Chapter 2 - The Car in the Footage
“No.”
The word escaped before I could stop it.
Giovanni looked at me.
“Excuse me?”
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Your brother ordered two men to beat your housekeeper?”
“I didn't say that.”
“You just said it was his car.”
“Cars can be borrowed.”
Franco folded his arms.
“Not that one.”
Giovanni gave him a warning look.
I noticed.
“What aren't you telling me?”
“Enough.”
“No.”
The room went silent.
Rosa stopped applying antiseptic to my cheek.
Franco looked almost impressed.
I pointed at the laptop.
“I got beaten unconscious because somebody wanted to send you a message. I think I've earned the right to hear the message.”
Giovanni studied me.
Then he looked at Franco.
“Find Luca.”
Franco pulled out his phone.
Luca Moretti arrived forty minutes later.
He was younger than Giovanni by several years, dressed in an expensive camel coat, with the same dark eyes and none of his brother's restraint.
He entered the study smiling.
“You call, I come. Family devotion.”
Then he saw me.
The smile vanished.
“What happened?”
Giovanni watched him carefully.
“You tell me.”
Luca frowned.
“What?”
Franco turned the laptop around.
The SUV appeared on-screen.
Luca's face changed.
“That’s my Escalade.”
“I know.”
“Where was this?”
“Three blocks from here.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Luca looked at me again.
Then at my bruises.
“Jesus.”
“Who had your car?”
Luca didn't answer immediately.
Giovanni stepped closer.
“Think very carefully before you speak.”
“I loaned it to Carlo.”
Franco muttered something under his breath.
Giovanni's jaw flexed.
“Carlo Bellini?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said his car was in the shop.”
“Carlo owns six cars.”
“I didn't exactly ask for an inventory.”
Giovanni turned to Franco.
“Bring him.”
Franco left.
I looked at Giovanni.
“Who is Carlo?”
“My cousin.”
I gave a short, humorless laugh.
“Your family dinners must be wonderful.”
Luca actually smiled.
Giovanni didn't.
Twenty minutes later, Rosa insisted I see a doctor.
“I can't afford—”
Giovanni looked at me.
“Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Turning every decision into a bill.”
“You can do that when you're rich.”
“And right now you can do it because I'm paying.”
“No.”
His eyebrows rose.
“No?”
“The attack happened after work.”
“It happened because you work for me.”
“That doesn't make my medical bills yours.”
“It does tonight.”
Before I could argue, Franco returned alone.
His expression told Giovanni everything.
“Carlo's gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Apartment empty. Phone dead.”
Luca swore.
Giovanni walked toward the window.
“How long?”
“Building concierge says he left around midnight.”
I looked at the screen.
“The attack happened at 10:14.”
Franco nodded.
“He was gone less than two hours later.”
Giovanni turned.
“So Carlo knew we'd identify Voss.”
“Or he wanted you to,” I said.
Three men looked at me.
I suddenly wished I had kept quiet.
Giovanni tilted his head.
“Explain.”
“If this was supposed to be secret, why use Luca's car?”
Luca's expression hardened.
I continued.
“Why attack someone wearing your crest directly beneath security cameras? Why tell me I'm delivering a message without giving me an actual message?”
Franco slowly looked at Giovanni.
I pointed toward the screen.
“What if I was the message?”
Giovanni said nothing.
“What if somebody wanted you to see exactly what happened?”
Luca's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Then at Giovanni.
“Unknown number.”
“Answer it.”
Luca put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
A distorted voice filled the room.
“Did your brother enjoy the footage?”
Every muscle in Giovanni's body went still.
Luca looked at him.
“Who is this?”
The voice ignored him.
“Tell Giovanni this was mercy.”
My skin went cold.
Giovanni stepped toward the phone.
“You touched someone under my protection.”
A laugh.
“Protection?”
The caller sounded amused.
“She walked home alone.”
Giovanni's face darkened.
“Next time, we choose someone closer.”
The call disconnected.
Nobody spoke.
Then Giovanni looked at Franco.
“Lock the house down.”
Franco moved immediately.
“Luca, you stay here.”
“I can handle myself.”
“That wasn't a request.”
Luca stopped arguing.
Giovanni turned toward me.
“You're moving upstairs.”
“I have an apartment.”
“You also have people watching you.”
“I can't just disappear.”
“You can until this is over.”
“And when is that?”
His gaze held mine.
“When I know who gave the order.”
I wanted to refuse.
Then I remembered the alley.
The hand around my arm.
The man's smile.
Next time, we choose someone closer.
“My sister,” I whispered.
Giovanni's expression sharpened.
“What?”
“My younger sister. Megan.”
“Where is she?”
“Queens.”
He reached for his phone.
“Give Franco the address.”
Fear became anger.
“Don't send armed men to my sister's apartment.”
“I'll send one woman and one car. She won't know unless necessary.”
I stared at him.
“You've thought about this before.”
“About protecting family?”
His eyes flicked toward Luca.
“Every day.”
Before I could answer, Franco's phone buzzed.
He read the message.
Then looked at Giovanni.
“We found Voss.”
“Alive?”
“For now.”
Giovanni took his coat.
I stepped in front of him.
“Where are you going?”
“To ask him why he chose you.”
“And if he doesn't answer?”
Giovanni looked at the bruise beneath my eye.
May you like
“He will.”
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