But the thought of Julian tripped something in my brain.
Didn’t your boyfriend point out the difference?
What the hell had he meant by that?
I stopped the bike, waiting for the last limousine to come through the gate at the bottom of the long drive. Rain spattered loudly on my helmet and leathers. The gate guard waved me down before I could ride off.
“Hold on, Jack,” the guard called. “Got a messenger coming down from the house for you.”
I flipped up my visor and turned the engine off while I waited for the messenger, wondering what the hell it could be. A golf cart turned the last corner of the long driveway and I saw, as it got closer, that it was Sandro Castellani.
He pulled up next to me and got out, ignoring the rain. “Come with me.”
I demounted, yanked off my helmet, and followed him into the grove of redwoods that gave the manor its name. It gave us a little shelter, though the lighting that danced overhead made me wary of getting too close to any of the trees.
“Don’t you have some fancy dinner to attend?” I asked when he stopped. “Or is tonight the night you want to have it out?”
“We’ll get to that one day, Jacopo,” he said impatiently. “Right now, I want to know what the fuck is going on with you and my brother. And where the hell are Dizzy, Peaches, and Bugs?”
The first part of his sentence made sense, but naming his three sidekicks sent me for a bit of a spin. So I answered the part I could. “Your brother came knocking the other day when I wasn’t receiving visitors. So I was a little rude, that’s all.”
He regarded me skeptically. “And?”
“And I don’t know anything about your babysitters. They’reyourbuddies, aren’t they? Give them a call.”
“They are not my buddies,” Sandro told me. “As you say, they’re my babysitters. My father doesn’t trust me. They report back to him on whatever I do. And yet…he doesn’t seem surprised that they’re not here tonight.” He narrowed his eyes at me, waiting for a reaction.
“Okay,” I said, not knowing what he wanted from me.
“My father has been trying to make them into what he needed fromyou, Jacopo. They watch out for me, but they also spy on me.”
“Ineverspied on you,” I said at once.
“No,” he replied. “No, you didn’t. But since you fucked up, and I lost what my father saw as yourgood influence—” he scoffed “—my father decided to try out some replacements.”
I grinned at that. “Three of them for one of me?”
Sandro actually chuckled. “I never had a problem with your skills, Jacopo. You were good at your job. You had my back, and you were clean and efficient when you needed to remove a problem. My father always thought so, too. That’s why he wants you back up top, where he thinks you belong.”
“But that’s not whereyouthink I belong.” It wasn’t a question.
He gave a half-shrug. “You belong in the grave. And that’s where I’ll put you—eventually.”
Sandro seemed like he was in a truthful mood, so I asked, “Have you been following Miller Beaumont around town?”
He gave a surprised laugh. “Following yourgiocattolino? No. I was out one night on my own—I was in the mood for some company, and I’d ditched Dizzy and the others. I just happened to see you on the street, walking fast, and then that pretty thing running after you. I thought he deserved a warning.”
Guilt pricked me. Sandro wasn’t entirely wrong—Iwasdangerous to be around. But at least I knew now thathewasn’t the one after Miller. “Is there anything else?” I asked with a sigh. “It’s been a long day.”
“This is important, Jacopo.” He leaned in close, dropping his voice as though even the trees had ears—or, not entirely unlikely, listening devices or cameras. “I overheard my father on the phone just now. He mentioned you, and then an address.” He pulled out his phone, tapped into an app, and showed me. “Dizzy, Peaches, and Bugs aren’t so fastidious about security asyouare. I keep an eye on where they are at all times, in case I want to avoid them. Looks to me like they got a little lost on the way to the party tonight.”
I stared at the tracking app in horror. I knew those streets too well. The three little blinking dots were headed—nearly there, in fact—to Edgar Beaumont’s house.
ToMiller’shouse.
I started backing away at once, already pulling out my phone to text Freddy. But even as my fingers typed, I raised my voice and asked, “Why did you show me?”
Sandro lifted his face, shadows and light flickering over his scar as lightning strobed the sky. “You killed Renato. I won’t let that stand. But there were times before that when youdidsave my life, Jacopo. The way I see it, giving you this information makes us even. When it’s time for me to kill you, I’ll do so with a clear conscience.” He gave a cold, twisted smile. “Arrivederci.”
