“How is your friend connected to Sergio Bruno?” he interrupts.
I clear my throat. “She calls him her uncle, but I’m not sure if they’re actually blood related. She lost her parents at a young age. He’s taken care of her ever since. Sent her to fancy boarding schools in Europe, provided her with a monthly allowance, offered her a job at one of his consulting firms after she got out of college…he bankrolled her life, basically.”
It dawns on me then. Had Karina and Juliana ever crossed paths? Sergio is Karina’s uncle, flesh and blood, and Karina grew up in Sergio’s sprawling mansion. Surely they at least knew about each other, even if they never met…? I glance over at her and realize that everyone else is, too.
“I don’t know any Julianas in our family. But that proves nothing. My uncle’s middle name is shady. I believe what Candi’s saying.”
Armani nods. “Okay. So your friend and Sergio are working together.”
“Yes, though I’m not clear on the exact…role that she plays. Other than being unofficially in charge of whatever I’m supposed to be doing here.”
“Is she sleeping with him?”
I can’t help my knee-jerk reaction, cringing in disgust. Sergio Bruno is an intimidating, pushy, hideously overbearing man with a perpetual gleam of violence in his eyes. I’ve never felt comfortable around him. The feeling that something bloody and terrible is about to happen follows that man like a stench. Besides, Juliana truly thinks of him as her uncle, legal relation or no. She’d never sink that low.
“No,” I say firmly. “Of course not.”
Except…Jules has never kept a guy around for long. Is it because she “belongs” to Sergio? Is this just one more dark secret she’s kept hidden from me? Suddenly, I can’t be sure.
“Even if she’s Bruno’s niece by blood, what makes her important enough that she’d be married off to seal a deal with the Bratva?” Dante interjects. “She’s nobody.”
“I really don’t know,” I say miserably. “She said she’d worked with Orloff before, in a consulting capacity. Possibly she seemed like a good match because they built up a rapport or something.”
Marco frowns. “Sergio has no daughters of his own. Maybe she’s considered the next best thing. Daughter of a kingpin is pretty impressive, no?”
“Or maybe her parents were high up on the Bruno ladder,” Armani suggests. “It’d give her a pedigree. A bit of clout she didn’t earn for herself.”
I shake my head. “Why don’t I just tell you everything I do know, that way you can ask better questions? You’re just going in circles.”
“Good idea,” Frankie interjects. “Otherwise we could be here all night long speculating.”
Armani nods at me and I finally relax a little. I’m ready to give a full confession, but I’m hoping I can exonerate Jules in the process. She’s not a villain. She’s a product of her circumstances and the horrible thing that happened to her parents. Yes, she wants her revenge. But Sergio is the one pulling all the strings. And hell, if anyone understands the need for revenge, it’s Armani.
“I first met Juliana at UCSF,” I begin haltingly. “We were roommates, starting freshman year. I wasn’t aware of her involvement with the Brunos initially, because she never talked about it. And she never mentioned how her parents died. The topic was off-limits. But then, maybe two or three years ago, she told me out of the blue that she was working with someone who was going to help her get revenge.”
“For…?” Armani prompts.
Taking a breath, I hold Armani’s gaze even though I’m trembling. “Her parents’ murder. She said the Bellantis are the ones who killed them.”
A beat of silence fills the room.
“Our father might well have done that,” Armani says, turning to look at his brothers.
“I’m not discounting it,” Dante says. “We are not in the business of killing women, but our father wasn’t above it. There could be a record of it somewhere. A dollar amount, a name.”
“What was the mother’s name?” Armani asks.
“I—I don’t know. Like I said, Juliana’s last name is Guerra. That should be her parents’ as well.”
“I’m not familiar with it.” Armani frowns. “Continue.”
“Okay. So…when she asked me to help her, I said yes. After everything she’d done for me over the years, it was the least I could do. I didn’t know who the Bellantis were at that point. Back then, you were just a name on a wine label.”
“What did she ask you to do, exactly?”
I take a deep breath. “She encouraged me to start working for the winery, because it would give me access to the inner circle. She…wanted me to befriend Dante’s wife, too, because she knew Frankie and I went to high school together, and that we’d had a passing acquaintance. But I would have tried to be her friend anyway, because Frankie is kind and funny and warm…”
My voice breaks. Shame burns in my cheeks. I glance at Frankie, but she looks away.
