Chapter 8
Cara
As much as I’d love to dive straight into wedding planning, Dmitri and I have bigger problems to deal with first.
We only get two days to enjoy being engaged before Luca texts Dmitri telling him to gather Sean and Andrei. We all need to talk.
“What do you think it could be?” Andrei asks as he, Dmitri, Sean, and I wait in the living room for Luca to show up, tension thick in the air.
“It has to be something related to Ferro,” Dmitri replies as he impatiently paces around the living room, checking his phone and watch every few seconds.
“It’s about time we get some news. That son of a bitch has been MIA for weeks now,” Andrei mutters as he crosses his arms over his chest and leans back against the couch cushion.
“He knows we’re looking for him,” Dmitri says as his eyes sharpen, his fingers flexing like he’s ready to fight Ferro right here and right now.
Even when we’ve been trying to relax, he’s been restless. His thirst for revenge has only grown stronger since our engagement, and I can only imagine how much worse it’ll get when I finally tell him about the baby.
“If Luca does have a lead on him, we have to move quickly, yeah?” Sean states. “We can’t let him disappear again.”
“Where is he?” Dmitri mutters, making another lap around the room.
“You’re driving me crazy with all the damn pacing, Dmitri,” Andrei says as he rubs his temple.
At least someone said it, but it wasn’t going to be me.
Finally, there’s an urgent knock on the penthouse door.
Dmitri strides to the foyer and pulls open the door, motioning for Luca to hurry up and come in. “Tell me you have good news.”
“I have good news,” Luca replies as he heads to the living room. He nods to Andrei and Sean before pressing a friendly kiss against my cheek. “Congratulations again.”
I give him a warm smile. “Thank you.”
“I’m already thinking of a very expensive wedding gift for the two of you,” Luca tells me with that addicting grin of his on his face.
“Luca,” Dmitri grits out in an impatient tone.
Luca waves his hand dismissively at Dmitri. “Relax, Ivanov. My cousin reached out to me and told me that she has confirmation that Ferro is back in Italy.”
“Of course, that coward fled,” Andrei mutters from the couch. “What do we do now?”
“Take a trip,” Dmitri easily replies as he crosses his arms. “We finally know where the bastard is. Before he goes too deep into hiding, we need to go after him.”
“Go all the way to Italy? Do we even know what city he’s in? We can’t comb a whole country before he disappears again,” Andrei asks.
“He’s in Amalfi,” Luca speaks up. “Lovely place. A little crowded with guards right now.”
“His family must have a home there,” Sean says. “He’s trying to hide.”
“His men will be crawling all over the place. He wouldn’t be there unguarded,” I comment. “We could track one of his guards and follow them back to wherever he’s hiding.”
“We’ll have to be observant. They’ll try to blend in with the locals and tourists,” Luca adds as he drops down on the couch next to Andrei. “And we should try to do the same.”
Sean nods. “Having the element of surprise will help us, especially if he has a lot of guards. If they know we’re coming, it’ll be even harder to take them all down.”
“And Ferro could flee again,” Dmitri says. “We don’t want to have to keep hunting him down. He’ll just get smarter and craftier, and we may never find him.”
“So, what’s the plan? Find his place and storm it like we did at the farmhouse?” Andrei asks.
Given the fact that I’m here right now, it’s safe to say that plan worked out well.
“We do this smarter than the farmhouse,” Dmitri says, his tone dropping as his eyes darken with fury. “This time, we surround the place; we don’t let any of the bastards escape. We end this once and for all.”
“Agreed,” my father says. “But Ferro is the top priority. He can replace his bootlickers, but it’ll be hard for them to replace their leader.”
Dmitri nods before turning to look at me, the corner of his mouth twitching as I immediately flash him a warning glare. “Relax. I’m not telling you to stay home, milaya.”
“Even if you did, I’d find a way onto that plane, regardless,” I tell him. He knows that I deserve to go, even if it’s going to be dangerous. This is my fight too.
Dmitri clicks his tongue as Luca and Andrei smirk. “You won’t be involved in any of the fighting, but I need the bastards from the farmhouse identified, and only you can do that.”
“Unless you’re picking them off one by one for questioning, I’ll have to get closer to the fight than you’re comfortable with,” I point out. This is going to move faster than he thinks.
Dmitri’s jaw tenses as he peers at me. I can see the uncertainty in his eyes, but he can’t bench me for this.
