I glance at the new clothes, and back at the old. Maybe in a few days, with some airing, the smell will have faded. For now, I’ll wear the clothes provided.
Perhaps Alessandro will be pleased if I do. If I show my thanks for his generosity.
Or maybe he’s just hoping I’ll keep my lips to myself from now on.
* * *
When I come back out into the bedroom, I feel less queasy, so I pick up a croissant to nibble on while I wait for Alessandro.
After I’ve finished the croissant, and time is ticking by, I start to wonder if…
I approach the door, and tentatively try the handle. It pushes down and the door opens on smooth hinges.
He left it unlocked.
But I still pause at the threshold, wondering if maybe it was left unlocked by accident, or if this is a test to see what I’ll do, and if I fail, I’ll get shut away downstairs in the cells again.
My belly turns over as I recall that stench, and I take a deep, determined breath. No. I have something Alessandro needs, and he knows the deal. If he puts me back down there, I’ll stop helping him.
Still, as I wander down the corridor, I call out, just to warn him that I’m loose. “Alessandro?”
“Hurry up,” comes his impatient response.
I guess leaving the door unlocked wasn’t an accident. I hurry into the lounge room, where Alessandro is waiting for me. I didn’t take him in before, just waking up like I was, but he’s dressed in all black—black suit, black shirt, black satin tie. The only light in all that darkness are the diamond cufflinks flashing at his wrists. He looks…
“Amazing,” I breathe.
“What?”
“I said, Good morning.”
He just jerks his head. “Come with me.” I follow him to the main doors of the wing, and through. We’re on the second floor, the same floor as the security room, and that’s where we’re going again.
I figured. Any real computer work he wants me to do, this is the place to do it.
“Who set you up here?” I ask curiously, looking around again at all the equipment.
For a moment, I think Alessandro is going to ignore the question. “A man named Jacopo oversaw the installation a few years back,” he says. “He had…contacts.”
I study the screen extra-hard, hoping that Alessandro won’t notice my face. Jacopo. Johnny Jacopo, aka Jack. I know him. He’s Miller Beaumont’s boyfriend, and I go to Miller’s parties regularly, even if some of the people there are occasionally kind of mean.
Miller is always nice to me. He always tries to make me feel like I belong there. I appreciate that.
As for Jack, I know a few things about him. I know he’s rumored to have been a hitman in Vegas before he came out to LA, and that he was pretty high ranking here in the Castellani Family for a while. Then there was a weird period in his career when he got demoted, or something.
I wonder if Miller has ever seen the hitman side of his boyfriend. I wonder how he’d feel if he did. Would it change how he sees Jack?
Or would it just not matter to him, like Alessandro’s crimes don’t matter to me?
I clear my throat. “What do you want me to do?”
Alessandro passes me a slip of paper, folded over. “There is a woman currently staying at the Bellamy Grand. I want to know how long she’s been there.”
As I open the paper and read down a list of names, I see him checking his watch. Is he planning to time me? A speed-run intel-gather?
“One woman?” I clarify.
“One woman. She may be using any of these names.”
