Chapter 31
Ileave the piece of shit Verdi hanging there a little longer, relishing the silence his knocked-out state brings. It allows my thoughts to circulate clearly. He’s not dead by any means, but he’s not far off. There’s still a few more questions that need answering, so for now, I’ll let him stew in his own demise.
Meanwhile, I have other matters to attend to, like the playing card in my hand. It shouldn’t spark my interest like it does. To anyone else it would just be a regular old playing card, but there’s something sinister and uncertain lingering in the corners of my mind. Why would Verdi have this? Why the Queen of Hearts? And whose emblem sits on the back?
We thought we knew what we were dealing with; a misogynistic asshole with a god complex. Although the man is powerless now, that doesn’t mean shit anymore. There are more players in this game than we thought, and we need to think fast before things get out of hand.
There’s only one person I trust enough to look into this, and he’s sitting upstairs. Turning on my heel, I pace out of the basement and head up in search of Raf. Giovanni is hot on my tail, slamming the door to Verdi’s makeshift cell behind us.
“We need to tell Sera about this,” Giovanni urges beside me.
“Not until we know what this means. It could be nothing.”
“Enzo—”
I spin around, immediately cutting the bodyguard off. His green gaze blows wide when I close the distance between us, leaving no room for arguments. “Not a word until we know what it is.”
“You and I both know what that is.” His tone is full of warning, and I hate to admit he’s right, but I have to be sure.
The Mafia use various ways to communicate their standing when it comes to things like secret societies, groups set out to fight against another family, ways to identify their true alliances. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was a loyalist group. Like Verdi said, he’s not the only one after Bianchi now.
I huff a sigh of resignation. “Let’s get Raf to confirm it before we tell her.”
Giovanni doesn’t seem convinced, but he doesn’t argue with me. Instead, he follows closely behind as we make our way through the kitchen and down to the den.
I find Raf there with Sera, tapping away at his computer from the couch. He’s so lost in what he’s doing that he doesn’t hear me enter, and I clear my throat to get his attention. Sera is busy at her desk, concentrating on her computer screen, which gives me the perfect opportunity to speak to Raf alone.
When he eventually looks up, I gesture with my head for him to come. He does so without hesitation, closing his laptop before stepping out of the room. He looks agitated, wary as he approaches me. I can tell he’s still blaming himself for what happened to Luca the other night. It doesn’t matter how many times we tell him it’s not his fault, he still feels responsible.
“What’s up?” he asks gruffly, folding his arms across his chest.
I wave the black playing card in front of his face, the Queen of Hearts staring straight back at him.
Raf blinks at it blankly, like he’s trying to figure out if he should recognize it or not.
“We found it on Verdi. Could be nothing, could be—”
“Something,” he finishes my sentence with an apprehensive nod of agreement. “It’s not something I recognize, but I can look into it.”
“Like I said, it could be nothing.” I pocket my hands and glance over at Giovanni.
“So Verdi hasn’t said much then?” Raf questions us.
“Only that he’s not the only person after Sera now.”
Raf’s eyes widen, his gaze darting between Giovanni and me. “I thought this was all the Verdis? Now you’re saying there are others that want to take her down? We have to tell Bianchi.”
“No. We don’t tell her about this until we’re certain,” I snap.
“Certain of what?” he whispers.
All my doubts seem to creep in as I battle with the words. I’m really hoping that this is nothing, but hope has gotten me nowhere so far. I can’t afford to rely on hope when facts are facts. With a sigh, I run my hand through my hair. “That that card isn’t what I think it is.”
Raf seems to understand the gravity of what I’m implying. If this is nothing, we can push it aside and focus on finding Giovanni’s daughter. The sooner we do that, the sooner he can leave.
“Do you think her father might know?” Giovanni asks tentatively.
I cut him a glare, hating that I didn’t think of that. But then again, would it be a risk to get Alfredo involved?
“I could ask,” I reply. “I should really check in with him anyway.”
“I take it he doesn’t know you’ve been here?” Raf chuckles.
