Page 76 of Unrelenting
Lorenzo
As I headtoward Gianetta’s, I’m surprised to find a large crowd of people blocking the end of the street. Something is clearly going on, so I push to the front and come up against a barrier manned by several police officers. Farther along the street, I see several trucks and an ambulance.
“What’s going on?” I ask one of the cops.
“Fire.”
My heart lurches. “Where? Which building?”
“Gianetta’s,”
“Fuck!” I push the barrier aside.
The cop tries to hold me back, but I shove him out of the way and storm toward the restaurant. Shouts behind me tell me to stop but I have to find Lucia.
As I get closer, the scene I witness is chaotic. The fire seems to be out, but there’s debris everywhere with glass, bricks and timber spread across the sidewalk.
Firefighters stand by their trucks, their uniforms blackened and their brows swearing from their efforts in extinguishing the fire.
“Signore Volante!” Enrico Moretti, one of the many cops on our payroll strides toward me. “You must go back. They need to secure the building.”
“Was there anyone inside?”
He shakes his head and relief floods my veins. “No. Signorina Lazaro got out in time. Your brother took her away.”
I don’t know what Damiano was doing here I’m grateful he took Lucia away from here. Seeing this devastation would kill her.
“Do you know what happened?”
Enrico’s lips purse. “Someone threw an incendiary device through the front window. The fire took hold quickly.”
Nodding, I turn on my heel and stride back along the street, pushing several gawping onlookers out of my way. I head straight for Lucia’s house, assuming that’s where Damiano took her.
I take only a few minutes to get there, and my assumption is proved correct when my brother buzzes me in. I charge up the stairs, taking them two at a time, to get to Lucia’s apartment.
“Where is she?” I demand as Damiano greets me in the hallway.
“In the bedroom. She needed a moment alone.”
As much as I want to rush through there to comfort her, I need some answers first. “What happened? Why are you here?”
“I wanted to know what happened at her apartment and maybe mess with you a little.” His expression grows more serious, and he straightens his shoulders. “When I got to the restaurant, I interrupted Adriano Rossini trying to assault her.”
“What the fuck?” I will kill the bastard. “Why didn’t we know he was out?”
If I’d known Adriano Rossini had got out of prison, I’d have assigned someone to guard Lucia around the clock and not just at the restaurant’s closing time.
Damiano blows out a breath. “We’ll get to the bottom of that later. Right now, your girl needs you. He must have hit her pretty hard when she tried to fight him off. She’s got a nasty bruise on her cheek.”
My fists curl. I hate men who hurt women. When I get my hands on him, I’m going to take my time tearing him limb from limb. I take a deep breath to calm myself.
“So how did the fire start?”
“A couple of minutes after he ran off we heard the window smashing. I looked out and saw the dining room was on fire. I guess Rossini threw a petrol bomb or something.” He pats my shoulder. “Go be with your girl. I’ll track down Rossini and play with him a little until you’re ready to put him out of his misery.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Giving my brother a quick hug, I head for the bedroom. When I get there, Lucia is sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes red from crying. She’s wearing a white t-shirt and black work pants. Her white jacket lies on the floor by her feet.
