Page 25 of The Honeymoon Heist

He said, “What?”

I turned to him and said, “It’s difficult to realize that you bleed just like the people you kill, isn’t it?”

He started to say something else, and I snapped my hips, driving my fist into his face like I was trying to punch the wall behind it.

He collapsed on the ground, and then Luca appeared, walking through the officers to me.

I said, “Good to see you. I mean it.”

He smiled and said, “We’ll see about that. You might change your mind.”

“Not as long as I’m breathing. Which I wouldn’t be six seconds ago.”

He surveyed the room, the two killers in suits now under control, Jennifer looking at me. I smiled at her, and she just shook her head. The patrons in the room all wondered what was happening.

Luca said, “So, why did you meet him today? What were you going to do?”

I realized he still thought we were culpable in whatever Salvatore had going on. I said, “I didn’t ‘meet him.’ He kidnapped us. And I still don’t know why.”

Luca nodded and said, “That’s not what we saw. You two looked pretty cozy coming over here.”

“So why did you come busting in? Because we were too cozy?”

He smiled and said, “Well, the fact that they pulled out pistols was something else. I’ll give you that.”

Two uniformed men pulled Salvatore to his feet, and he began screaming about his rights and how he would spell the end of all of them.

Luca said something in Italian, and he spit a glob right into Luca’s face. Luca wiped the offensive slime off, but showed no other emotion. He turned to me and said, “So, what illegal stuff are you doing?”

I said, “I’m telling you the truth here! We went to the church and got kidnapped. Salvatore never got to the part about why.”

Amena said, “I know why. It’s the painting. It’s fake.”

Luca glanced at her. “What’s that mean?”

She glanced at me, and I nodded. She said, “This painting in here is a fake. It’s covering a real painting, which is worth a lot of money.”

Salvatore hissed, “Shut up, you little bitch.”

She looked at him and said, “My dad will punch you in the face again if you say that.”

I leaned forward and he recoiled, even with the police around him. I said, “She’s speaking the truth. You open your mouth again, and I’ll split it apart.”

Salvatore said, “I want my lawyer. This entire thing is outside of the scope of any reason for police interference.”

Luca said, “Can you prove that, young lady?”

Amena went back to me, then said, “I can, but you might not like how I do it.”

I said, “Go ahead.”

She looked at Jennifer, who nodded to her. She hesitantly walked to one of the bar tables around the room and removed a flute of champagne. She walked to the CaravaggioTaking of Christand threw it on the canvas.

Everyone in the room gasped. And then the outer painting began to melt under the alcohol of the champagne. A small blip that showed something underneath.

I looked at Jennifer and said, “Man, that was a good decision, bringing her along.”

She smiled and said, “Wouldn’t have come here without her.”

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