Demand (Careless Whispers #2)(41)

“Everyone wants what I held in my hands,” I say, checking the safety on my new gun. “Thank you again for this little piece of cold comfort.” I bypass the pouch and zip it inside my purse. “And the purse and clothes.”

“Don’t thank me,” he says, turning onto a narrow road lined with cars. “Every one of those things was for me.”

My lips curve. “The purse was for you?”

“It’s where you just put Annie, right?”

“Gucci does hold her quite nicely,” I say, stroking the lacy front. “I love this purse almost as much as I do her.”

“And you learned to shoot Annie from your father?”

“No,” I say, my brow dipping at the certain answer that isn’t supported by memory. “I think . . . it feels like a Ruger was the personal weapon I carried. I’m actually surprised I wasn’t carrying it the night you found me.”

“You wouldn’t have legally been able to carry, as an American.”

“No. I suppose not. Still, I think I had a gun.” I shake off the thought and change the topic. “Before we get to the party, Marabella told you about Gallo and Giada, I heard.”

“Yes.” He shifts gears and turns down yet another narrow road, where pedestrians force him to slow to a crawl. “And Matteo’s initial search shows no call records, but he’s digging deeper.”

“That makes no sense, Kayden. Marabella said he was holding Giada’s waist.”

“It could be that he was trying to seduce her,” he says, moving past the pedestrians and cutting me a quick look. “But I tend to agree. I have men following both of them.”

“I talked to her today.”

“Adriel told me, and it was quite the conversation, I hear.”

I cringe. “I was hard on her, and I spoke for him. I didn’t mean for him to hear it.”

“You said what I hadn’t, out of respect for Adriel.”

“And I guess I didn’t exactly respect that boundary.”

“I’m f*cking happy as shit about it, too. It needed to be said. And Adriel is relieved.”

“Well, that’s interesting to know,” I say. “He’s hard to read and like I said, he hasn’t been overly receptive to my presence.”

“You can thank Giada for that,” he says. “She’s been nothing but a pain in the ass that distracts him, so he doesn’t, or he didn’t, see how you could be anything but a distraction to me.”

“Didn’t?”

“He thought you’d go ‘Giada’ on me today due to Enzo’s death last night, but instead you fought for me and him.” We turn onto a double-laned street lined by sidewalks, and he adds, “But you should have told me he was giving you trouble.”

“I won’t win anyone’s respect by your demanding it. I have to earn it myself.” My eyes light on a massive white building with a red carpet in front and cars everywhere. “Is that where we’re going?”

“That’s the party,” Kayden confirms, then cuts down a small street and parks by the curb.

“What are we doing?” I ask, the dim streetlight illuminating his stark expression.

“Every reason I’ve given you for bringing you to this party was true.”

“But?”

“The group sponsoring this party is a powerful consortium that’s behind much of the fractured state of the Italian government. They want the power themselves, and are controlled by—”

“Niccolo,” I supply. “What is going on? Why are we here?” A bad feeling consumes me and I try to withdraw, but he catches my arm.

“Hear me out, Ella. There is nothing happening here that you don’t decide to make happen. My stopping here, now, is about giving you the power to decide if we go to the party. This is your choice. You always have a choice.”

“If that were true, you’d have explained this so-called choice before we were sitting in a car right by the party.”

“That’s not true. I did it this way because decisions that come with fear are easier made when you’re one step from the fire. You are the kind of person who will stand by the flames and be empowered, instead of cowering.”

“Is Niccolo the fire, Kayden, or are you?”

“I am the man who wants to keep you alive and by my side. If that makes me the fire, then yes, I am the fire.”

“Is Niccolo here?”

“Niccolo does not attend political events, nor is he on the guest list tonight—or we would not be. He controls the puppets inside, and many of his loyal followers will be present. And if you really know Niccolo—”

“I know him. Someone close to him will be here. They will see me and us. This isn’t hiding in plain sight. This is inviting Niccolo to find me.”

“Yes, they will. And that’s the point.”





eleven




My fingers curl into my palms. “I don’t even know how to process what you just said to me. No part of my mind can find a path to why you would want Niccolo to find me. Because ‘hide in plain sight’ seems to have become ‘knock on Niccolo’s door.’?”

“Hiding in plain sight worked when I thought you were a random person who’d stumbled into Niccolo’s line of fire. In that scenario, the interest in you would have faded. But now we know you’re more than that.”