Page 45 of Dangerous Deception

“Did you tell him?” Her eyes widen, and the unspoken worry hangs in the air between us.

“No,” I assured her firmly. “I told him nothing.”

“Good,” she replies, nodding as her gaze moves away. “Good.” Her second word is quieter, as if she’s reassuring herself that no one else knows what happened to her.

“Do you want to eat with me?” I tilt my head toward the pasta dish I’m making. “There’s enough for two.”

“No.” With that, Adelina ducks away into the darkness of the hallway and vanishes. I catch a slight glimpse of Caterinafollowing her and the urge to call out rises. I understand she needs time, but a part of me wishes she would take that time with me.

It’s an odd feeling.

“Smells good,” says Vito as he strides into the kitchen. “Did you fire the chef?”

“He’s sick,” I explain. “And I’m hungry.”

“Fair.” Vito hops up to sit on the nearby counter and drops a blue folder down next to me.

“What’s this?”

“Carlos Giordana,” Vito replies.

Lowering the heat of the stove, I pick up the folder and open it. His picture sits on the first page, along with his medical records. “Who is he? I don’t recognize him.”

“Do you remember the family we took out back in March? The ones who stole three shipments of drugs out of the shipping containers that werelost at sea?” He air quotes and rolls his eyes. “Those were the Giordanas.”

“I remember.” I flick to the next page where his little-known life history is laid out. “We lost around forty million because of them, right?”

“Mmhmm.”

“I remember that night. A family dinner, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right. Pretty quick and easy for dealing with thieves,” Vito replies.

“But I don’t remember him.” I turn back to his picture. “I remember everyone we killed that night. I don’t recognize him at all.”

“I had the same thought.” Vito clicks his tongue behind his teeth. “I don’t have the crazy good memory with kills you have, but I’d remember a guy like that. He looks like a Disney villain.”

Snorting softly, I close the file and sigh. “Right. I want a tail on Pascal. He was acting weird earlier about Adelina’s and my going to Italy. He was cagey. I don’t trust him.”

“You don’t trust anyone.” Vito takes the file off me.

“Because when I do, they steal forty million from me,” I remind him. “Are any of our cops on Carlos’ case?”

“I can check.” Vito slides from the counter. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know yet. But I want everything they have on him, from past crimes to his autopsy.”

“On it.” Vito dips his head and hurries from the kitchen, leaving me to my cooking.

There’s a lot of moving pieces spinning around my head, but as strange as Pascal and this Carlos are, they will ultimately have to wait.

Italy comes first.

18

ADELINA

Italy isbeautiful.

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