Page 29 of Veil of Vengeance

“Why don’t you ask Matteo? He might be able to track whoever this is.”

Romiro might be right, but Matteo isn’t going to do this without knowing fully what he’s looking for. I don’t want Lucio to know that we’re looking for whoever is doing this, and so far, have come up with nothing.

“No, no, that won’t work. Matteo will only do the work if he knows everything. I don’t want this to get back to Lucio. He’ll tear the city bit by bit if he knows we can’t find the person. And whoever the fuck is doing this clearly doesn’t give a fuck about pissing off the Camorra.”

I lean back in my seat as I try to make sense of this mess.

“Costa, you can leave, but keep on the lookout. I want updates every once in a while.”

He nods and gets up, buttoning up his suit. Romiro follows to escort him out of the house. Who the fuck wants to get rid of girls Lucio is fucking? The boy is fucking nineteen. Everyone who might hold a grudge for the little massacre we’d gone on is long dead. And if anyone wanted revenge, why target the girls he’s sleeping with and not him? My phone rings on my desk, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yes, Silvio, what is it?” I put the phone on speaker as I sift through the file again.

“The camera and sound system are up and running. They’re both connected to the same camera system as the infra-red ones.”

“Good. Have you figured out what happened to the footage from the night Mara snuck out?” I ask. He pauses, trying to figure out how to answer my question.

“Honestly, boss, I have no clue. The most likely explanation is that Mara and Matteo were in on this together. Matteo is the only one who’s capable of pulling this kind of thing.”

He’s not wrong, but my men not being able to watch my two teenage siblings is quite pathetic. The twins are only eighteen, yet they still manage to fuck over every Made man in the Camorra.

“Figure it out,” I tell him before ending the call. A knock echoes in the silence of my office.

“Come in.” Lucio walks in, his posture tense and shoulders stiff. His blue eyes dart around the room as he runs his hand through his dirty blond hair. A nervous tick of his.

I narrow my eyes on him. He presses his lips into a thin line before he blows out a breath. Leaning back in my office chair, I continue to watch him for minute changes in his posture.

He opens his mouth, but then slams it shut before opening it again, imitating a fish. I know Lucio; he’ll spit out whatever he has to say in a matter of seconds. He’s always been easy to read.

“Valentina broke the plate that you gave her and she’s threatening everyone who comes near her,” he blurts out, and I stand abruptly, which causes Lucio to stagger backwards.

“What the fuck do you mean?” My chest heaves with the effort to control the absolute rage building in my chest.

“Did I, or did I not, order everyone one of you fuckers to stay out of that place and no one to approach her?” I ask. Lucio rubs his temple, trying to find an excuse for the blatant disregard of my orders.

I don’t wait for him to come up with one as I storm past him and out the door. Romiro is making his way up the stairs. His eyes widen as I pass him, taking the stairs two at a time.

“What on God’s given earth is going on?” I can hear him ask Lucio as they both trail behind me. I reach the landing and make it to the door within seconds.

“Eli, man, calm down,” he says. I don’t calm down, nor do I stop. I fling the door open to find one of my idiotic soldiers standing in front of Valentina with his hands up in a surrender position.

She stands in a defensive stance with a shard of the plate in her hand, pointing it toward him. Near them are some broken plate pieces. She doesn’t seem to notice that she is too close to the shards.

Engrossed in fending off the man, her face contorted in a snarl, she doesn’t see us, too focused on the idiot in front of her. At least not until I stand behind him, and her eyes fill with pure venom.

I growl at the soldier as he backs into my chest, “Out. Lucio, I want him alive.”

Lucio drags the soldier out and leaves, leaving Romiro, Valentina, and I in the room. She’s still holding on to the piece of shard, in a defensive stance. When I take a step toward her, she doesn’t cower.

Instead, she stands her ground, but when I go to grab her hand, she whirls around and faces the other direction to try to get away. I grab her around the waist before she can take another step. She struggles, thrashing around and nearly causing me to lose balance, but I don’t let her go.

“Eli.” Romiro’s voice is close, his steps echoing in the room as he comes closer.

“Don’t, stay back, I can handle this,” I say, my voice strained. The only reason there’s a struggle is because I don’t want to injure her.

I manage to grab onto her fist to pry the shard out of it. Instead, she digs the shard into her palm, breaking her skin. The shard presses into my palm too after loosening my grip, deep enough that my blood slowly seeps out of the cut in my palm and drips to the floor.

Romiro grasps her arms by the elbow swiftly, and I take the opportunity to snatch the shard from her. She thrashes around, trying to get free but, ultimately, she fails.

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