Page 49
“What—” Before I can let loose on him, he picks up his phone and heads outside.
My blood is boiling when my cell rings soon after and the caller ID reads Enzo.
Damn Nico to hell.
“Marco.”
“Padrino.”
He doesn’t waste time on pleasantries. “I’m told we’re discussing Naples.”
I glance toward Nico, who’s walked back inside and at least has the decency to appear mildly apologetic. Lucia crosses her arms and waits.
“She wants to come.”
“I heard.” The line goes quiet as Enzo considers. Then he speaks with the calm authority that’s kept half of New York from tearing itself apart for the past several years. “She stays close to you. If anything dangerous happens, you pull her out first. Nonnegotiable.”
Enzo isn’t quite finished. “And Marco…”
“Yes?”
“She followed you to the hospital and called you first when she spotted the threat.”
I can guess what’s coming next.
“Stop treating her like a liability.”
The call ends.
I stare at the phone for a second before lowering it. Lucia gazes at me with the composed expression of someone who’s won an argument but is trying not to visibly celebrate.
From my medical bed, I attempt an authoritative tone. “In Naples, you don’t make any decisions without running them by me first. We’re a team.”
She lifts her left eyebrow in a perfect arch. “I’ll take that under advisement.”
Nico clears his throat and sets the tablet on the foot of the bed. “All right. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it properly.”
He pulls up a map of Naples.
“You two will travel as a wealthy American couple. Marco’s a private investor exploring medical tourism options for a family member. Lucia, you’re his wife and the physician overseeing the case. Your medical credentials give you hospital access, while his money gives you legitimacy. Together, you give each other cover.”
Lucia bends toward the screen, studying it with the focused attention she probably brings to patient charts.
“You’ll stay at a rental villa about twenty minutes from the facility. Close enough to maintain credibility but far enough to maintain distance.”
Lucia nods repeatedly. “What kind of intake protocol are we dealing with?”
“Basic medical documentation and financial verification.”
“So they’re looking for patients with money who want procedures done no questions asked.”
“Exactly.”
She fires off more questions in quick succession—one about surgical staffing, another about referral documentation—and Nico answers both with visible approval.
Lucia fits into this conversation with a natural ease I didn’t expect. Does that mean she’d fit into this world as well?
Later in the evening, I’m still mulling over this question. As we cement our backstory, Nico considers discrepancies that could get us caught.
