“No one else knows?” His eyes trap me in his gaze. “You’re sure?”
“Positive,” I lie, staring him straight in the eye. I want to keep Frank and Ian out of this. We know neither of them will say anything to anyone, so there is no need to involve them.
“Va bene.” He drags a hand through his graying hair. “This is what we will do. We will act normal. I will call Don Greco to offer my condolences and my help. It won’t take him long to accuse Accardi, but I cannot let Gino go down for this. It would cause untold unrest withinla famiglia. We will feed word out onto the street about the Colombian cartel and let him connect the dots.”
“We could send him some of these photos,” I suggest. “I can scrub them clean of fingerprints, and I used generic film and printing supplies so it can’t be traced back to me.”
“No.” Angelo shakes his head. “That indicates a third party in that warehouse. We want Don Greco to point the finger of blame at the Colombians.”
“Won’t that start a war with them?” Mateo asks.
“We can use this to our advantage. Two birds. One stone. This will rally all the families to push the Colombians away before they get a stronghold in our territory. It will get bloody, but needs must.”
It’s a good plan, except for one thing. “What about Natalia? The marriage contract will pass to the next in line unless the Grecos are discredited.”
Angelo drills me with a deadly look that sprouts goose bumps on my arms. “I am well aware of the tradition, Messina.” He breathes heavily as he thinks, and I’m afraid to move a muscle. “The suspicion should be enough to terminate the contract, but if it isn’t, I will show him one of the photos. I’ll tell him Accardi had a man on Carlo because he knew he was lying to cover up something.”
None of us speak, but the implication is clear. If Angelo needs to throw someone under a bus to extract Natalia from a Greco marriage, he will leave Accardi to his fate.
“You tell no one about this. Ever.” Angelo pins his intense stare on both of us. “We all take this secret to the grave, and you don’t tell Natalia what has been agreed here today.” His eyes pierce mine, and I break out into a cold sweat. All the fine hairs at the back of my neck stand to attention as I realize he knows something. Enough to have me fearing for my life.
“There is one other thing,” Mateo says. “Carlo had a man on the inside who was feeding him intel.”
“Who?” Angelo asks, putting his gun back in his holster.
I almost collapse in relief, but I have a feeling I’m not out of the woods yet.
“Rocco,” Mateo quietly admits. We both knew Carlo was lying when he threw out Brando’s name. Carlo’s cell phone records identified the real culprit.
Angelo’s nostrils flare as he picks up the receiver of the phone on his desk.
“He’s in the dungeon,” Mateo says. “We picked him up before we came to see you.”
Pride shines in Angelo’s eyes as he places the receiver back on the hook, and a brief smile curves the corner of his mouth. “Good, good,” he says. “Let us deal with him now.”
We get up to leave.
“Mateo.” Angelo strides toward his son, gripping his face. He plants a firm kiss to his brow. “You did good, my son. I am proud of how you have handled yourself in recent months. Your mama would be proud of you too.”
Mateo blossoms under his father’s praise, and I’m happy for him.
Angelo releases his son and turns to me. “You too, Leonardo.” He clamps his hand on my shoulder, squeezing hard. “I have a lot to be thankful to you for.” The rest of that sentence goes unspoken, and I wonder how long it will be before he pulls me aside to say it.
We trail Angelo to the dungeon, watching as he beats one of his longest-servingsoldatito a pulp before he puts a bullet in his skull. Natalia was fond of Rocco, and this will upset her.
Rocco knew nothing about the cartel, but we decide Greco doesn’t need to know that. We now have a legitimate way of telling him what we know without using my pictures or placing anyone else at the scene.
Rocco confirmed Carlo was behind the Barone attack. Rocco gave them access that day. Apparently, Carlo wanted to have his fun with Natalia before they were married so he could decide whether she would be the right bride for him. My blood boils just thinking about the things he would have put her through if they had succeeded in kidnapping her that day.
“Find the girl,” Angelo says, removing his blood-spattered shirt and dropping it to the concrete floor. He steps away from the blood pooling around his feet. Carlo kidnapped Rocco’s thirteen-year-old daughter seven months ago, and he’s been holding her captive ever since, forcing Rocco to spy on us. I can only imagine the state we will find the poor girl in.
Rocco was vague on the details, not confirming he was asked to spy on me and Natalia, and I know he did that for her. He has always had a soft spot for mydolcezza,and I’m guessing he saw his daughter in her.
Didn’t stop him from dancing to the devil’s tune though.
The idiot should have come to me or Mateo. We could have helped.
Rocco knew he was meeting his maker today, so I respect him for doing right by Natalia, his daughter, and his family at the end.
