Page 58 of Wicked Beautiful (Wicked Games 1)
As people move forward to shake my hand and offer congratulations, I watch from the corner of my eye as Victoria locates the still-wobbly Luciano Mancari, takes him by the arm, and leads him to the front door. Over her shoulder she pauses to confirm I’m watching, and then sends me a withering smile.
My chest tightens in anger. I have to concede that Marie-Thérèse is probably right.
EIGHTEEN
~ Victoria ~
The first thing I do when I’m back inside Luciano’s ridiculous limousine is call Tabby. The second thing I do is shush Luciano as he slumps, moaning and holding his face, against the door.
His nose is a bloodied mess. Leave it to the Italian stallion to use his schnoz to break his fall.
“Tabby!” I shout into my cell when she answers.
“Uh-oh. I can already tell things aren’t going well in the evil empire. Should I send out the flying monkeys?”
“You can find out everything and anything about Marie-Thérèse something-or-other, daughter of the late French chef Alain Gérard, and do it before I get back.”
She makes a noise of disbelief. “Back? You left like an hour ago!”
I ignore that. “And what have you found out about the other stuff?” I glance at Luciano, who now appears to be crying. I want to smack him upside the head.
“If by ‘other stuff’ you mean the dirty deets about Parker Maxwell, unfortunately nothing at all. The boy’s clean as a whistle. Not even a traffic ticket.”
“Are you sure? You dug deep? Deeper than deep?”
“I’m looking into some other avenues, but so far we’ve got nada.”
I curse. “And his father?”
“Nope. His dad retired about ten years ago. The only thing he seems to do is play golf. His mother’s the president of the Laredo opera, heads up all the charity events at their church. The Maxwells are practically the friggin’ Cleavers, boss.”
“Drat!”
There’s a weighty silence on the other end of the line. “You didn’t just say ‘drat,’ did you? Because if you did, I might have to hand in my resignation. ‘Drat’ is totally cliché, even for a super villain like you. Especially for a super villain like you. You’d never hear Darth Vader saying—”
“Can we please forgo the Star Wars references and get back to the fact that you have to find me something I can work with?”
Tabby makes a disgruntled noise. “Maybe there’s nothing there. You ever think of that?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone has something they’re hiding. It’s just a matter of finding out where they’re hiding it.”
“I know. I was just trying to be positive.”
“Or negative, in this case!”
“Well, if it were me and I had some dead bodies to hide, I’d bury them in my own backyard, if you get my meaning.”
Beside me, Luciano withdraws a monogrammed handkerchief from his coat pocket and uses it to dab delicately at his swollen, bloody nose. When he whimpers, I shoot him an exasperated glare.
“Don’t be obtuse, Tabby. I’m in no mood.”
She sighs. “Look, if he’s really smart, he’ll have burned, shredded, or paid someone like me to scour the interwebs clean of any incriminating evidence. So the best place to find something is going to be right in the dragon’s lair, so to speak.”
I bolt upright in the seat. “At his house!”
“He’s got a safe. I’d bet my favorite Hello Kitty handbag on it.”
“A safe? What am I, a bank robber now? How the hell am I going to get into a safe?”
