Page 196 of La Dolce Vita

"I shot the fucking bull because it was going to kill you!" Lorenzo laughed. "Running around in circles laughing was going to get you killed."

Giovanni smiled. "Death comes for us eventually."

Lorenzo stopped laughing. "Yeah, well hopefully not soon. I want to see my kid grow up."

"Me too," Giovanni mumbled.

Lorenzo glanced over to Giovanni. "We are still brothers. No matter what, Gio."

"We are. No matter what cousin," Giovanni smiled.

Lorenzo winked. "No matter what! We’ve got to get through this shit together. We left a mess back home. Let's go back and clean it up. Together. Deal?"

"Deal!" Giovanni said.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Isabella

Lucca, Italy

At any time of the day, the weather in the city of Lucca was a beautiful mix of warmth and coolness. Many residents soaked up the sun, cycling, and jogging around the tall ramparts that defined Lucca. The walls were erected as a defensive fortification to ward off invaders thousands of years ago. It was only an hour outside of Florence. ThePasseggiata delle Mura,which translates to ‘walk on the walls’, is where most gathered during the noonday. It was where Carlo waited for his contact.

The young boy rode a bike in zig-zag formation around townspeople, headed for Lorenzo. He stood, kept the kid in his sights with his sunglasses concealing his eyes. They were in hostile territory. The kid could be his contact or an assassin. Nothing surprised him about the Baldamentis. The boy rode up to him and tossed an envelope. He then kept cycling away. Carlo looked around to see if anyone was watching. He saw no one. He picked up the envelope and read the message inside.

Carlo left. He bumped the shoulders of several tourists and local people, as he headed for the only payphone he had seen for miles. Just as he arrived, a man approached and entered the booth. Carlo reached in and yanked him out. The frightened man gasped at first and began to protest angrily. Carlo gave him one hard look, and the man backed away. He turned and left.

Carlo dug into his pockets and removed as many coins as he could. He dropped them in the slot and dialed the vineyard. He prayed Dominic was still there.

"This is Carlo," he said when Dominic finally was given the line.

"You were supposed to call over two hours ago."

"I know. I'm sorry. The first phone I found..."

"Never mind it. What do you have?"

"I found Alek. And I'm told he's with a woman. She fits the description. I think it’s Isabella."

"Where?" Dominic asked.

"There's a church. He keeps her in the annex. I'm headed there. If you leave now, I could wait for you."

"I was packing for Paris. Catalina has Fabiana's show today. I wanted to surprise her."

"I can handle it. Umberto and I can take care of it." Carlo assured him. "Nico has already left for Sorrento? No?"

"Yeah. He's gone. Fuck. Giovanni expects this one to be done without incident. I hear several are doing the same search as us. I hear that Giovanni has put a bounty on her head."

"Why would he do that if he knows we are looking?" Carlo asked.

"I guess he doesn't think we look hard enough. We need to be the ones that bring her to him. We must get to her first. Kill everyone, but keep her alive. What is the church?"

"It is near Brancoli. San Lombardo. I won't kill her. But Alek Baldamenti is a different story," Carlo said.

"I'm on my way.”

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