A Sinful Encore (Brilliance Trilogy 3)

His hand comes down on my face. “Baby, I was alone before I met you, so damn alone. I am not alone now. I am not doing this alone. But you are right. We protect those we love. And I love you. I’m going in alone.”

“Kace, please.”

“I love you, Aria. I will be fine. I’ve got this. And I’ve got you. Now, I’m going to kiss you and get shaving cream all over you.”

“No, I—”

He kisses me and shaving cream smears all over me. The next thing I know he’s in bed with me and we have shaving cream all over us. I don’t fight the passion that follows. In fact, I kiss him and hold him more fiercely than ever. I’m scared of losing him. That’s the message in every kiss and touch I share with him this morning.

When it’s over, and we’re laying on the bed side by side, I whisper, “I don’t want to have the same regrets as my mother.”

“You won’t, baby. You’re doing something. You’re creating freedom for you, me, and your brother.” He rolls out of the bed and takes me with him. “Now, let’s go own it.”

***

Kace dresses like his rock star self for the meeting in jeans, a T-shirt and a tan leather jacket. I settle on an emerald green sweater dress with knee-high boots because, in some part of my mind, I’m still going to convince Kace I should go to meet Donelle with him. I’m not, of course, but I’m prepared if he changes his mind.

We meet Kayden, Ella, Adrian, and Savage in a giant room with a round table, a hawk in the center. The War Room, Kayden calls it. Sasha is there as well, as are several other men working for Kayden. “Donelle lives in a mansion in the Parioli district, a wealthy area of Rome,” Kayden informs us. “We’ve already got men watching the place and have for days.” He eyes Kace. “We actually have men on the property so we’re close if you need us.”

“There’s no sign of the Blue Owls?” Kace asks.

“None,” Kayden replies, “but we’re at the core of my operation. If word got back to the Blue Owls that you’re with me, they’ll back off. We may have a quiet day.”

“Then why set a meeting with us inside our core area at all?” I ask.

“The answer should be in the meeting,” Ella replies, her attention back on Kace. “Kace, you’re going in alone, but we’re going to wire you both. We want Ella to be able to hear the conversation in case there’s something that stands out to her. If there’s a red flag, we’ll come in.”

“You should go in armed,” Kayden adds.

I press my hands to my face and Kace’s hand comes down on my back. “I don’t like this,” I say, turning to him.

“I know how to handle myself and no one wants me dead,” he reminds me. “I have half the formula in my head, remember?”

“About that,” I say, “we need to be sure and say that at the museum and in the press release. We’ve forgotten that Sofia has my father’s journal. It told her that you and I had part of the formula puzzle.”

“We’ll talk that out tonight,” he promises. “Right now, let’s get this over with.”

***

Thirty minutes later, I’m in a luxurious house that is apparently owned by one of Kayden’s many contacts, just a block from Donelle Bianchini’s sprawling mansion. There are actually video screens set-up on the kitchen table that show various angles of Donelle’s property. For now, it’s just me and Ella, while the rest of the team takes field positions. “How did you even manage to pull this off?” I ask, settling into a chair at the table next to Ella, “and so quickly?”

“We knew about Donelle from Blake,” Ella states. “We had already set-up surveillance before you arrived.”

“And he had no Blue Owl visitors?” I ask.

“None,” Ella confirms. “I still feel like something is going to happen today, but Kayden doesn’t.”

“I do,” I say. “I believe something is going to happen.”

Kace arrives at Donelle’s property in what is supposed to be a hired black sedan, which Adrian is driving, and after stopping briefly at the gates, they are allowed to enter. Once the vehicle halts, Kace exits and heads to the door. He rings the bell. Ella pulls a black box between us. “This is the audio that’s in your ear. It will be easier to hear this way.” She punches the button.

My heart is now racing a million miles an hour. The door opens and Kace is greeted by a doorman. “Mr. Bianchini will be so pleased to see you, Mr. August,” the man says.

Kace enters the house and the doorman, who is in a suit, leads him inside, where we don’t have a visual. Kace speaks, but I can’t make it out. I turn to Ella. “Why can’t we understand him?”

“His audio is malfunctioning. It can happen.”

I stand up. “Then how are we supposed to know what’s going on?”

She tugs me back down. “Shhh. Give it a minute and see if it comes back online.”

Someone else speaks, and it’s just as jumbled. I stand up and walk behind my chair, holding onto it. More jumbled speech follows. “I have to go in. Then we can hear with my audio.”

She stands and grabs her phone. “Give me a minute.” Her phone rings in her hand and she answers, listening before she says, “We’ll be right there.” She hangs up. “You’re going in.”

I’m not sure what I feel in that moment. Fear. I feel fear and not for me: for Kace and with good reason. Kayden doesn’t want me to go into the meeting against Kace’s wishes for no reason. He’s worried, too.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Ella checks my audio, doing a soundcheck, and quickly. I don’t even bother with my coat. I want to get to Kayden now. Rushing to the door, Ella and I exit the house to find another black sedan in the driveway.

“Backseat,” she orders and I do as I’m told, finding Savage in the driver’s seat upon slipping inside. Ella joins me and shuts the door.

“I’ll hit the floorboard when we get to the gate,” she says. “As far as anyone knows, Savage is just your driver.”

Savage backs us up, and glances at me in his rearview mirror. “He’s fine,” Savage assures me. “We’re just a bunch of paranoid bastards.”

“Apparently I am, too,” I say, thankful when we pull to the gate and Ella hits the floor.

Savage rolls down his window and punches the call button. “I have Ms. Aria Alard here for Donelle Bianchini.”

The gate immediately opens and my heart is back to a thundering roar in my ears. We halt at the door. “If we lose audio,” Savage says, “I’m coming in to deliver a message.”

“Good,” I say. “Bring those drugs that saved my life, too, will you?”

“Always,” he promises, and I exit the backseat, and shut the door quickly before Ella is spotted.

Rushing past a sprawling outdoor area, and up a set of stone steps, I reach the porch and the door, to ring the bell. Seconds pass and more seconds and then the door opens. To my shock, Kace is standing there.

His fingers snag mine and he walks me inside the house, shutting the door behind us. “I bet you didn’t expect me to tell you to come join me, now did you?”

I blink. “What? You did? We lost your audio. I couldn’t hear you. We couldn’t hear you.”

“And you were freaking out and insisted on coming in,” he assumes.

“Yes, actually. What is going on?”

“Not what we expected. He’s a friend of your fathers, a real friend, not a dangerous friend.”

“How do you know?”

“The same way you’ll know. Come.” He guides me to the left, under a stone archway, and into a library lined with books, so many books, rows and rows of books. Next to the fireplace, in front of a sitting area, is an old man in a wheelchair, a blanket around his shoulders. Donelle, I assume. There’s also a stoic man in an expensive suite standing next to him, hands folded in front of him. Kace leads me forward and we walk around the couch and a large chair.

The old man tears up. “You look like your father. Oh, Aria. It’s really you, my dear

. I thought I was going to die without finding you.”

“I don’t understand,” I glance at Kace. “What is this?”

“He’s been looking for you since you disappeared,” Kace explains.

“Your father,” Donelle explains, “was a close friend. He entrusted me with three messages, one for you, one for Gio, and one for Kace.” His wobbly finger lifts at the man in the suit.