Chapter 15 #2
Kathleen stood in the silence, staring at the glamorous room that felt more like a stage than a sanctuary.
Resisting the urge to check the lock on the door, she set her bag carefully on the tufted bench.
She wasn’t sure what unnerved her more, staying in a stranger’s house in the middle of Milan…
or the fact that she wanted to trust him anyway.
From a spot on the tufted bench, Kathleen stared at the room.
If she ever had a house in Italy, this was exactly how she would have wanted it, at least her bedroom, anyway.
She had always pictured a sanctuary overlooking the ocean.
She wasn’t quite sure which sea it would be here, but that hardly mattered.
In Enzo’s house, she had a garden view, filled with bright colors and wonderful scents. It was almost as good.
But this isn’t my place, she reminded herself.
Just a quick pit stop before she was on her own again.
At the sudden pang in her chest, she gave herself a mental shake.
Being alone was fine. It was beyond fine.
It was good. It was the safe choice, and keeping her heart safe was the only option for her.
After freshening up, she wandered back downstairs. It amazed her that this house not only had a courtyard in front but also a walled garden in the back. She stood in front of the French doors leading out to the terrace, studying the yard beyond.
“May I offer you a glass of wine? Or something else to drink?” Enzo asked.
“Three fingers of Scotch sounds good right about now,” she muttered, then shook her head. “But I’ll take the wine.”
Enzo grinned. “White or red?”
“You choose,” she said. Let the man who made the stuff pick. He hadn’t disappointed so far.
Enzo walked over to the corner, then disappeared down the stairs.
“God, he even has a wine cellar,” she murmured to herself. Of course he does. He owns wineries, she reminded herself.
A moment later, a man appeared with a plate of snacks. No, not snacks, a charcuterie board. That was the right word. Nobody said “plate of snacks” anymore. She had to laugh at herself. Funny how words went in and out of fashion.
“This is Aldo. He is my right hand here.” Enzo had reappeared with a bottle in his hands.
Aldo was short, not much taller than her five feet five inches, and he was thin but not gaunt. His deep brown eyes were watchful, and a tight smile lingered on his lips. His hair was salt and pepper, and judging by the wrinkles on his face, she would put him in his sixties.
“Nice to meet you, Aldo. I’m Kathleen.” She offered her hand.
He nodded to her but didn’t take her hand.
“If you need anything, ask Aldo.” Enzo gave him a nod, and the man turned and left the room.
Kathleen watched him go. She had the impression that Aldo did not approve of her. What Aldo thought didn’t matter because she was only there for a day, two tops, and then she would be on her way again. She turned to Enzo. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked.
Enzo raised an eyebrow as he poured the deep crimson liquid into two wine glasses.
“Yes, yes, for tonight,” she clarified.
“The plan is that you’ll stay here, and I will—”
“Nope.” She cut him off sharply. “That’s not going to work. My mess…”
Enzo sighed. “Kathleen, my job is to keep you safe. After what happened on the road earlier today, there’s no way you are going tonight. Letting you go to the exchange—”
“You’re not letting me do anything.” Her voice rose.
She swallowed and regrouped. “It’s precisely because of what happened today that I am going.
I cannot in good conscience let someone go in my place.
If anything happened to you, I…I would never be able to forgive myself.
” The thought had hit her when she was upstairs.
Enzo could get hurt because of her. She could not live with that.
“I’m letting you help me because my brother insists, and to be honest, I probably couldn’t have arranged this on my own. But you will not go in my stead. I will not be responsible for anyone else getting hurt. I will go to the exchange tonight.”
Enzo came to stand beside her at the French doors and handed her the glass. “Kathleen, we could have been killed today.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then why would you want to take that risk?” he asked as if he was genuinely puzzled. “You have a child. Surely you want to keep yourself safe because of him, if for no other reason.”
She stared at him, struggling to put her thoughts into words with all the emotions swirling around inside her. She took a sip of wine to buy time. It was amazing. Of course it was.
“I spent years…years being terrified. Always looking over my shoulder. Never sure I was safe. Terrified that my son wasn’t safe and living a limited life to ensure he was.
I’m not going back to that. If I don’t go tonight, it doesn’t matter what you tell me; I’ll be in the same situation.
Unable to answer the question of whether I’m safe.
” She pointed to her chest. “I won’t know that it’s over, that I’m safe.
That Connor is safe from this. And I have to know.
I can’t… I won’t go back to living like that. ”
It was all true. That and more. Connor was a man.
Young, yes, but a man. He didn’t need her in the same way anymore.
And she knew if, god forbid, anything happened to her, Jamie would take good care of him.