“We’ll protect her, Dmitri,” Andrei speaks up. “We’ll bring all our men with us. She’ll be guarded.”
“Nothing will happen to her,” Sean confirms confidently.
Dmitri exhales long and slow before nodding. “You don’t leave my sight, Cara. I mean it. I’m not losing you to this son of a bitch again.”
The glint of fear in his eyes makes my heart ache. Losing me might destroy him, but Ferro will kill us both and everyone we care about if we don’t all work together.
“You won’t,” I say as I walk closer to him, wishing that I could promise that to him. But I can’t. And he can’t promise me that he’ll make it out of this alive.
But I won’t ask him to stay. And even as me and my father slowly repair the damage done to our relationship over time, I won’t ask him not to go either.
This is something that we all have to do together.
Dmitri sighs and pulls me into his arms, his chin resting on the top of my head as I press my face into his chest where I feel the safest. “If we’re bringing that many people, we’ll need two private jets.”
“I know of another one we can use,” Sean replies. “Maybe we should stay in Italy for a few days after we kill Ferro and his men. We all deserve a vacation.”
“I don’t think that I want to be around anymore Italians when it’s all said and done,” Andrei says.
“As if you Russians are the best company. No offense, Dmitri,” Luca replies.
Dmitri points his finger at the men. “Enough. We’re in this together. Start acting like it.”
“What now?” Sean asks Dmitri. “We should get moving.”
Dmitri nods in agreement. “Get the jets ready. Call the pilots. Gather what men you want to bring. We’ll fly out tonight so that we can arrive in the morning.”
“Once we get confirmation from the pilots, we can decide on a time to meet at the airfield,” Andrei replies.
“We’ll need a driver to take us from Naples to Amalfi. Think your cousin can arrange that?” Dmitri asks Luca.
Luca nods and pulls his phone out. “Without a doubt. She’ll be able to find us a place to stay as well. My family has stayed in Amalfi for generations.”
“Then, I’ll see you all tonight,” Dmitri says as everyone gets to their feet.
My father walks over to me and gently places his hand on my upper arm. “Are you doing okay?”
I know that his question is layered. He’s not just asking about me. He’s asking about the baby too.
“I’m fine. I’m good,” I assure him with a nod.
Sean glances in Dmitri’s direction, making sure that he’s busy talking to Luca before looking back at me. “You shouldn’t navigate this alone.”
“We can’t talk about this right now,” I whisper through gritted teeth, my heart pounding as I watch Dmitri closely.
“I know. I’m just worried about you.”
My eyes lift to his, silence ringing between us. It’s still so odd hearing those words come out of his mouth. Even stranger, it seems like he actually means them.
I can see the stressed crease in his forehead. The tight line of his frown. The urgency in his whisper.
Was all this care buried deep, and it took me almost dying to uncover it? Part of me wants to tell him it’s too late and to leave me alone, but…there’s another part of me that yearns to fix what’s broken. To have a family.
Especially now that I have a baby on the way.
“I’ll be okay. We just need to get this done first,” I tell him quietly.
My father nods in understanding before drawing away to walk over to Dmitri. “See you tonight.”
“We’re not leaving Italy until Ferro and his men are dead,” Dmitri says. “Keep that in mind while packing.”
Sean smirks. “Then, I’ll pack for a short trip.”
I wave goodbye to Luca and Andrei before they step out of the penthouse, closely followed by my father. Then, it’s just me and Dmitri.
“Everything okay with you and your father?” Dmitri asks as he walks toward me, his eyes landing on mine.
I breathe through the tension trying to wind its way around my body, forcing myself to stand casually and not like a deer in headlights. He’s too observant.
“I guess you could say that,” I reply with a faint smile. “Better than it’s ever been.”
Dmitri runs his hands up and down my arms. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. You and my father becoming allies,” I tell him as my brow furrows. “I thought you two would end up killing each other, eventually.”
Dmitri cracks a grin as he gently takes my chin in his hand, tilting my head back a little. “You matter more than any rivalry ever did.”
His words hit me like a punch. The thought of their care for me bridging that gap makes my chest ache.
“I love you,” I say as I place my hand on his cheek.
Dmitri turns his head to briefly kiss my palm. “I love you. Stay close to me in Italy, okay?”
“Right by your side,” I promise him.
There’s nowhere else I’d rather stand.