Page 21 of The Chameleon

“They’re here,” one of Ares’s security guards noted, nodding his head toward the far side of the lot.

They watched as a small compact car came speeding onto the runway. It stopped a few feet from where Aresstood, waiting impatiently for Gio and his wife to arrive.

A chill passed through the air as Ares watched the two most powerful billionaires in Europe hop out of a piece of shit car—no doubt one of Gio’s incognito getaway vehicles—and rush toward the plane where he waited.

One of the cabin crew members rushed to grab their bags out of the tiny trunk before hurrying to carry them onto the plane. Ares had given everyone strict orders that the airplane was to be up in the air two minutes after the Sabarinos arrived. And no one ever disobeyed Ares’s orders.

“I’ll meet you on there in a minute,” Gio shouted to his wife, who was being ushered onto the plane in her designer coat and Prada handbag.

Gio stopped in front of Ares.

“What happened?” Gio asked, his voice drenched in anger and annoyance.

Gio was a cautious man. While he might have power and influence, most of Gio’s criminal activities were conducted through backdoor channels and silent partnerships. There were only a handful of people who knew that sixty percent of the Sabarino fortune came from criminal activity.

“I’ve arranged for my pilot to take you and your wife to Zurich,” Ares said, ignoring the man’s question. “I have a contact there who will protect you until I get this thing settled with the Zitti family. I’ll see where things are, and hey, if they can’t be reasoned with, I’ll just have them killed.” Ares shrugged his shoulders as if it were the easiest thing in the world to take out one of the most dangerous crime bosses in Italy.

Gio watched as his wife climbed the last of the steps and disappeared onto the jet.

“How did they find out?” Gio asked, still looking pissed as ever.

“I have no idea. That’s something I’m going to find out. I can’t have backstabbers working on my crew.”

The whole ride to the airport, Ares had been scratching his head, trying to figure out who the mole could have been. Only a select few people knew of Gio’s involvement in Ares’s deal, so that meant that the list of potential suspects was very short.

Someone was about to die. Ares just had to figure out who.

“Now, get on that plane, and I’ll call you later tonight,” Ares instructed, sticking out his hand and giving Gio a firm handshake.

Seeming unsure, Gio glanced at the plane one last time before turning his attention back to Ares. The anger seemed to have left his body momentarily. All that stared back at Ares were those gentle, warm eyes that had been passed down to his son.

“I’m sorry to hear about you and Matteo. I know he was heartbroken when you ended things.”

Ares lowered his head, not wanting Gio to see the hurt and heartache he, too, felt. It had been one of the hardest things he had ever had to do, but he knew it had to be done.

“I’m sorry too. I never meant to hurt him.”

Gio gave Ares a gentle pat on the shoulder. “You’re both young. In time, all wounds will heal. Thank you for taking care of me and my wife. You’re a good man, Ares.”

With those final words, Gio boarded the plane and headed to Zurich with his wife.

That was the last time that Ares would ever see the happy couple alive. An hour after takeoff, a bomb exploded on the plane.

There were no survivors.

6

MATTEO

Letting out a huff, Matteo deleted the information he had just typed into the report on his laptop. He was behind onLa Maison’spaperwork and needed to get this shit done.

In addition to the boring-ass report he was currently working on—why didn’t he just give the damn report to someone else to finish?—his lawyer was also pestering him for information on a new company Matteo was looking to invest in.

Thanks to new information obtained by Diesel, Matteo was looking to invest in a small Portuguese company that made ceramics in a tiny village just outside of Lisbon.

Diesel had been entertaining the lawyer who was brokering a deal between the company and a large home décor company with several stores located all across Spain and Portugal.

Diversify.

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