"I'll look into it," I promise, already planning my next move.
The memory of that Santa who took Rocco floods back. I wish I’d been there when Luca, Roman, and Marco found him.
He wouldn’t have left that dirty motel room alive and it wouldn’t have been a heart attack that killed him.
Instead, I was looking for Gio. Luca had planted seeds of doubt about the man who’d been loyal to my father.
While I had problems with Gio, I’d never had cause to believe he’d betray the family.
But Gio’s hate for Luca ran deep.
He believed a lie that Luca had my uncle killed. I had no proof that my father was behind my uncle’s death, I was more certain of that than of Luca being behind it.
The problem is both Gio and Santa are dead. To this day, I don’t know who killed Gio or why or even if it’s related to Rocco’s kidnapping.
If it is, and if I’m to buy Roman’s theory that the FBI is manipulating us, I have to wonder if they killed Gio. I accused Olivia of just that.
Santa hadn’t been any help either. His excuse was a man paid him to lure Rocco away from the Winter Festival to save him.
Roman tucked him away for safe keeping and interrogation.
Unfortunately, just as Roman was about to get creative with a pair of pliers, the man started clutching his chest and his eyes rolled back. Gone. Just like that.
I suppose in a court of law, we’d be held responsible for his death, but death hadn’t been the goal. Not yet.
I recall Olivia saying Rocco’s case wasn’t her department, so what is she doing? Is she working on her own, or is this official Bureau business?
If she's connecting dots between Rocco's kidnapping, Gio's death, Santa’s disappearance, and whatever else she's uncovered about La Corona, we're all at risk.
The thought of Olivia building a case against my family while the memory of her body against mine is still fresh twists in my chest. It feels like a betrayal.
I need to find out what she knows before she gets too close to the truth.
Before she discovers just how far we went to protect our own and how little we actually learned in the process.
“You should know, she called on Leo as well.”
“Leo? Why?” What does Don Ferraza have to do with Rocco’s kidnapping?
“She was asking about his wife's murder." Luca runs a hand through his hair. "Specifically, about Ernie Abruzzo being an informant."
Fuck. This is worse than I thought.
It won’t take long for Luca and the others to wonder if I’m handing over information to Olivia instead of gathering it.
"Why the hell am I only hearing about this now?" I demand. "If she's connecting these dots, we needed to know yesterday."
Luca raises his hands defensively. "I only found out this morning myself. Elena mentioned it over breakfast. Apparently Isabella Ferraza mentioned it when they talked last night."
I stop pacing. "Isabella? Not Leo?"
“Not Leo.” Luca holds my stare as we ponder why Leo would have kept something this important from the rest of La Corona. “Isabella was visiting when it happened. I think she knew Leo wasn’t going to say anything so she told Roman who of course would tell Marco, and Elena who’d tell me, and now I’ve told you.”
"Did Isabella say what specific questions Ricci was asking?" I ask wondering what Olivia is hoping to learn.
“As far as I know it had to do with Ernie and his brother Sal.”
Sal had worked for Marco but Roman killed him when he kidnapped Isabella.
