Finally I answer him.“We needed revenge.”
“Fuck.”
“And I prevented a war.”
He stands and moves around the desk, leaning against it, arms folded.“You prevented a war?”
“Yes.”I keep my voice steady.“With the escalation, the way they were testing us.If the Russos happened on one of our crews, there’d be a gunbattle.And my way…” I shrug.“Not a drop of blood spilled.”
“As long as you’re unconcerned that kidnapping is a federal offense.And we already have enough heat.”
Feds made their presence known even as we laid the Moretti boss to rest.“I didn’t cross state lines with her.”
“Jesus Christ.That’syour defense?”
Finally, in the tense silence, Nico speaks.“It looks as if she went with you willingly?”
“She let her friends know she was leaving.”I remember the ridiculous, adorable heart shape she made with her hands.
“And her soldiers?”
“She told them she was safe.”
Nico is both practical and matter-of-fact.“You left Dallas immediately?”
I nod.“Took her to my room.”Not 2317.A different tower, entirely.“Private elevator to the helicopter.”
Nico glances at his pricy—and new—Bonds watch.“An hour, more or less from wheels up to wheels down.”
“Correct.”
Nico regards me.“Is it possible she hasn’t been missed?”
“As I was on my way over here, she received a message from her soldier.”
“You responded to it, of course,” Matteo assumes.
It was easy enough to press her finger against the screen for biometric access.“I did.”
Nico raises an assessing eyebrow.
He hasn’t been consigliere very long, and Matteo had doubts about a man so young becoming his father’s most trusted adviser.
But after the assassination, he immediately made Nico his own consigliere.
There’s a comfort in keeping everything in the family.No questions about where loyalties lie.
Matteo levels a look at Nico.“Get on the phone before Fabrizio discovers his daughter is gone.”
Already in motion, Nico nods once.
I know he’s calling the family—consigliere to consigliere.The job he’s paid handsomely to do.
He slips outside, the glass door shutting behind him.
The room tightens without him.
Matteo turns back to me.“How long will she sleep for?”
