Salvatore’s jaw tightened. “If you don’t leave now, I’m going to call the police.”
“You’re treating us like criminals,” Cosimo said. “Makes me wonder why.”
My nails bit into my palms.
What was he doing?
Starting a fight wasn’t going to help us. If anything, it was going to slam this door shut in our faces for good.
“What part ofleavedon’t you understand?” Salvatore’s voice was flat, final, and—to my growing alarm—entirely unafraid.
Cosimo lifted a hand and gave his shoulder a condescending pat. “If I were you, I’d watch your tone. You never know who you might be speaking to.”
That, at least, made unease flicker in Salvatore’s expression. Still, he didn’t back down. He only pulled out his phone.
I stepped around Cosimo. “We’ll leave. I’m really sorry.” My hand closed around Cosimo’s, squeezing hard enough to make the message clear. “This is just a misunderstanding.”
I looked up at him and forced a bright smile that felt brittle on my face. “Honey, it’s fine. It’s really not that big a deal. Let’s just go look at some of the other workshops. I’m sure we’ll find something I love just as much.”
For a second, I wasn’t sure he’d listen. His gaze stayed locked on Salvatore, and I could practically feel the tension vibrating through him.
Finally, his eyes shifted to me.
“Let’s go,” I said again.
He took my hand and pulled me out of the workshop. The second we stepped onto the street, the door slammed shut behind us.
A moment later, the sign in the window flipped to Closed.
I let out a slow breath.
There went our best lead.
CHAPTER 40
COSIMO
Fabiana roundedon me the moment we returned to the hotel room. “Did you have to be so aggressive? If you’d just let me talk, I could’ve gotten something out of them.”
“No, you wouldn’t have,” I snapped, ripping my jacket off and tossing it over a chair. Anger and frustration churned inside my lungs. We’d gone about this completely wrong. “They weren’t going to give us anything, just like the rest of the people we spoke to.”
Fabiana’s eyes blazed with annoyance that matched my own. “I had it under control. I just needed a little more time to put Salvatore at ease. He would have given us what we needed.”
For once, she sounded utterly confident. And yet she was completely wrong. I knew exactly the kind of guy he was—the type who only understood strength.
“At ease? Fabiana, he threatened us. You think you could’ve gotten through to him with some cheery compliments?” I raked my fingers through my hair. “If that prick had made it any closer to you, his brother would’ve had to scrape him off the floor.”
She huffed and brushed past me, her agitation palpable. “He was just posturing. He wouldn’t have done anything to me. And what was he going to say to the police even if he did call them? He was bluffing. We hadn’t done anything wrong.” Her curls bounced as she gave her head a hard shake. “Nunzio was the only one today who actually showed us Quaranta’s pieces. If you’d just let me handle it, I would’ve gotten us what we needed. Instead, you lost your cool and met Salvatore’s aggression with your own. That rarely leads anywhere productive.”
“God, Fabiana.” By the time we’d left the second workshop, I’d suspected what kind of situation we’d walked into, but Salvatore’s behavior had only confirmed it. “Diplomacy isn’t going to work here. You’re missing the obvious.”
Her emerald gaze narrowed. “What?”
“The Santoros control this town. This must be their territory, or at the very least, the territory of one of their close partners. Someone who they trust to do their bidding. They’ve threatened everyone into silence.”
She looked skeptical. “You can’t know that.”
“I can recognize fear when I see it. These people haven’t been bought off. They’re scared.”
