“Don’t move.”
The voice behind Giulia was steady, and the pressure on her neck was enough to make her remember that everything could end very fast.
No one in the room spoke.
The men of Rinaldi were cogitating.
Alessandro didn’t.
His eyes remained on her, cool, nearly inquisitive--as though this had already been looked forward to.
“Careful,” he said mildly. “She’s more useful standing.”
The man who had Giulia in the back did not reply.
Didn’t loosen his grip.
Giulia exhaled slowly. You make such an entrance every time, you do?
The lips of Alessandro twisted. Only as I am attempting to impress you.
“Then you’re doing it wrong.”
Something clearer flashed through his eyes.
Before he could answer—
There was a c***k of a gunshot.
Everything shifted at once.
The gentleman who stoo
