When they expressed worry about their mother, the cousins assured them that their mother was going to be flown there in Stefano’s private jet, so no worries, and they would have separate apartments from their mother right on the beach for their stay. Since they’d missed out on the concert and Kain was a personal friend, they would do their best to see if he would come for a weekend and swim and relax with the girls. Pia and Bianca were so thrilled they almost forgot that Nicoletta was staying behind with Taviano and that Clariss was still missing. Taviano assured them that Clariss was going to be fine and he was taking care of it.
“Last chance, piccola,” he whispered, as his cousins took Pia and Bianca down the elevator, both women laughing and talking, excited and hoping there really wasn’t trouble after all. They had been drinking, and they hadn’t seen that much to make them think that anyone was really after them. There had been gang members with guns, but maybe it had all been a mistake, the gang after them because they were wealthy or something. Clariss may have gotten lost or she could still be at the concert and just wasn’t answering her phone, as the cousins implied.
“I have to help Clariss, you know that, Taviano. In any case, I wanted to be with you the entire time, but I realized to protect you, I needed to keep Pia and Bianca occupied. What happened? What did you do?”
“I served justice on two of them.” Taviano took her hand and led her to the door. “Once we step into the shadow again, Nicoletta, the same rules apply. You have to hold on no matter how dicey it gets. This is your third time in under two hours. That’s unprecedented for an inexperienced rider.”
“I wouldn’t ask to go with you if it wasn’t for Clariss. I wouldn’t, Taviano. I know what it’s like to be raped like that. I don’t want her alone … I’m sorry I’m putting you in this position.”
He swept his hand down the back of her head, trying to console her, to console both of them. He wouldn’t have allowed her to go for any other reason.
“Listen to me, Nicoletta, this is important. Your body is getting torn up. You’re already experiencing side effects. All of us did in the beginning. Nosebleeds. Body aches. Your legs won’t want to work. You have to tell me, you can’t get brave and think it won’t matter. It will. That’s not courage. Not telling me will only jeopardize both of us. I have to know where your body is and how it’s holding up at all times. I can counter some things by the shadows I choose to use.”
“It makes a difference?”
He nodded. “Everything makes a difference. When we have time, I’ll explain things to you, but for now, you’re just going to have to trust in everything I say to you.”
“You’ve gotten me this far. It does seem like something out of a science fiction novel, but sometimes, that very first time, when I was being taken out of the apartment, from there to the airport, when I woke up in the jet, I remember some of it.”
Taviano stared down into her upturned face. That beloved face. He could hardly remember anymore when he’d come to love her. Maybe from that very first moment when their shadows had connected and he’d felt that jolt of absolute awareness of her go through his body. Or when his chest hurt so damn bad when she spoke, like a key turning in a lock, opening a passageway he’d kept closed and barricaded, even protected by barbed wire, but somehow with just the soft musical notes of her voice she’d found her way in. It could have been when she’d awoken screaming and fighting on the plane, a little warrior woman, ready to battle a hundred men if necessary, her eyes looking into his, terrified but determined.
He’d drown in all that beauty. In all that feminine warrior-woman fight. He loved that. He loved that she would have taken him on in a heartbeat. She’d softened. Relaxed. Not for the others—for him. Looking right at him. Recognizing him the way he did her. He framed her face with both hands. She’d given him this—that trust—even back then, when he hadn’t yet earned it. There had been those times she fought herself and fought him. Not because she didn’t believe in him but because she wouldn’t believe in herself.
“Before we go back into the shadows, Nicoletta, you have to know, I know I was born for the sole purpose of being that man who will stand in front of you. When you’re there in that dark place, where it feels like a thousand demons are tearing you apart, know I’m there with you. Always, tesoro, because you are my treasure and my only. You’ll always be that for me. You’ll never be alone there, even if it feels that way. In your mind, reach for me and you’ll find me.”