Page 116 of Sigma

I hear Uncle Harry’s voice. “We heard about it. INTERPOL official ruling was internal conflict. Rivals going at each other.”

“But?”

“But insiders, meaning my contacts in the less savory realm, say it was something else. No one who knows anything solid will talk, but the rumors we’re hearing is that it was…an assassination, of sorts. Not of one person, though, but of an entire swath of the industry. Clients, foot soldiers, pimps, everyone connected to this ring died within a matter of days of each other. It was a hit, and no mistake. But no one’s made any claims.”

I glance at Apollo, who frowns, sighs, and nods. “It can’t go any farther,” Apollo murmurs.

“It was Apollo.” I say this quietly. “This can’t go beyond you. But it was him.”

A silence. “You’re certain of this?”

“I’m with him right now.”

A low whistle. “That was a risky play he made, in that case. That’s how you get enemies that’ll make his grandfather look like Cinderella.” A sigh. “But he’s got my respect, that’s for sure. He did a damn good thing and he did it quietly.”

“Thank you, Uncle Harry.”

“Sure thing, sweet pea. Come see us.”

“After the launch.” I pause. “I might not come alone.”

“As long as he doesn’t bring trouble with him, he’s welcome.”

“I think he’s left that kind of thing well in the past.”

“Our guest villa is always ready, honey,” he says.

I end the call and put my phone back in my purse. I spend a long, long time thinking, and Apollo simply waits, watching me, heart in his eyes.

“What does our future together look like, Apollo? How do we do this?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I travel a lot for the things I do. But honestly, I currently have no real home. I still own the castle, but it’s a boutique hotel, now.” His voice is low, quiet. “I couldn’t stand to be there without you. I will be wherever you are. I just…I’ve lived without you these two years. I haven’t touched another woman. And I just…I thought maybe needing you would dissipate with time. But it hasn’t. It has only increased. I can no more live without than I can choose to quit breathing.”

He leaves his side of the booth and comes to mine, sits beside me. Faces me. Takes my cheeks in his hands. His nose slants across mine.

“Tell me you’ve changed your mind and I will go.” He whispers this, and I see what it costs him to say it. “I will go and I will vanish from your life. I won’t like it. I will never…I could never be the same, no matter what. But if you don’t tell me no, right now, I am going to kiss you. You are mine, and I am yours, Corinna. We knew each other only a short time, but our souls became inextricably intertwined in those few short hours. We belong together.” His lips touch mine. “Tell me you agree, Corinna. Please. Say something.”

“Shut up and kiss me,” I whisper.

I tangle my fingers in his hair, and I pull his mouth to mine.

He tastes like the future.

I pull away from the kiss an inch or two. “Take me home.”

“Where is home?” he asks.

I laugh. “My home.” Another delicate exploration of his lips with mine. “Ours, now. We can find another, if you like. Once we launch, I can take some time off. But for now, just…come home with me.”

“Home.” He whispers the word as if it’s a foreign concept. “Wherever you are is home, Corinna.”

“In that case, my home is wherever we can be alone, so we can take these damn clothes off.” I touch his beard with my fingertips, his lips with my thumb. “I’ve spent the last two years alone and horny. And now I have you back.”

He laughs and we stand up. “Will we make it all the way to your home?”

I shake my head. “Not likely. But we can try.”

I haul him by the hand out of the restaurant, to the waiting jet.