Chapter 41
The Colleoni jet smelled of coffee, alcohol, and smoke, and was full of exhausted people who had decided being unconscious was the most reasonable response to the last twenty hours.
Rodrigo and Giana had the recliners at the front, Rodrigo's hand still loosely wrapped around hers, even in sleep. Leo was folded into the window seat with his head on Dante's shoulder, and Dante was the only person on the plane who looked fully comfortable, which tracked.
Silas had taken the couch on the port side with Iz and was snoring softly.
Altun had her seat fully reclined next to Julian, wearing her eye mask and with one leg over his.
Kon and Athena were tangled together in the two rear recliners with the easy intimacy of people who had long since stopped caring what anyone thought.
The private room at the tail of the plane had been claimed before wheels-up.
Tore had announced, with a pained groan, that his injuries required the bed.
Despina had agreed immediately, and Frederica had known before the door clicked shut that her father's injuries weren't going to stop them from making up for lost time.
She had quickly put her headphones on because there were some things a child, no matter how old, didn't need to hear her parents doing.
That had been hours ago. She was watching the clouds outside the window when Dario appeared from the small galley at the back with two fresh glasses of whiskey and dropped onto the couch beside her.
"How's your father doing?" he asked. "Does he need more painkillers? I can check."
"Don't knock on that door unless you want to be shot," Frederica advised.
Dario glanced at the closed door. "You think they are—"
"My mother was kidnapped and kept in a chamber underground for three days. My father spent those three days injured, pissed off, and afraid for her." She accepted the drink he held out. "Yes, they are absolutely fucking like bunnies right now. Leave them alone."
Dario sat back and raised his glass. "Good for them."
"It's disgusting."
"It's extremely romantic."
"They're my parents."
"Still romantic." He had the warm smile he wore when he was genuinely amused. It was one of Frederica's favorite smiles.
"So," she said and took a big mouthful of whiskey.
"So," he said. The silence between them stretched, and they both drank again.
"In the chamber with the bee, what it showed us…" Frederica said awkwardly, trying to find the right words.
"Yeah, what about it?"
She turned to look at him and found him already staring at her with a soft expression. It made her squirm in her seat a little, but she plowed on.
"You love me," she stated.
Dario nodded. "Sure do."
She took a breath. "I love you too. In case the magical truth-telling artifact wasn't sufficiently clear on the point." She drank again. Feelings were the worst.
Relief flashed over Dario's face, and he laughed with a joy that filled his eyes. "I should have known you would be too stubborn to say it without supernatural intervention."
Frederica pulled a face. "That's unfair. I didn't know if you loved me back."
"I could have used someone to write it across the sky, and it still wouldn't have been more obvious, Spartana," he replied, still laughing.
Frederica put her drink down and climbed into his lap. His hands came to her hips and brought her closer. "Don't rub it in and ruin the moment."
"Are we having a moment?" he asked innocently.
"Shut up." Frederica kissed him. His hand slid into her hair to cradle the back of her head, and he kissed her back with a tenderness that made her insides grow hot.
Frederica pulled back enough to look at him. "So what happens now?"
"We go home. Figure out what normal looks like."
"Is there such a thing as normal for people like us?"
Dario hummed thoughtfully. "Probably not, but it is who we are, and we would hate it any other way. We can make it up as we go. Together."
"Together." She turned the word over. It didn't feel as terrifying as she thought it would. "I can do that."
"Good." Dario's hands shifted down to cup her ass, settling her more comfortably. "Because you're stuck with me, Spartana."
"God." She dropped her forehead briefly to his chest. "Don't I know it. You're the worst thing that ever happened to me."
"Liar. Who would you call if you got arrested?" he asked.
"Probably still you. Annoyingly." She sat back. "Maybe it's a good idea to make sure you always have bail money on you."
"It would be my pleasure."
She kissed him once more before she remembered something she had been turning over since Venice. "You owe me an answer."
He raised an eyebrow. "About?"
"The bullet casing," she said and poked him in the chest. "You said after we survived. Well? Out with it, Colleoni."
Dario looked at her for a moment before he leaned forward, pulled his wallet from his back pocket, and held it out to her.
She took it. It was worn leather, soft with years of use.
"Go on, then," he said.
She opened it and found cards, a folded receipt, and some euros.
"No condoms in here," she observed with a raised eyebrow. "Surprising."
"You told me you don't like using them anyway." His eyes grew heated. "And I think we both like it when I cover you in my—"
"Shut it. The only room on the plane is taken, and we both won't fit into the bathroom," she warned him.
"Not with that attitude," he chuckled.
Frederica checked the coin section and tipped it out onto her palm.
The bullet casing was slightly dented, and the heart was rough-cut, the lines uneven, from the tip of the knife she had used on the rooftop in Rome.
She looked up at him, her face heating. "You did keep it."
"I keep everything that matters," he said with a self-deprecating lift of one shoulder.
"You ruined my professional reputation and left me a heart on a bullet casing.
A man doesn't throw something like that away.
Originally, I was going to work out who you were and find a way to mess with you before leaving it behind. So you'd know it was me."
"Trying to copy my moves by being even more petty?"
"Tit for tat, Spartana," he said and flicked the tip of her nose. "I just started carrying it. I thought I would bring it out to embarrass you at some point, but I never did."
Frederica toyed with the casing in her palm. The rough little heart she carved because she had thought it was funny, and there was something about Dario that had made her want to leave a mark on him.
She closed her fingers around it. "I want it back."
"What?"
"It's mine," she said stubbornly. "I made it."
"You made it for me. You can't take it back," he replied, eyes narrowing.
"Then you are going to have to make me something in return. Fair is fair," she said, being difficult just because she liked to annoy him.
"I got something in mind to give you."
"Wrapping a ribbon around your dick doesn't count."
Dario's head cocked thoughtfully. "Now, I have two things in mind to give you."
Frederica laughed because he was as ridiculous as she was, and she loved that about him. She kissed the casing and put it back in his wallet, winking. Dario tucked a strand of hair back from her face and kissed her again.
Outside the window, the clouds had thinned enough to show a strip of gray-blue sea somewhere beneath them. The plane was quiet except for Silas's snoring and the steady hum of the engines.
Dario's arms were around her, easy and warm, and Frederica snuggled into him to make the most of it. Her head rested on his shoulder, his chin on her hair, and he stroked her back gently in a content gesture.
Finding out that Dario Colleoni was the love of her life was still mildly alarming, but she was sure she would get used to it.