Page 80 of Read This Before the Villain falls in Love with You

"Speaker," Adrian says.

I hit it.

Don Vincenzo Bellini's voice fills the office like oil on water. Smooth. Old. Enjoying itself.

"Luca. You look tired in all those warehouse photos. You should rest more. Delegation is a gift."

I don't answer. Silence is a tool. And he hates tools he didn't invent.

"Three sites," he continues. "Consider it a courtesy cleanse. Dead weight, weak security, sentimental routes. I tidied for you. It's a payback for the shot your grandmother gave me"

Adrian's jaw flexes. He starts tracing routes on the wall map with one finger, already working while the old man monologues.

My grip on the receiver tightens enough to crack the plastic. "What the fuck do you want?"

"I want the board cleared and maybe an apology from your grandmother." A soft laugh. "Your grandfather understood board games. Pity he didn't live to teach you the endgame properly."

Matteo chooses that exact second to shove the door back open, phone still glued to his ear. "Palermo confirms four dead, and also someone left a stuffed crow on the fence, which is either symbolic or a very committed prank, and why is there a creepy voice on speaker?"

"Hang up," I mouth.

He freezes, eyes wide, then whispers into his phone, "Call you back, don't die," and kills the line. He mouths who at Adrian. Adrian mouths Bellini . Matteo's whole face does a silent scream and he tiptoes to the side like the floor might report him.

"Your cousin is remarkably noisy," Bellini chuckles through the speaker grille. "Energetic. Reminds me of a hunting hound that never learned which velvet chairs cost money."

"I cost more than your entire fleet, you antique fossil!" Matteo mouths furiously at the speaker, his knuckles whitening as he clutches the back of the leather chair.

Matteo flips off the phone with both hands. Adrian catches his wrist and lowers it without looking away from the map.

I step up to the speaker. "Get to the fucking point, Vincenzo."

"The point is simple. You have something that makes you slow. Slow men lose cities. Slow men lose sisters. Slow men lose the pretty English problem sleeping under their roof."

The temperature in my blood drops. "You don't involve her."

"I don't need to. Everyone in my house already knows it. Sara especially. She has opinions about women who walk into rooms like they own the air."

Matteo starts pacing in a tiny circle, whispering, "I hate him, I hate him, I hate the crow, I hate this night."

Adrian steps closer to the desk and brings up the live security feed on the screen. The river cameras flicker, then one picture freezes.

My private dock. Empty an hour ago.

Now not empty.

Three black boats. With no lights. Men moving in pairs across the rocks, already past the tripwires that should have set off every bell in the yard.

"Luca," Adrian points straight at the screen. "Look by the water."

"Tell me that is our supply shipment arriving five hours early," Matteo groans, burying his face in his hands.

"That is not a supply boat," Adrian pulls his gun from his holster with a clean snap.

I look.

Bellini's voice stays soft, almost kind. "While we were chatting, my boys took a walk. Your south approach is very pretty at night. You should invest in better motion lights. Or better friends."

Matteo stops pacing. "No. No, no. Adrian, tell me that's a drill."