Page 77
The kitchen is the color of wet ash. I haven't turned on a light. The window above the sink shows a square of sky already giving up on the day.
The front door opens without a knock, and Luca steps inside.
"We're set." He stays on the threshold, jacket on, gloves in one hand. "Fabio confirmed the apartment. Trastevere is clean. If we leave now, we hit Rome late enough to move her without an audience."
He's gone before I answer.
There is mercy in working with a man who never wastes a sentence.
I sit one more breath in the dark kitchen before I get up.
She's curled on her side when I open the bedroom door, hoodie sleeve bunched in her fist near her mouth. I crouch by the bed and put my hand on her ankle through the blanket.
"Bella."
She makes a sound that isn't a word.
"We're going."
Her eyes open like she's surfacing from somewhere deep. It takes her two blinks to find me. When she does, her whole body unclenches.
"Okay," she says.
"Follow me."
"Yes, sir." Half a smile.
In the hallway, Elio is already on his feet.
"Change of plans. You're behind us by one hour," I tell him. "Clean the house. Take a different route. If anyone is on the road for us, they're watching for the car they think we're in, which is yours. If we're all together, the risk is bigger."
"Understood."
Luca has the back door of the second car open. I put my hand on the small of Amanda's back and guide her in. She folds herself onto the leather without a word.
I slide in beside her and pull the door shut. The interior light dies, leaving only the dash glow on her cheekbones, the hollow under her eye, and her hands folded in her lap like she's been told to keep them there.
"This is Luca," I say. "My right hand."
Luca looks at her through the rearview mirror and gives a short nod.
"Hi," Amanda says.
Luca pulls us off the gravel. The headlights catch a fence post, then the road drops dark again.
I take out my phone and call Bruno.
"We're moving," I say when he answers.
"Call me when you're inside the apartment."
"Capito."
I hang up and slide the phone into my jacket.
Amanda is quiet for the first few miles. I can feel the question sitting between us before she says my name.
"Valentino."
