Shadow Storm (Shadow Riders 6)

His phone vibrated. Emmanuelle laughed.

Since I can’t ever go to sleep now that Val’s got you back in his life because I expect you to cut my throat the first chance you get, I suspect I am on your family’s most wanted list.

Valentino loved the sound of her laugh. He glanced over at Dario, who was in the seat next to Emilio. Evidently, most of those on the plane, including Dario, loved Emme’s laugh. They all glanced up and smiled. She had that kind of infectious laugh. It was melodic. Dario rarely smiled about anything. Val had never been certain if he could smile, but once in a while, something Emmanuelle did would bring that little half smirk onto Dario’s face, and Val would want to kiss Emme for it.

We not only have a list in Stefano’s study but all the faces are up on the board above their names. Yours was #2 but I think it was moved to the #1 spot now that Val is marrying me.

Emilio snorted and coughed. Enzo pounded his back helpfully. Dario shook his head as he studied the text. He didn’t look across the aisle of the luxury plane at Emme.

Val took his eyes off his cousin to study the next Ferraro pair, Giovanni and Sasha. Giovanni was notorious for his temper. He was quiet one moment, burned hot, out of control and then it was over in a flash. Brilliant, quick-witted, funny, he was crazy about his wife, Sasha. She was a little bit of an enigma. She moved like she could handle herself. He knew quite a bit about her, because he made it a point to always know everything he could about his enemies, and in this case, Emmanuelle’s family. She was from Wyoming and had grown up on a cattle ranch with her parents and older brother, Sandlin. Blue-eyed with curly blonde hair, she’d come to Chicago because Sandlin had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident that killed their parents. The Hendrick Center was reputed to be one of the best places to treat brain injuries. She also looked as if she could handle herself, but Val honestly couldn’t tell if she was at the same level of lethalness as Mariko was.

Then there were Vittorio and Grace. Vittorio had always appeared to be the peacemaker, the quiet, soft-spoken Ferraro. He was the tallest of the brothers and broad-shouldered. Although soft-spoken, his voice was very compelling. His eyes were an intense green, and Val knew from experience that he packed a hell of a hard punch. He was like a damn oak tree. He designed race car engines and played the piano. It was difficult to define him.

Grace, Vittorio’s wife, was a partner in an extremely successful event planning business. A couple of years earlier, she had taken a bullet in her shoulder and had since had several surgeries to repair it. Val had made it his business to find out and knew the surgeries hadn’t been nearly as successful as anyone would have liked. She had suffered through infections, and the last surgery had been a complete replacement shoulder, in the hopes that her body wouldn’t reject that.

He understood why not only Vittorio, but the rest of the family, was protective of her. She was a very sweet woman, gentle and kind. She didn’t seem to ever complain. Emmanuelle clearly thought the world of her. Where Mariko and Sasha were reserved around him, which Val didn’t blame them for, and Francesca was open but wary, Grace was friendly and willing to like him because he was Emme’s choice. She was an unusual, rare woman.

Vittorio’s attention was centered on her in the way Stefano’s was on Francesca. Maybe even more so. These men were strong and deadly, every one of them, and yet they had a tremendous weakness. He looked to the last of the brothers.

Taviano. Taviano had claimed Nicoletta almost immediately, from the first time that she had come to live with her foster parents, Lucia and Amo Fausti. She’d been a broken teen, wild and out of control. The Ferraro family had protected her, claimed her as their own and built a circle around her to keep anyone else out.

Taviano was a replica of Stefano in many ways. He had the same build, those same blue eyes. Emmanuelle said he was an excellent chef. Val knew he designed engines for race cars along with Vittorio. He seemed to be quite brilliant, a trait the Ferraro family shared. His choice had always been Nicoletta. She’d grown into a woman, much more confident and much like Emme and Mariko. Val guessed she could go into the shadows and was trained in their work as an assassin as well.

Stefano came over to them and dropped into the luxury seat on the other side of him. He gave Valentino a wolfish smile. “You’re studying the members of the family as if they’re your enemies. Sizing them up for weaknesses.”