“Anything I can do?”
There was a long pause before she spoke. “Friday night—Tito Calandra’s thugs fucking burned down my studio.”
It took a beat for her words to register.
“What?”
“Friday night. They used an accelerant. Valerio, there was more than just my studio; it was the whole fucking building. People lived there.”
“You sure it was Calandra?”
Another pause. “No. But Calandra’s man—De Rosa—told me to stop teaching.”
“What did you tell him?”
“What do you think I told him?”
Valerio sighed. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll look into it tomorrow. You safe now?”
“Yeah. I’m in London. How are you?”
Valerio looked through the windows, at the traffic hurtling along the highway. He was drained—a ragged and detached sensation. There was an emptiness inside, as if his thoughts wouldn’t distill and take on weight. He touched the back of his head where a hard and painful knot had formed.
“Not great,” he said honestly. “I’ll be fine.”
“Wanna tell me about it?”
He considered. On the boat or over drinks he would be glad to talk through the whole mess with Nikki. She had a measured way of seeing things, and gave practical recommendations. But it was too much to pass along over the phone.
“Not here,” he said. “I’m on the road. Just stopping for fuel.”
“You’re not sailing?”
“Not today. We’ll talk when you get back.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Nikki said, by way of a sign-off.
“Don’tyoudo anything stupid,” said Valerio.
—
His phone rang as he was walking out to his motorbike. Luca. He sent it to voicemail, then, after a moment’s thought, called Giorgia.
“What are you and the kids doing today?” he asked.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she said, “but Bartolo invited us to his home in Posillipo this weekend.”
Bartolo was the most recent boyfriend—a wide-mouthed andaccommodating man whom Davide calledpersonality-freeand Gemma referred to asthe dickless wonder.
“Good,” he said. “Will you stay at his place tonight?”
“That’s none of your business either!”
“Well, will you?”
She seemed to hesitate. Then, “Yes.”
“Good,” he said again. “Keep an eye on the kids.”
