None at all.
Using another black server, I tapped into the net from a completely different location, with another IP address, and a fresh username and password. No one would be capable of finding me from here.
One thing about being great with forgery was how many friends I’d been able to make over the years. A couple of them happened to be in some pretty high places and had access to some pretty amazing crap. I’d been holding on to said crap for a few months now, keeping it in reserve, holding on to it as a backup.
Kind of like a backup file. But this was more than a file, more than a piece of equipment.
This would be the thing that turned the tide in my favor and opened a chink in the levy. It was high time that I received the bounty I deserved, and I knew my luck was getting ready to improve.
How?
Because I would be the one to improve it.
I’d hoped to resell this particular piece of equipment at a profit on the black market—it was worth a small fortune, more than a small fortune even—but que sera sera.
Taking the throne from a pile of rumble and ash hadn’t been my first choice, but I could make it work. The point of all this was that I would get to take the throne at all. That I would be king. And I would.
&n
bsp; I adjusted my ace in the hole onto my shoulder, feeling how it felt to carry it, to balance with it on one side. Then, I imagined Luca’s expression of horror once he had to deal with what I’d done. Well, if he survived it at all.
I pondered which would be the most rewarding, to kill all of them in one go, or have just the Crown Prince left behind as he took in all the destruction and loss of life. The latter, for sure. Such a thing would break him in two.
Either way, I’d created this scenario to get the point, set and match in a single volley. And either way, I’d be revealed as the ultimate victor, even if Luca wasn’t around to see it.
What is it they say, go big or go home?
Well, the Varassos were about to find out just how big this could get.
37
Molly
I’d awakened early, just as the lime green of dawn crested at the ends of the earth. I glanced over at Luca. He’d stayed up late working with Alessandro on tracking down the shooter. He’d told me about every bit of their progress that afternoon, but last night, I’d been half asleep when he’d stumbled into the bed beside me.
He hadn’t been getting enough sleep. I could see it not only in his face, but in the way he held himself. He’d been moving more slowly and having difficulty following a conversation, even if he’d started it. I’d catch him yawning while playing with Anna, and yesterday he’d nodded off while texting with one of his brothers back and forth.
I felt this urge to take care of him, to mother him even.
Maybe it was nesting instincts due to the pregnancy, or maybe it was that I hadn’t been given the opportunity yet to do the things most girlfriends did, but I found myself feeling protective of him and his time. He lay there on his back, arms thrown over his head in his sleeveless undershirt and boxer briefs. He’d simply torn off the layers of his suit and climbed between the covers.
Only during rare times like this did I get to see Luca in a role other than mob boss, father, or head of the family. Now, I could relate to him as a man, and a younger one at that since he was only four years my senior. Most of the time, he seemed much older. The life he led required that of him. I even found it attractive.
But watching him in slumber, all his earthly cares temporarily whisked away, made the lines of his face soften. His black hair was long enough to curl slightly at his forehead and ears, and something about the masculinity of his thick dark eyebrows and beard made me want to reach out and drag a finger through every beautiful inch of it.
I loved seeing him like this.
He seemed so much more real. So much more vulnerable. Like this, he felt like he wasn’t anything other than mine.
Up till this moment, I’d only had one other night with him, and we hadn’t spent much of it sleeping. It’d also been over on his sofa rather than in the bed, so the little bit of sleep we had grabbed had been fleeting. I hadn’t known him then like I knew him now. I’d seen so many different facets of him since that time. All his complexities and the depth of his emotions.
The depth of his love for me.
I changed position carefully so I could get up, doing my best to not disturb him. My injuries left me feeling stiff and sore, so of course, my movements were awkward enough that I failed.
“You okay?” he muttered inarticulately, not really awake.
“I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”