Page 90 of Valentino

"Amanda."

"Because if Bruno missed it, and you missed it, and Vittoria missed it, then what am I supposed to⁠—"

"Stop."

I do.

His hand is near my face.

Not touching me.

Just there.

Close enough that I feel the heat of it.

"In our world, you don't trust because someone has been around a long time," he says. "You don't trust because everyone else trusts them. You trust because you check. Then you check again. Then you check a third time. And after all of that, you still watch the door."

"That's a horrible way to live."

"It's the way we live."

"I don't want to live like that."

"I know."

His thumb brushes my cheek.

Once.

I hadn't realized I was crying.

"You don't have to live like that," he says. "That's my job."

I nod.

"If he did what you're saying he did... if he was part of it... then okay." Valentino waits. "Whoever hurt those girls should answer for it."

His jaw shifts.

I reach for him. My hand moves before I can stop it.

He catches my wrist. "Don't." The word is quiet.

That somehow makes it worse.

"Whatever happened between us," he says, and his thumb presses once against my pulse before he lets me go, "is done."

I stare at him.

"You kissed me six hours ago."

"I know what I did."

"You had your hands on me. You put your mouth on my⁠—"

"I know." His voice is quieter now. Not gentler. Just tired. "And now I'm going to kill the man you defended. The man you loved. And you can hate me for it. For the rest of your life, Amanda, you can hate me."

A laugh escapes me.