Page 79 of Empire of Seduction

Tommaso was the first to approach me. “Where?” I barked.

“In the cellar,” he said. “Way in the back.”

“Did anyone go down to talk to her?”

“I told them not to. Figured you’d want to do that yourself—and you’d want privacy for groveling.”

“You think I have something to apologize for.”

A rueful smile broke out on Tommaso’s weathered face. “When it comes to women, we always have something to apologize for. The trick is finding out what specifically at any given moment.”

I mulled this over, but it still didn’t make sense. Maggie had been pissed about having Beppe trail her all day, but was that enough to send her hiding from everyone? Before I left to getanswers, I had one more question. “Did the workmen finish at the cottage?”

“Yes,” Tommaso confirmed. “About an hour ago. You’re all set.”

“Va bene. Now take Beppe out of my sight. I’ll deal with him later.” Looking over at the other Fiorentino sibling, I shouted, “Michael! With me.”

Beppe took a step forward, his expression nervous. “Don D’Agostiono, I beg your forgiveness.”

“We’ll talk later,” I said in our language. “But you fucked up today.”

“Mi dispiace,” he said, strangling the cap in his hands.

Tommaso clapped a hand on Beppe’s shoulder and steered him in the direction of the cottages. Michael drew closer, saying, “Don’t be too mad at him. Maggie knows this place a lot better than Beppe does.”

“That’s no excuse for not doing his job. What’s the quickest way to the cellar?”

He pointed to the right side of the building. “This way. Follow me.”

As we set off together, I asked, “Tell me why. You know her. Why did she disappear to the cellar?”

“There are rooms down there to hide in. She goes there when she’s upset.”

Hide? Upset?

I didn’t understand. She was fine earlier. Angry over having a guard, but she wouldn’t disappear over that. I assumed that matter was settled when she told me to fuck off. True, I hadn’t answered her questions about what was going on, but she already knew that I couldn’t. I’d been very explicit about it. She needed plausible deniability if I was ever arrested.

No, I was still missing something when it came to this woman—and I never missedanything. I was good at readingpeople, good at solving puzzles. Iknewher. Yet I was struggling to keep up.

“I belong to Vito D’Agostino and no one else.”

Fuck yes, she did. So why was I always one step behind with her?

Michael and I reached the locked door. Instead of punching in the security code, he paused. “Listen, Vito. She won’t like you finding her down there. It’s an unspoken rule that?—”

“I don’t give a shit about unspoken rules, Michael. You’re not stopping me from going down to her.”

Michael held up his hands, palms out. “I figured you might say that, but she’ll be pissed at me for telling you where she went.”

“Who would you rather have pissed at you: me or your sister?”

“Fair. But try to keep my name out of it, okay? I don’t want her mad at me again.”

“I won’t tell her.” As Michael punched in the security code, I thought of something. It was late in the day and Maggie had been down there a long time. “Is my brother in the kitchen?”

“Yeah. He arrived about thirty minutes ago.”

“Tell him I’d like food brought out to my cottage. As soon as he can. Doesn’t matter what—” I nearly smacked my forehead as I suddenly remembered. “Ask Maz if he can make a meatball sub.”

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