His hand curls around the glass again, knuckles white. “So yes. I planned to rob Luminous & Co. Use the billions in cash and stones to buy loyalty. Buy blood. Crush Lorenzo, crush anyone who thought to stand with him. And since I couldn’t trust you and Antonio is—”
I freeze at Antonio’s name, waiting.
“—occupied, I put Franco on it. And now everything is gone.”
“When did you have Franco gather this intel, Pop?” I ask softly, my brain working a mile a minute.
“A few weeks ago,” he says, but his face flushes red like it always does when he lies.
I shake my head, taking a swallow of whiskey. “Franco’s been missing for almost a month. He hunted down a lead on Mikey and never came back. You had Franco put all this together months ago. Smart.” I nod like that makes sense, a good move, to throw him off. It’s taking everything in me not to hurl my glass across the room.
Franco had the blueprints, everything he needed to rob Luminous. So why hasn’t he done it yet?
And if he hasn’t done it yet, what’s stopping me, Vin, and Matti from doing it first?
Giovanna’s face flashes in my head, followed by a rapid montage of all the videos sent to me over the past few weeks.
She’s the reason we’re not doing it first. Until I have Giovanna, no one moves on Aurelio.
My phone buzzes with a text. It’s Vin.
Done with these bullshit
‘errands’ Aurelio’s been
sending us on. Matti and
I are coming in. We’re
confronting him.
I text him what I’ve learned about Franco and slide my phone back in my pocket without a word, keeping my gaze fixed on Aurelio as the firelight dances across his face.
He’s unraveling, piece by piece. Given what’s happening to Giovanna, seeing Aurelio on the precipice of falling face first into the fiery inferno he created is the only thing that brings me pleasure.
I need a break. Stepping outside of Aurelio’s office, I head back to the kitchen while the cooks work on making dinner. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen here growing up. Vin and I both found it comforting. For me, it was the warmth and homey smells. For Vin, it was the decadent Italian dishes the cooks would create.
Lucia runs the kitchen. She’s been here for as long as I can remember, and when I walk in, she says nothing. Settling down heavily at the table, I cover my face with my hands and try to focus on breathing.
Without a word, Lucia slides a cup of tea in front of me and goes back to work. I wrap my hands around it, watching the steam rise, swirl, and disappear until I can breathe.
9
Tommy
When I walk into Aurelio’s office, Vin and Matti are already there. I nod at Matti, who looks almost as tense as Vin, and unbutton my suit jacket as I settle into an overstuffed leather chair.
Vin looks like he’s about to explode. “Papa, Franco is a fucking idiot, and giving him any information, much less a shred of power, puts us at risk.”
Aurelio settles back in his chair and looks up at the ceiling, muttering. “Why? Why am I cursed with a stupid son?”
I immediately stand and move to stop Vin should he try to jump on Aurelio. Rage is already building in my system, that dull low roaring wind. My body is tense, wound tight, ready to strike.
Aurelio bangs his fist on the desk and glares at Vin. “Why do you care about Franco? Franco is dealing with a nothing, a little mess with Mikey,niente di importante.”
Nothing important? What the fuck have I been doing here for the past few weeks? Mikey and his death are definitely important. So, too, is Franco’s disappearance. Why does Aurelio want Vin and Matti to think otherwise?
Aurelio is ranting about the Bellamorte family, how they are bad luck, bad for business. He talks almost like he’s wooing Vin, trashing Franco.
