For the first time, I chance a look over my shoulder at Carlo. He’s been silent this whole time, which is saying something. He’s sweaty and wild-eyed, swallowing fast, and he looks as though he’s about to say something stupid.
So I step forward and say something stupid of my own.
“I’ll go look for Gatti with Big Gee’s boys.” Every eye in the room is on me now. “How about that? One sweep of the place—hell, a whole lot of us can go. I’m sure the other Families will be anxious to help. Won’t take long to find one passed-out drunk groom with a bunch of us looking.”
Luca gives me this blank look that I can’t read.
“Please, Don Morelli,” I add. “In the spirit of the new friendship between all our Families, eh? And I’m sure Sophia will be anxious. But you, of course, you should head back to New York in the meantime.” Better to have Luca out of here, that’s for sure.
“Fontana makes a good point,” Big Gee says. “We’re all here to strengthen our ties, aren’t we? Why not send around a search crew?”
As for Luca D’Amato, his icy eyes bore into mine, and just when I think he’s going to tell me exactly how hard I can go fuck myself, he gives a magnanimous smile. “Perhaps I’ve been hasty. As you say, Don Giuliano, we’re all here in the spirit of friendship. By all means, Fontana, go help them put together a search party. I’ll put off my business meeting an hour or so, and the rest of us can enjoy breakfast in the meantime. You’re welcome to join us, Louis. No?”
Clemenza’s grinding his teeth so hard I can hear them from where I’m standing. He knows it’s over. He knows he’s lost, yet again.
“We should get men from each Family,” I suggest. “Vitali, can you call over to the Rossis and the Alessis?”
Carlo slinks up to me halfway through the planning, after a bunch of guys from all over have descended on the house, the kitchen full of complaining men and laughter about Gatti getting so drunk he couldn’t fuck his new wife. The chatter is enough to cover Carlo’s words, but he speaks loud enough for others around me to hear. “I can help look,” he suggests nervously.
I give him a hard stare. “And get your shoes all sandy? I don’t think so, Bianchi.”
He tries to send me a message with his eyes, but I ignore it, grab him by the arm, and march him back toward Luca, who is surrounded by a group of Morelli soldiers. “Stay here and keep out of the way until we find this fucker drunk on the beach,” I say loudly as we walk.
He almost stumbles and I shake him. “Pull yourself together,” I hiss at him. “We’ll get out okay. I’ve been in tighter spots than this one.”
“Yeah, like my ass,” he mutters, and then looks surprised at his own capacity for joking around.
I give a smirk. “There you are. Welcome back, Harvard. Make it stick this time. Now go sit like a lap dog at Luca’s feet and let me sort this shit out.”
“You’re sure we didn’t…” he trails off, looking around. “Forget anything?”
No one’s looking our way. I have this sudden urge to kiss him, to take all that worry out of his toffee-bright eyes and replace it with dazed desire instead. But I don’t. Because all the way over in the corner, his sharp eyes no less dimmed just because he’s in the shadows, I see Bianchi Senior waiting at the back of the room, watching us.
“Go on, now,” I say, and give Carlo a little shove.
But I feel two sets of Bianchi eyes on me until the search groups are organized, and they both follow me out as I go to look for a man whose whereabouts I fully know, and have no intention of sharing.
Chapter Twelve
Nick
Imake sure I’m not the one to suggest quitting the search. In fact, I make a point of pushing my group on for another fifteen minutes when they get tired of looking. I don’t want anyone accusing me of putting in half-effort. The way the groups were organized, we put one man from each Family together, so no one could accuse a Morelli-only group of not looking hard enough.
We trail back to the central Villa Alessi to report our findings, or lack thereof. No one has seen Gatti and no one has any news of his whereabouts.
Back at the mansion, the members of the Morelli family have all gathered in the living area, arguing, laughing, muttering among themselves. I manage to spot where Carlo has slipped himself into a corner, his face watchful and guarded. I wish he looked more innocent, but it’s better than nothing. It’s well known that the Bianchis prefer not to associate personally with the Morellis, so maybe he’ll just read wary for that reason.
Carlo catches my eye and raises one eyebrow. No one is looking at me, so I give him a slight nod, small enough that it could be interpreted merely as a greeting.
Luca is sitting at the bar against the back wall, enjoying a coffee and biscotti. His are the next eyes I find and he can tell from the look on my face that we found nothing. Vitali comes up to me, his face serious. “No joy?” I shake my head. Vitali frowns. “Boss ain’t happy.”
“No reason he should be,” I grump back.
“I’m real glad Aidan went back to the City last night,” he continues, ignoring my mood. He sees my frown and adds, “He didn’t wanna miss church. So here’s the score: I sent Mr. D back to New York with Hudson and Carlucci right after you all went out to search. Sophia Vicente went with them, too. She didn’t wanna stick around and play the worried bride. I’m gonna drive the Boss myself.” He drops his voice even lower and looks at me from under his brows. “This whole thing could go sideways any time now. You ready to roll out? I want us all gone in twenty.”
“No problem.” The last thing I want is to stick around this place. I didn’t have anything to weigh that box down with when I went out on the ocean, and it wasn’t all that heavy in itself—thin sheet metal, plastic trimmings. I did the best with the bad options I could find in the deserted kitchens of the Villa. The caterers had gone out to pack their shit into vans, and I swiped a trolley, some silver bell covers, and the empty chest from the adjoining storeroom, plus one of the staff jackets. Not my best plan ever, but I had no time and no help. I know that sooner or later nature will take its course, and the bloating of the contents of that chest might be enough to raise the whole thing from the deep.
Over at the bar, Luca stands up. The whole room goes silent. Luca’s eyes, those weird light blue eyes, travel over the crowd, and I know I’m not the only one who feels guilty as fuck just having them look at me.
