“Why?”
“Because I don’t lie.”
“No, I mean why won’t you agree not to hurt him?”
I scowl, heat flashing in my chest. She’s wasting precious time. “Valentina, if you’re fucking this guy, don’t. He can’t be trusted.”
“I fuck him occasionally,” she says, as if she’s telling me the weather. “But that’s not the point. I know you guys hate each other because of Giovanna, but in general, when it doesn’t have to do with her, he’s a good friend. Seriously.”
“Thanks for sharing your opinion.” I’m working really hard to hold it together. “Where. The fuck. Is he?”
She sighs, like I’m the unreasonable one. “Brooklyn. He’s been staying there for the past couple of weeks, not hiding out.”
My pulse spikes. Brooklyn. That means Giovanna is in Brooklyn. She’s so close.
“Is she okay?” I demand.
“She?”
“Giovanna.”
“Tommy, I’ve been looking, but I haven’t found her. I only found Antonio.”
“They’re together,” I snap.
“No, they aren’t. Not in Brooklyn anyway. And I have facial recognition scanning all over Brooklyn for her.”
“She’s tied to a fucking mattress, Valentina. She’s not going to the goddamn grocery store.” I’m about to throw my phone across the room.
Silence hums on the line. “Okay,” she says finally. “You’re upset. I get it. I do have other news, though. Do you want it?”
“What.”
“I did some digging into Lorenzo.”
I tense. “And?”
“I don’t trust that fucker. He’s sleazy as hell, and the way he talked about Gi—”
“Wait.” I cut in. “You talked to him? About Giovanna?”
Valentina sighs like I’m exhausting her. “I fucked him a while back. It was a one-time thing, before I realized he had a girlfriend, two families, a mistress—too messy for me.”
“Jesus Christ.” I drag a hand down my face. Who the hell hasn’t Valentina fucked? “And what did you find?”
“He’s not in on it. He has no idea where she is. His wife has been hounding him nonstop about it—by ‘wife’ I mean Catarina, Giovanna’s mother—and he’s dodging her. He’s hiding out, bouncing between Boston and Sorrento. BUT—” her voice sharpens when I start to cut her off, “he’s scheduled to be in town for meetings with buyers in three days at Luminous & Co. He’s arranged for heavy security. I think he’s scared Aurelio is coming for him next.”
He should be scared. But not of Aurelio. Of me.
“Fucking great. Now give me Antonio’s address.”
“Promise me you won’t—”
“God damn it, Valentina—”
“Okay! Jesus, Tommy. I’ve never heard you get mad before. It’s freaking me out.”
My phone buzzes a second later with a text from her with the address. I don’t wait to hear another word. I hang up, grab my jacket, and head for the door.
