Page 74 of Matteo
Once in the office, I powered up my laptop as I dialed Nikola and Gabriel.
“Took you long enough,” was Nikola’s answer.
“What do you have for me?”
They got right to it, likely registering my abrupt tone.
“The money used to pay the guards… Get this, it came from a corporation called Belles and Mobsters. A shell company, based out of the Bahamas.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, yes and no,” Gabriel answered.
“Pull up the email I sent you,” Nikola chimed in.
My fingers flew across the keyboard as I set up my VPN and logged into my main server. Once inside, I opened the email and clicked on the link. The data started pouring in.
“Holy fuck,” I muttered as I stared at my screen in shock.
“My thoughts exactly,” Nikola grumbled.
“There’s an undercover agent in the FBI working with someone determined to restart the Belles and Mobsters with new and improved auctions,” Gabriel stated the obvious. “It’s uncertain whether the agent has flipped sides.”
“The question is who,” I said. “Who would benefit from it?”
“An heir to the late Benito King?”
Benito King’s only heirs were the children of Bianca Morrelli, Cassio King, and Luca DiMauro.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ARIANNA
Aside from my run-in with the mystery man two days ago, the past week had been nothing short of amazing.
Late-night rides on the back of Matteo’s bike. Dinners in the most exquisite and romantic restaurants in New York. Private balloon rides so we could be closer to the stars. Secret dates in the planetarium.
The latter was our go-to and favorite place to meet. Nobody ever visited it, which meant we had it all to ourselves.
“Ride with me,” Matteo tried to persuade me again. It was the day of the Vitale party, and we met first thing this morning before the world even awakened. “We’ll get there before anyone else and have some time alone.”
I shook my head, stretching my legs out on the planetarium’s cool floor. “I can’t. I promised Gianna and Hannah I’d drive. Besides, we’re alone now.”
He ignored my comment, stubbornness etched on his face. I knew it well; I’d seen it plenty when we were growing up.
“Your brothers can drive them.”
“It might give me a window to talk to Hannah.”
He let out a strained laugh. “If I thought you would, I’d agree.”
It made me sound like a coward, but I just couldn’t force myself to rush into hurting my sister. So I dragged my feet, although deep down I knew this secret romance would be doomed with each day I delayed the conversation.
“Hannah hates motorcycles and Gianna isn’t any better. Besides, Penelope is coming along too and there’s no way in hell I’m letting my brothers drive my Jeep.”
“So possessive of your Jeep,” he teased.
“And my men.”
