Page 43 of The Lies We Tell

“So we know everyone he’s contacted?” Alexei leaned forward, eyebrows raised.

Sienna grinned, fingers flying over the keys. “We do.”

“And because we do,” Matteo continued, “we can guess which alliances he values the most based on who he’s tried to contact.”

“And which are those?”

“Russia was a big blow,” Sienna said to Dom. “If the number of times he’s tried to contact them and failed is any indication.”

“How do you know he’s failed to contact them?” Emilia asked.

“Because all the calls are ten seconds or less.”

Emilia nodded slowly. “So no one’s answering, or he’s being sent to voicemail.”

“That’s our guess,” Luca agreed. “For too long, the Antonettis have relied on their own family for their numbers. And with the last two generations being much smaller, he needs the foreign muscle.”

“And we’ve just cut him off from it.”

“Yes,” Matteo replied. “And a huge revenue source now that the Spaniards are supplying us instead. Thanks to Tessa,” he added, pinning Luca with a look. “His hotels are doing well, but not well enough to pay the number of men he needs to stand against us. He had an arrangement with the Russians that is useless to him while they’re busy fighting each other.”

“So we’ve got him, then,” Dom said. “We can take him down and be done with the whole thing.”

“Not quite.” Matteo glanced at Sienna. “There’s one number he’s called almost a dozen times within the last week.”

Carina tilted her head. “Don’t leave us in suspense, brother.”

“An angel investor.”

“All the money Antonetti makes from his hotels and his illegal dealings, and he needed an infusion of cash?” Carina asked. “When?”

“About eight years ago, when his wife went missing.”

“Interesting timing,” Luca murmured, and Matteo nodded. He’d had the same thought.

“They don’t own a controlling stake in the company. Only about 35 percent.”

“But he can and would fight us for it if given the chance,” Dom guessed.

“She,” Matteo corrected. “His angel investor is Nicolette Dumas.”

Luca whistled. “Of Dumas-Theroux International?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s one of the largest investment companies in Europe,” Carina said.

“I can’t imagine they’d stand idly by during a takeover when their investment can’t be guaranteed.”

Matteo nodded at Alexei. “They wouldn’t. They like money too much not to fight for what’s owed to them.”

“And how would you know that?” Dom asked, ignoring Emilia’s light elbow to his side. “Another one of your mysterious foreign trysts we know nothing about?”

“My foreign contacts have made all this possible,” Matteo snapped. “Trying showing a little more gratitude.”

Alexei snorted. “I don’t see your precious foreign contacts here doing your dirty work.”

“Maybe not. But without them, we wouldn’t know half the things we know, and Antonetti would be all but untouchable. Now that we know his weakest spot, we can press it. Then we can make our move.”

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