“I had an idea of who might have done it, but I was desperate to find her, and Tullio Amato was the reason we did. If not for him—” My father drops his head, not wanting to say the rest. I don’t blame him. I don’t want to hear it either.
“He was key to us finding her,” War continues. I know where this is going. Every favor is a debt owed.
“Did you promise her to his son?” Z asks before I can.
"It wasn't a full promise of marriage; while I might be old school, Rochelle wouldn't agree, so instead we promised to let him court her when the time came. To give him an opportunity, but ultimately it would be Cosima’s choice.”
"And that's why they just so happened to know where my wife was in Italy. Out of all of the places in Italy, they end up in the same town as her," Z accuses.
"No." I shake my head. My father has the same knee-jerk response as I do.
"I wouldn't." My father cocks his head, an action he often does when he's piecing things together.
"Hold on." War steps in. "You're saying the Amato family was in the small town at the same time Cosima was there, and you didn't tell them that’s where she was staying?"
"I didn't," my father confirms.
Ronan clicks his tongue loudly. "No coincidence." He pulls his phone out. Ronan has a knack for appearing to not be paying attention when he really is. The man doesn’t miss shit.
"Then how would they know?" I look to Z for an answer.
"Trust that I will no doubt be finding out." There is no missing the threat laced in between his words. If Z thinks something is off, then it more than likely is.
"But both of you knew they were there," I point out. My father mentioned it to me when they'd called, and Z had known too. Dad wanted me to meet up with them to say hello. It was the proper thing to do, and Z said I wouldn't be doing so without him by my side.
It all slipped my mind, and I never ended up meeting with any of them. Now I’m wondering what would have happened if Z hadn’t shown up in Italy. Did the Amatos have some sort of agenda?
"Tullio mentioned in passing he was going there, but I still didn't tell him you were there. I asked you to reach out and say hello."
"She didn't," Z says as if everyone isn't already aware. If Z's plan had been to get me to forget about the Amato family while we'd been in Italy all together, he'd accomplished that.
My husband is rather clever with maneuvering me so that I don't get the chance to protest. Maybe I should find that annoying, but I don't. It's kind of sweet. I might be a bit crazy myself. It must be in my blood because all these asshats are off their rockers. Each one in their own way.
Plus, I do my own maneuvering; it just tends to be louder, and everyone is aware.
“Do a lot of people know what really happened between Z’s birth parents?” I ask, remembering what Salvatore had said to Z the previous night.
“Some know, but it’s not anything that is ever spoken. I gave that order long ago. I didn’t want it to follow Z for the rest of his life.” My dad answers.
“It’s one of the things Sal brought up. That’s what he’d spoken to me about in the hallway. He alluded to things. He was trying to make me question who Z is and if I should trust him.” I guess Sal just thought I was a pretty face that he could easily manipulate. That he would be able to make me doubt Z. Little did he know that there isn’t a person in this world that could do that.
“He’s a dead man walking.”
I rub my hand in the center of Z’s chest, trying to keep his anger in check. He can’t run off and kill him, I mean, he can, but that would make things very messy, and Z is smarter than that.
“Let’s all take a breath,” War tells everyone. He is the most rational of all of us, except when it comes to his own wife.
“You just want me to sit here and wait?” Z asks War.
“No, I want you to do what you do best, dig. Get as much as you can on the Amatos and their intentions.”
“Everyone needs to be very careful where they dig. It isn’t as simple as poking around. That’s not how things work in this world, and if people find out what Z is capable of, he’ll end up with a bullet in his head.”
“Dad,” I gasp.
“It’s the truth,” he bites out. “People will not take well to knowing all of what he can do. Hell, I don’t know or understand everything he can do; it bothers even me at times. When it comes to secrets being unearthed, there isn’t much people won’t do to keep them buried.”
“You think he would hurt us?” I fire back at my dad. I trust Z more than I can trust my own reactions. I always have a fiery temper. Everything I do is in the moment.