She wouldn’t crawl back into the shell that she’d lived in before. Not even if the cost were her life.
Enzo gave her a cool, measuring look. “Kathleen, I can’t guarantee your safety if you come.
I will do my best, but I have been around long enough to know that if anyone says they can guarantee the outcome from a meeting like this, they’re lying.
I cannot control all the variables. There is a significant chance you will get hurt.
I cannot have that on my conscience. Your brother would never forgive me. I would never forgive myself.”
“Then we’re at an impasse because I am going tonight. You are not responsible for me or my safety. I will go whether you help me or not.” She glared at the man across from her.
He swore softly. “Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “But you will do exactly what I say, when I say it. Agreed?”
Kathleen put her free hand behind her back and crossed her fingers.
“Agreed.” She would do what she thought best, no matter what Enzo said.
She’d spent too many years on the sidelines being told what to do and how to do it.
She’d felt half-alive. As strange and screwed up as this was, this situation made her feel alive in a way she hadn’t felt since before her son was born.
And she wanted to hold on to that feeling.
She thought briefly of Connor. Not that she wanted to do anything that might risk her ability to go home to him, but she knew she needed more.
She needed this. To be in the thick of things.
For too long, she’d been swaddled in bubble wrap, even after Jamie had found her and everything with her ex was sorted.
She understood why, but still… she’d spent too many years under lock and key.
Now she wanted freedom. As crazy as it sounded, even to herself, she wanted to be at that exchange because she wanted to do something. To be part of something. To feel alive again.
She took a sip of wine and repeated, “So, what’s the plan?”
Enzo gestured to the sofa. She crossed the room, sat, and popped a cracker topped with Italian meat and cheese into her mouth. Divine. Like all things Enzo touched.
“The plan is to meet them in the square outside the Duomo, by the Galleria,” Enzo said.
“Isn’t that a little exposed?”
“Yes, but it gives us more cover, in a way. A lot of people around.”
“Well, in theory, that’s good for us,” she said. “Doesn’t it also mean they get cover too? Hide in plain sight?”
“True,” he admitted. “But after today’s excursion, do you really want to meet them in a dark alley?”
A valid point. Kathleen suppressed a shudder. “Okay, I get it,” she said. “We’ll meet them in the square outside the Duomo. But if it’s late, won’t it be empty?”
“There are always tourists walking there. It’ll be fine. Plus, I am bringing security.”
“What security?” Kathleen asked as she took another sip of wine.
“Just some extra men who will keep an eye on things. Always helps to have extra eyes on the situation.”
Kathleen nodded. Sounded reasonable. “Okay. What time?”
“Seven p.m.”
She glanced at her watch. Just past four. No wonder she was starving; she hadn’t eaten since leaving the hotel. “What do we do until then?” She took another bite of a cracker with cheese.
Enzo waved her off. “I’ll leave you to explore the house. There’s a library down the hall.” He gestured. “Unfortunately, I have some business.”
Kathleen nodded. Enzo offered a quick smile and left the room.
Strangely, his sudden absence left her feeling lonely.
It wasn’t just that his presence was reassuring; it was that he carried this electric energy with him.
The kind she hadn’t felt in years, if ever.
Dangerous, yes, but she wasn’t planning to act on it.
Still, it was part of what made her feel so alive.
She ate more cheese and crackers, sipped her wine, then wandered down the hall. Napping was out; she’d slept too much in the car.
She pushed open a door and gasped in delight.
The library was gorgeous. Again, stone walls, French doors opening onto the terrace.
Books upon books lining the shelves, Italian and English, fiction and nonfiction.
History, modern bestsellers, a little of everything.
Picture frames sat scattered along the shelves.
She stopped to look at each one. People she didn’t know. Enzo appeared in some of them, younger, laughing. But one picture stood out. Enzo and Jamie in their twenties. Jamie grinning, Enzo’s head thrown back in laughter. His hair was longer then, both of them full of the optimism of youth.
Kathleen’s chest tightened. That must have been after she disappeared.
Jamie looked lighter, happier. She suspected it was because of Enzo.
From what Jamie had told her, in some strange way, Enzo had saved him.
She would have to thank him for that someday.
But maybe, just maybe, Jamie had saved Enzo, too.
They looked so incredibly happy in that picture, those two young men frozen in time. Kathleen was glad for them. She tried to think of her own moments like that, but she couldn’t. Her bad choices had robbed her of so much.
Then she reminded herself that if she hadn’t made those choices, she wouldn’t have Connor.
And Connor was, without question, the best thing she had ever done.
And she was free now. That was the important thing.
She had her whole life ahead of her to live her way.
She just hoped that it was longer than the few remaining hours until tonight’s meeting.