Page 21 of King of Omen

He raised a brow. ‘Si?’

‘I found her.’

‘A woman?’

I nodded. ‘Had a conversation with her outside, but she dropped something when she left, and I must give it back,’ I muttered.

I marched off on the hunt, leaving behind my incredulous sibling.

Fifteen minutes later, I rendezvoused with Mauri in the front hallway.

‘She’s not anywhere in the house or grounds,’ he grunted.

I hadn’t seen her either. ‘Fuck. How’d I get this to her? I’m in meetings for the next three days in Sydney, then I’m on a flight back to Naples.’

‘I’ll track her down,’ Mauri murmured, ever tuned in to my desires.

Letting go with reluctance, I handed the pendant and necklace to him. ‘Please have the clasp inspected and place it in a jewellery box. Find her and deliver it to her.’

Logic told me I had an email for her, but somehow, I was imbued with an urgency to make sure she got back her pendant sooner rather than later and in person.

Mauri nodded, tucking the jewellery into his pocket. ‘Consider it done, boss,’ he assured me.

It struck me that my desire to ensure Mia’s necklace was returned to her was trivial. Especially in light of all our family’s divesting efforts I was leading, the attempt to keep dissident members of the Omertà Alliance obedient, and the passing of our Queen.

Yet it felt epic to me, an omen of how much a minor encounter had come to signify so much in such little time.

At that moment, all I wanted to return to the hotel, where I’d be able to muse alone and in silence about the heaviness of the day and the woman who’d appeared in a burst of lilac light through it, making me believe and giving me hope for the first time in a long time.

‘Let’s roll,’ I declared as Vitto emerged in the corridor.

The three of us tracked to the parked car and drove back to Sydney with the moon and stars lighting our way.

We dropped Vitto off at his one-bedroom warehouse apartment, which I’d expressed no desire to share, and then headed to our hotel.

I gave Mauri explicit instructions on what else he needed to do if he found Mia, and then we parted as he took off to his room and me to mine.

That night, I prowled my darkened suite, thoughts consumed by Mia and her beguiling energy.

I wondered if I’d ever see her again as the weight of missed chances and unfinished conversations pressed on me, a reminder of the fleeting nature of human interactions.

As the hours slipped away and the night deepened, her presence lingered in my soul, haunting me with questions and an unplaced, unfamiliar longing.

Chapter 5

MIA

The day after Bianca’s wake, I existed in a blur of exhaustion and a lingering, draining emptiness.

It took me until early evening before I dragged myself out of bed and into my bathroom.

I was staring at my reflection in the mirror when I realised I’d misplaced my mother’s heirloom chain and pendant, and I had no idea when or where.

I had never lost a piece of jewellery as I was always careful with my belongings. That said, I was going through the most challenging season of my life and even forgot the most straightforward conversations.

Panicking, as the necklace was one of the last remnants of my mother, I searched my ornament box and my entire small cottage.

‘Damn.’ I remembered the clasp had been loose when I had tried it on for the service and wake.

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