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“Dario,” one twin extends a hand with all the manners of a European aristocrat. With a droop of his heavy eyelids, he says, “Apologies for the performance.”
His brother offers his hand, too. “Ettore. Ed.” His head dips. I take his hand first, then Dario’s. Big, strong hands. But their size and strength don’t explain the crackling bolts of lightning that flash through me their skin comes in contact with mine.
Is it part of my curse to have chemistry that ignites on contact with all the most dangerous men? Nothing would induce me to act on it, but I wish I didn’t have to fight with my own nature. It feels like my body is working against me.
In easier moments, I try to convince myself that it’s just a way of building character and strength. A way of keeping my emotions fit and exercised. That in times of stress, my antennae, my whiskers extend.
At moments like this, I fear the distraction when I need all my wits about me. But it’s part of me. My instincts got me this far. I have to trust them.
Here, I’m practically in the lion’s den and I have very little else to rely on.
A burly henchman stands as still as a statue in the far corner, in the uniform dress of a head waiter. What next, a WWF champ who’s a butler in tails? A special forces chef?
Okay, I have not intention of letting it show, but I am impressed.
Double doors swing open in the middle of what seemed to be a plain wall. The dark and heavy figure of Don Romano strides through in outdoor gear, carrying heavy gloves.
For a man of his age and such great bulk, he moves like a young athlete.
He strides up to me, extends a hand and spreads a bright smile that could eat me in three or four bites.
“Donna Fortuna. Welcome to my little hideaway. I hope your journey here wasn’t too unpleasant.”
He squeezes my hand, then pulls me to him for a kiss on each cheek. His lips don’t touch my flesh, but it feels like they brush the air a paper thickness away.
“Let us find you some appropriate outdoor gear. I want to show you something.”
“Am I here for a fashion parade? “
“I’ll show you why you came here. I promise you you’re not going to regret it.”
“I don’t really have the option of regret, do I?” I look him in the eye. I stand straight, the dancers pose of power. Crown, high, neck long. Hands away from my sides, feet apart, but tall.
“Maybe I should regret the fact that I let your boys kidnap me. Is that what you’re thinking, Dan Romano?”
“It was a matter of urgency. Don’t take it too hard.”
“Sending me an urgent text might have done the job. If you think that bringing me here, taking me by surprise, off my guard, if you think that is going to put me in your power…”
“Nobody would make that mistake with you, Donna. Please. Time is pressing. Let me show you some hospitality while I describe something I think you will see is in your interests just as much as it is in mine.”
A man in a butler’s penguin suit has brought a long pair of hunting boots. High leather, folded at the top like pirates boots. He inclines his head and holds them in one hand, with a long leather coat over his other arm.
“You only need protection from our impressive weather, and maybe from some bushes or tree branches. We won’t be going anywhere dangerous or crossing difficult terrain.”
I pull on the boots, leaving my running shoes aside.
The boots are a perfect fit. They don’t seem like they’ve been worn.
The Don told me this was all arranged at short notice. It’s surprising that he has footwear of such a particular kind in my size. I have to decide right now; is he dumb and arrogant enough to think I wouldn’t notice or I wouldn’t make the connection?
Or is he smart enough to realize that I would see through his story anyway? The black coat is big enough to slip over my jacket. It hangs low below, my knees and it too, is a perfect fit.
He tells me we will be outside and asks if I would like something to drink first. “Coffee? A spirit?”
I decline. Whatever this is, I want to get to it and get it done. Don Romano leads me through the house, out at the rear and across some expansive grounds. We pass a large, ornamental lake. Kitchen gardens are laid out on one side, stables and what look like hangers on the other side.
To the side, on the downhill slope, agricultural equipment is working between fields of crops in land cleared from the forest. The spread is huge spread, yet it’s almost completely hidden from view. Like a secret kingdom.
