, the desperate need for this to work. Then I looked back at Sinclair. “What’s your angle?” I asked. “Nobody does something like this out of the goodness of their heart.”

A small smile played at the corner of Sinclair’s mouth. “You’re right. I don’t. But Madigan is important to Dante. And what’s important to Dante is important to me. Consider it a favor for family.”

“I’m not family.”

“No,” Sinclair agreed. “But you’re important to Madigan. Which makes you my concern.”

I studied him, weighing my options. I didn’t trust easily. Didn’t enjoy owing people. But I also wasn’t stupid enough to turn down help when I needed it. And I needed it. Because keeping Madigan safe, keeping my family safe, was all that mattered.

“What do you want in return?” I asked.

“Your discretion. Your cooperation when needed, and your word that you’ll protect what’s mine the same way I’ll protect what’s yours.”

It was vague enough to be dangerous. Specific enough to be binding.

I looked at Madigan again. She was watching me, her hand still in mine, her eyes pleading with me to say yes.

I didn’t have a choice.

“Okay,” I said finally. “I give you my word.”

Sinclair extended his hand, and I shook it, feeling the weight of what I was agreeing to settle over me like a shroud.

“Good,” Sinclair said as he headed for the door and I realized something.

I just made a deal with the Devil. A man whose reputation was built on secrets and shadows. A man who collected debts the way other people collected art. But I’d also just gained an ally. Someone with the power and resources to help me protect Madigan.

And right now, that was worth any price.

Even if it meant trusting the Devil himself.

Even if it meant owing him a debt I might never be able to repay.

Because Madigan was worth it.

She was worth everything.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Life with Madigan became my obsession.

Not the kind of obsession that faded with time or dulled with familiarity. No, this was different. This was deeper, more primal, and more terrifying in its intensity. The kind that consumed me from the inside out, hollowing me until there was nothing left but need. The kind that rewrote everything I thought I knew about myself, erasing the lines I swore I’d never cross, breaking down the walls I’d spent years building, until I couldn’t remember who I was before. Until the man I used to be felt like a stranger, someone I had heard about once but never really knew.