Under his protection

Chapter 7

Dante

Aria stumbled backwards with each step until her back hit the bathroom sink. I was so close I could see the exact moment her breathing changed, and I could almost feel her pulse racing. She had chosen a white low-cut blouse and jeans from the numerous clothes I had sent to the house earlier. I may have overdone it a little, considering the fact that it was probably all up in flames now, but seeing how perfectly they hugged her body, maybe it was worth it.

Placing my hand on the tip of her jaw and raising her eyes to mine, I saw something that felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over me.

Fear.

Aria looked terrified, though it was mixed with something else I could not quite place. Dropping my hand and schooling my expression, I said,

“You can shower and change here. There are clothes in the closet. I’m sure you’ll find something.”

I did not wait for a reply. I turned and shut the door, a little harder than necessary.

In my line of work, fear was normal. Expected. I was used to it.

But seeing it in her eyes, directed at me, pissed me off.

I walked into the second bedroom, took a much-needed shower, and properly dressed the wound. Then I pulled out one of the burner phones I kept in all the safe houses and dialed Adriano. He picked up on the first ring.

“Adriano.”

“Boss.”

“Where are you?”

“Back at the house.”

Of course he was. That’s why I trusted him. He moved without needing instructions.

“What did you find?”

“From the tapes, the attack was coordinated.”

“Yes, I know. It was most likely the Russians.”

“That’s the thing,” he said. “I think that’s what they wanted us to think.” Adriano was one of the smartest people I know, so if he felt something was off, then it was.

“Why?” I asked.

“We found a bug on Aria’s phone. That’s how they found us.”

I went still.

“A bug?” My voice boomed.

“Yeah. The phone your men brought in with her things,” Adriano continued, with no concern for my change in disposition.

“Are you telling me someone was spying on her?”

“Yes, boss, and it seems like the attack was for her.”

That made no sense.
Nothing in her file suggested anything close to this. No connections. No enemies. Nothing.

And yet…

“Do you think she was sent?” I continued.

“I don’t think so, boss. The plan to take her was on a need-to-know basis. And also,” he sounded like he was confirming something, “from the looks of it, the bug has been transmitting for a while now.”

“Boss?” Adriano’s voice cut in. “Still there?”

I must have zoned out because Adriano’s voice pulled me back.

“Yes, I am,” I replied stiffly. “Find out everything you can. We will lay low for a while before we figure out our next move.”

“Okay, boss…” Adriano seemed like he still had something else to say.

“Spit it out.”

“The meeting with the capos tomorrow…”

Shit. I almost forgot about that.

“I will be there,” I interrupted without hesitation.

“The last thing we need is for the capos to think little attacks would send me into hiding. A lot of capos still doubt my leadership, and it’s time we set things straight.”

“Okay, boss.”

“Tomorrow, you will come here discreetly with Victor and Carlos. They stay here while we leave for the meeting.”

After the call, I turned off the burner and put on a shirt.

This Aria situation is much more complicated than I thought. Who would want to kill a girl with such a normal life? Or maybe she is not letting on everything she knows.

All I know is, the old Don asked me to protect her for a reason, and I have to figure out why.

I stepped out of the room to get a glass of water, expecting to find an empty kitchen. To my surprise, Aria was perched on one of the stools in the kitchen, taking what looked like ice cream.

She hadn’t noticed me yet, so I took my time to stare at her. She looked beautiful. Her freshly showered and bare-faced appearance made her look so innocent and untouched by things of this world. But men don’t storm a compound like that for nothing.

She was tired and lost in thought, and I could understand that because she had been through a lot in the last couple of days. I realized I had been staring at her for what felt like hours, even though it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, so I cleared my throat.

Aria stood up quickly, almost red-faced, acting like she was caught committing a crime. This caused me to smirk. She wore one of my shirts, which stopped midway between her thighs. If she wore something underneath, it was not visible.

“Ice cream, really?”

She looked terrified, and I knew I was making it worse, but I couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t want to disturb you, but I found some ice cream and…” she trailed off

I know all our safe houses are stocked, but I didn’t think they would have something like that.

“You don’t have to apologize, Aria. You can have whatever you want.”

She took a deep breath and sat back down.

“Well, good, because it’s the last one,” she muttered quietly.

If I wasn’t already walking towards her, I wouldn’t have heard it. I broke out into a grin. Aria had only been in my life for a short time, and I had smiled more than I had all year.

I turned around to get a bottle of water from the fridge. I was sure she had a lot of questions, but I wasn’t sure I had answers to them.

Silence settled for a moment

“Those men back at the house,” Aria started, her voice soft but louder than before, “who were they?”

“My team is still working on it.”

I don’t know what I expected, but I wasn’t expecting her to ask that.

She went quiet again.

Then—

“They were there for me, weren’t they?”

I didn’t respond.

I simply waited.

Then she turned to me fully.

“I think I recognized one of them.”