Home > Fire Maidens : Venice (Billionaires & Bodyguards Book 7)(9)

Fire Maidens : Venice (Billionaires & Bodyguards Book 7)(9)
Author: Anna Lowe

Just then, the doors burst open, and Grazia herself breezed into the room, tossing a colorful scarf over her shoulder. “Yoo-hoo. Did someone say my name?” The sixtysomething woman batted her eyelashes, then smiled at Cara. “Oh hello, darling. Did you enjoy the party?”

Cara opened her mouth, then paused. When she finally spoke, she chose her words carefully. “Let’s just say it wasn’t what I expected.”

Grazia burst out laughing. “That’s Venice for you.”

Ismerelda glared. “We have serious matters to discuss.”

“I bet you do,” Grazia muttered, heading for the liquor cabinet in a corner of the room.

“Yes,” Ercole thundered. “Let us get back to the crimes this man committed.”

Grazia poured herself a grappa. “Crimes? Have they multiplied in his absence?”

Tony tilted his head. Wow. Grazia Pittoni — the Grazia Pittoni — was aware of his case?

“What crimes?” Cara demanded.

Ercole looked like he was about to rail at her, but Fiorina spoke first. Her voice was weak and shaky, as if speaking in public took all the courage she could muster.

She pointed at Tony. “He saved me.”

“My dear girl…” Don Ercole started.

But Fiorina, pale and shaky as she was, insisted. “He did. He saved me.”

“Have a good look,” Don Ercole growled. “What you see is the face of a killer.”

Fiorina went white, but still, she stepped forward. Then she hesitated, clearly afraid.

And who wouldn’t be, given Ercole’s menacing expression. Everything about him said, I am older and wiser. I am in charge here. And you will listen to me. You will obey me. This man is guilty. Repeat after me: this man is guilty.

Tony scowled. Guilty unless proven innocent. That was pretty much how his “trial” had gone ten years earlier and the reason he’d fled when he’d had the chance.

Taking Cara’s hand for support, Fiorina stepped closer. Tony held his breath, wishing he weren’t quite so tall.

Not too tall for Cara, his lion hummed happily.

That was true. She stood half a head taller than any other woman in the room. Even without the height, her broad shoulders and confidence would have made her stand out. But Fiorina, on the other hand…

Fiorina was the Bambi of the shifter world. A fragile beauty facing a dangerous world for the first time.

“Don’t you see?” Don Ercole boomed. “That man is a killer.”

Tony didn’t seek out Fiorina’s eyes. He waited for Fiorina to look into his, letting her make her own judgment.

Eyes don’t lie, his grandfather used to say.

Except some did, as Tony had learned the hard way. He prayed Fiorina wasn’t too young and sheltered to know the difference.

Her clear yellow-brown eyes gazed into his, and in them, he saw fear. Fear of him, and fear of failure. Fear of the people around them, and of something in her past. He saw sorrow, uncertainty…

Jesus, he wanted to mutter. You poor thing.

But when Cara squeezed Fiorina’s hand, other emotions shone through. Boundless joy. Hope. Faith, even in a world that seemed beyond repair. Laughter. Love. Energy.

Tony’s heart warmed. Whatever Fiorina had been through, there was sunshine inside her not even the darkest forces could extinguish.

“He saved me.” Her words came out in a whisper, but they echoed in the silence of the hall.

Silence broken by Ercole’s hiss. “This man is a murderer. He killed your father.”

Tony whipped around, thunderstruck. Whoa. The man he was accused of killing was Fiorina’s father?

Fiorina stepped back, ashen-faced. “That was you?”

Tony’s hopes plummeted. No. I swear it wasn’t, he was about to say, but Fiorina’s eyes went wide before he could.

“Oh my God. It’s you. It really is you.”

Tony gritted his teeth. Madonna. He was doomed.

 

 

Chapter Six


Tony shifted his weight from foot to foot. He truly was spacciato now. Screwed, as his Canadian army buddy, Heath, might say.

His gaze wandered to Cara. He knew so little about her, yet he yearned to learn more. To spend time with her. To get to know her. To romance her the old-fashioned way. But how could he ever do that now?

He jutted his jaw and looked back at Fiorina. Somehow, he had to convince her of the truth. The funny thing was, her eyes held no malice, just wonder.

“This man saved me,” she whispered, stepping closer.

Don Ercole huffed. “Anyone can see—”

But Fiorina shook her head. “I don’t mean tonight. I mean the night my father was murdered.”

A ripple of shock went through those gathered, though none could have been as surprised as Tony. What was she talking about?

It was only when Fiorina nervously pushed her hair back that it all clicked into place. Why Fiorina seemed familiar. Why the Guardians treated her with reverence, even while addressing her like a child…

“It’s you. It really is you,” Fiorina whispered.

Tony didn’t move. He didn’t breathe. He just stood there, staring into her pale, yellow-brown eyes — the only others that witnessed that terrible night.

The night that had changed everything.

Get him, the grim order echoed in his mind. And get his wretched family. Every one of them — the wife. The son. Kill them all — except the daughter. We need her alive.

Tony teetered on his feet, reliving it all.

He’d barely turned twenty-one when he’d been hired as security by one of Venice’s Guardians — a job he’d celebrated at the time. Helping Tiberio Mannini would help Venice, because Tiberio’s businesses prospered, and Tiberio gave generously to local charities.

My success is your success, Tiberio had promised. Do a good job, and Venice will be forever in your debt.

Tony grimaced. What a fool he had been.

In his first few weeks on the job, all he’d witnessed were legitimate business dealings. But one night, Tony was called in to accompany Tiberio to a last-minute meeting. One that set off every alarm in Tony’s mind.

The meeting wasn’t in an office, for one thing. It was in the study in the top story of a sumptuous villa along the Rio de Baracaroli, not far from the Grand Canal. A private home — after midnight. Clearly, the owner hadn’t expected any visitors. In fact, Fabricio Fellini, one of the younger Guardians, had greeted Tiberio in his pajamas.

Something’s off, Tony’s lion had growled, immediately on edge.

Still, he’d taken up position outside the door, making sure not to listen too closely to their hushed voices. After all, a loyal guard didn’t get mixed up in his boss’s business. But when those voices rose, he couldn’t help but wonder why. And when the heated argument changed to shouts of alarm, Tony had burst through the door — just in time to see Tiberio’s men leap at Fabricio.

Get him, Tiberio had ordered. And get his wretched family. Kill them all — except the daughter. We need her alive.

Tony couldn’t believe it. One of Venice’s most respected shifters attacking a fellow Guardian in his own home. Was Fabricio Fellini a traitor?

Tiberio’s most loyal man, Caselli, had given Tony a look of warning. Play along with this, or else. The boss’s orders are orders.

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