Bartolo stood up, shaking his head, indicating their private meeting was over. “No, no, don’t worry your head. We’ll find a solution.” He walked to the door, waiting for his bodyguards to go out first. He hung back, turning to her. “Do you know why your family was targeted, Ania?”
She shook her head. Tears burned close all over again. She had to stop being a faucet at the mention of her family. “No. I talked several times with my father about it, but he didn’t seem to know either. He was very . . . upset. He counted everyone he worked for as his friend. He thought work had to be involved, but there was no reason that he knew of that would make a friend become his enemy.”
“He had no territory for power-hungry families to want to grab.” Bartolo sounded as if he was musing aloud. “He carried packages for others as well as my family. Could he have seen something others wanted him dead over?”
“If he had, he certainly didn’t tell me. And then did my mother and grandmother see it? Did my grandfather? I know I didn’t, and they still came after me.”
Bartolo had one foot out the door when she told him. He stopped dead in his tracks. Frozen there. Very slowly he turned back to her, as did his sons. “Ania, are you saying someone has tried to kill you?”
She nodded. “Yes, more than once.”
Bartolo looked at his sons. “Find out who did this thing. She’s protected. Spread the word. If someone has a hit out on her, they had better retract it or we will be merciless coming after them. Our families go back a long way, Ania. A long way. You are one of us, and there are few shifters left. We need every woman. I see why Mitya would guard you so carefully. I was upset that you were with him before, but now I’m glad.”
He leaned down and brushed both her cheeks with his dry lips. “If you need me, you call. Call one of the boys. It doesn’t matter what time, day or night, Ania, you call, we’ll come.”
That choked her up. “Thanks, signor Anwar. That means so much to me.” He sounded so sincere and almost angry. No, he was angry. The looks he was giving his sons made her think he wanted to start a war.
Both Enrico and Samuele hugged her and followed their father into the great room, where many of the guests were still gathered. Mitya and the others emerged from the den. She could see Mitya looking around for her. He spotted her almost immediately, as if he had radar. He murmured something to the men and came across the room toward her.
The crowd parted for him. Mitya was just that way. He started walking, easy, panther-like strides, confident and a little on the lethal side. She made herself really look at him. He was a big man, a good six four or more, his shoulders wide and his chest broad. He had the roped muscles of the leopard, and when he moved, he had that same easy, almost lazy stride that could turn into a blur of motion that fast.
His face was rugged male. A strong jaw with that perpetual five-o’clock shadow. Those piercing, focused eyes that could melt her when he fastened his gaze on her. His nose was very aristocratic, or it would have been had it not been broken at one time. That, along with several scars on his face, particularly around his left eye, only served to make him look even more gorgeous to her.
Mitya came right up to her, his hand cupping her face, thumb sliding over her skin. He inhaled sharply. “Why is it, kotyonok, that you are always surrounded by men?”
“I don’t know. It just happens.” She tried a tentative smile because he wasn’t smiling. Not at all.
“And why is it that I get that information from your bodyguards and not you?” His tone was mild, and his thumb continued to caress her cheek.
She leaned into his hand. “Probably because I left my cell upstairs in the bedroom, but I was very grateful to have Kiriil and Matvei looking after me while you looked after our guests.”
He bent his head to brush her lips gently. “You look tired, baby. I’ll get these people to go. Drake is staying with his wife at the Bannaconni ranch. Elijah and Eli are staying at a hotel near the bakery. I think Joshua is staying at Fyodor’s. In any case, tomorrow is another day. They’ll be coming back tomorrow, and you can visit with the women while I have a meeting with the men.”
They were definitely going to have to have a talk, but not now, not with so many guests still there. They’d come to honor her father, and she loved that, but she wanted them all to go home. Mitya swept his arm around her.