Page 44 of Stolen Kisses
Marcus now looked more uneasy. “Trade. That was how we did it back in the old days. A secret for a secret, a name, for a name. Something of value for information.”
Something of value …
Jesus.I didn’t expect Claudius or anyone for that matter to have to give up anything for me.
“Pa, this is gonna be you. I don’t know how to get to these people. Last year we had to sniff them out like the rats they were. Then when all was said and done they scampered away. To where we don’t know.”
“Crowthorne Society was a place all the Antonellas gathered with their allied families. So, the Manellos were always there, and so were the Salvatores. Pissing on their territory means instant war. We got a taste of that last year. There was one guy however who we could reach. We called him the observer. The Salvatores called him a traitor. His name is Vinny Salvatore. He’ll help us if we give him something.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Why would a Salvatore help us even with a trade?” The Salvatores were as much as an enemy as the rest of them. They hated us.
Marcus pressed his lips together. “You’ll see why when you see him. Try if you can to set something up today. Then we know where we stand for the upcoming week. He’ll want the old mill house by the lake.”
“A whole house?” I asked.
Marcus nodded. “His family built that and Raphael seized it when he bought the land. They didn’t have ownership over the land itself so Raphael took it from them, and because he hated the Salvatores he didn’t give any leeway for them to have the chance to buy it from him. He threw them all outside on the same day of the purchase. The whole family.”
Damn, I’d heard Raphael was a cold-hearted son of a bitch. I just never really dived in deep to hear the horror stories. I knew what he was capable of though. I wouldn’t pretend I thought he was some saint.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Claudius clapped his hands and glanced over at me. “You ready?”
“I’m ready.” I nodded.
* * *
Marcus was right.
When I saw Vinny Salvatore I knew why he would help us, even without the trade.
We got to a beautiful manor home around lunch time. A butler answered the door and led us into a study where we found an elderly man sitting behind his desk with no eyes.
No, fucking eyes.
No eyes, one ear cut off, and one arm. The arm he had, just had three fingers but they were stumps of the fingers that used to be there. Then down the side of his neck was a burn mark that spelled out the word traitor like someone had branded him.
“You looking at me boy?” He seemed to be looking straight at me.
Fuck, it was creepy. Most people with no eyes wore a patch or dark glasses.
This guy just sat there, gray hair adorning his head and beard, the rest of him looking frail.
His family had done that to him. There was no need for an explanation.
“Mr. Salvatore,” Claudius began. “I believe my father spoke with you earlier.”
“Yes boss, he sure did,” Vinny replied with a wide smile. “It’s amazing when you lose your sense of sight, you have to make use of your other senses. Emotion, I can feel it coming from this one in waves.” He pointed at me.
Gio and Alex looked at me, as did Claudius.
“Someone killed my sister, ten years ago. Someone killed her and I want to find them,” I replied.
He stopped smiling. “Terrible thing that. Terrible thing. I know all too well what the sting of death can do to a person. I saw it too many times. In my case, they thought death was too good for me. So, they made an example out of me instead.”
“I’m sorry.” I thought I should offer up.
“Don’t be. For it was a reminder that I can keep a secret if I need to and shows others that I can be trusted. It’s like social proofing. This is what happened to me, because I wouldn’t talk. Like a review of a good book it serves as testament to others the kind of man I am.” He smiled and looked at Claudius. I didn’t know how he could tell us apart like that. “Boss, helping you could be a bad idea, you know that right?”
