“No,Amore. You are no monster. There may come a time when what happened here tears you down. But if that never happens, it doesn’t make you a monster. It just means you’ve accepted that it was a necessary evil.”
I watched her closely as she thought about my words. I could tell the moment she accepted them as fact.
“So...you’re part of the Italian mob. Does that mean Rico was, too? Is that why he was killed?”
“I believe it played a part in his death. After Enrico was killed, I looked into the things he’d been doing. He kept his personal life very quiet. He never mentioned the name of the girl he was involved with. I looked. I wanted to be sure she hadn’t taken part in his death. Enrico was involved with several gangs. It was the lack of loyalty that got him killed. He was trying to make connections forla famiglia, he wanted to prove himself worthy. He was foolish, but he was doing what he believed was right.”
“I can see that. Rico was always trying to prove himself. I should have known there was more to it than what he was telling me.”
A frown creased her brow and I reached up to smooth it with a finger. “What are you thinking about?”
“Why have I never seen any of you at his grave? I’ve visited it a lot – not as much the last year or so as I used to – and I have never seen any of his family there. It used to make me so angry.”
“Ah,Bella, we go. Where do you think the fresh flowers come from? Perhaps not as much as we did in the beginning, but his Mama and Papa still visit his grave every week.”
“Oh. I guess it just happens when I’m not there.”
“There is more on your mind,Tesoro. What is it?”
“What are we going to do about Chablis? Someone will start asking questions. All the girls at the club know she and I didn’t get along. What if someone realizes I’m the reason she’s gone?”
I could feel her shaking and carefully pulled her into my arms. Just holding her seemed to help calm her as the shaking slowly subsided. “I have that covered. We will be having a meeting at the club tomorrow. The employees will be told that you were kidnapped by your stalker when you went out to Chablis’ car. You tried to overpower him once you were on the road, and he lost control of his car. He was killed instantly and you were seriously injured from all the broken glass.
After discovering you were taken near Chablis’ car, I confronted her and she admitted she’d known who your stalker was but said nothing because she was jealous.
To avoid being charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, she agreed to take a cash payout and left the city for parts unknown. No one will try to find her because she made sure none of the employees liked her.”
I watched her face as I laid out the plan I’d already put in motion. “As we speak, her apartment is being packed up and loaded into a moving van. I have covered every angle,Amore. No one will ever know anything different.”
“She has family, Gio. Someone is going to eventually report her as a missing person.”
“She has been estranged from her family for a number of years. However, I have that covered as well. Her credit card will be used at several hotels, headed west toward California, before the paper trail will simply disappear. A lone woman, traveling by herself across country, well, anything could happen.”
“You’ve thought of everything. Why am I not surprised by that?”
“Because you know I am quite efficient,Bella.” I kissed her gently. “How are you feeling? Are you hungry?”
“I hurt, but not enough to want a pain pill. They knock me out and I need something in my stomach before I take anything else.”
“Let me order takeout. Chinese?”
“As long as I get some egg drop soup and cream cheese wontons.”
“You can have whatever you wish,Bella.”
“If that’s the case, take me downstairs. Please? I don’t want to spend every waking second in this bed. I promise I won’t try to do anything beyond reaching for a drink.”
I could deny this woman nothing. I picked her up and carried her downstairs. I got her comfortable on the sofa in the family room, gave her the remotes for the television and sound system, then went to order our dinner.
Over the meal, we kept our conversation light. I knew part of that was because Carly was trying to keep herself distracted from the fact she’d killed someone. Right now, she felt nothing in regard to it, but I knew a large part of that was shock. When the shock finally wore off, I was there to hold her while she broke down.