The answer to that question is an affirmative ‘no’. As far as our communication has gone, I’ve only been keeping him updated with intel. I haven’t told him everything, and I certainly haven’t divulged the fact that Sera knows I’m alive. As far as he’s aware, I rescued her without going noticed and that’s that. The whole reason my death was announced was for the element of surprise. We thought the Verdis were the ones after Sera, so it made sense for me to disappear so Raf and I could run surveillance on the family. So far, that’s gotten us nowhere, and now that we potentially have another family—maybe more– involved in this assassination attempt, there’s no point in keeping up pretenses. Plus, the Verdis now know I’m alive.
Carding my fingers through my hair, I notice Sera watching us from her desk. Though she probably can’t hear our conversation, I can tell she’s wondering what we’re doing lingering in the doorway to her office. I glance back at Raf. “It never came up in conversation.”
“He’s going to find out sooner or later,” he grins.
All I can do is agree with him, though. Maybe it’s time we put all the cards on the table—so to speak. The less secrets, the better, right?
“See what you can find,” I tell Raf. “I need to make a call.”
“I’m on it.”
Turning away, I push past Giovanni and make my way back upstairs. The thought of what I’m about to do has my stomach lurching, but I know it’s necessary. I don’t want to hurt Sera anymore than I already have, and pretending to Alfredo that she still doesn’t know about my existence is going to end badly. I need to rip the bandaid off.
I make my way into the courtyard alone. The guards are down at the gate and running checks around the perimeter. It’s the only thing that’s keeping Sera safe now. She still doesn’t know about the reinforcements I called in to get Luca and the twins. I never leave anywhere without several backup plans. Ever since the first attack on Sera, I ensured I had one in place for everything. And it just so happened I had a favor to call in.
Swallowing back the dry lump in my throat—because I don’t know how Alfredo is going to react—I pull my phone from my pocket and dial his number.
It takes less than three rings before his voice breaks in, forcing me to take a harsh inhale as I prepare myself.
“Enzo,” his deep voice lilts. “You’re late.”
“I know,” I sigh, leaning against the side of my car. “Things have escalated. The Verdis are up to something.”
“Tell me something I didn’t know,” he remarks.
“We have Don Verdi in Sera’s basement.”
The line goes quiet for a moment. Aside from the steadying breaths coming from the other side, not another sound is made.
“So she knows you’re alive?”
“Yes, sir,” I grimace.
“Well that explains the fact she won’t talk to me.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Bianchi. It wasn’t—”
“Don’t worry about it,” he says, cutting me off. “She needed to know. I saw how broken she was after your death. I hate myself for doing that to her, but I just wanted her to be safe.”
“You and me both,” I comment under my breath. I won’t deny that I still feel guilty about the turn of events that day. If things had been different, though, I’m not so sure I would have had the courage to tell her how I feel. I guess that’s what near-death—or deathlike— experiences do to you; they make you see things in a different light. But Alfredo is right. I had to watch from afar, witness how my death broke her. I hate that I caused that grief; that unrelenting pain.
“Just… promise you’ll keep her safe, Enzo.”
“You have my word,” I reply with conviction.
“I know I do.” Alfredo sighs loudly, then refocuses his attention on why I called him in the first place. “Tell me what happened.” His tone is monotonous, a level of exasperation lacing his words.
“The Verdis had Luisa. We needed a distraction in order to get to her, and well… Sera was the distraction while we got our team into the Verdi’s compound. After that, we had no choice but to take Verdi. Which is what I’m calling about.” I push up from my position, pacing back and forth. The last thing I want to do is worry him, but he needs to know what’s going on.
Steadying my nerves, I take a deep breath. “I found something. It might be nothing, but I think it’s a calling card. I just don’t know where it came from.”
“A calling card?” he grumbles. “What makes you think that?”
“It was a playing card. Queen of Hearts. It’s too distinct not to be anything.”
“But you hope it isn’t?” he clarifies with a low chuckle. “I don’t know any outfits running with that as a calling card, but I can look into it. I can’t promise anything, though. I don’t have the same pull, especially now.”
“Thanks, sir,” I sigh with relief. My heart stops racing as fast, my breaths settling now that he isn’t ripping my head off about putting his daughter in harm”s way.
Still, I can’t block out the guilt. Sure, Sera was unharmed, but things could have gone so differently the other night. I won’t forget the look in her eyes when I told her to leave. I knew she wouldn’t, but I hoped she would at least keep far enough away that she didn’t become another body in the chaos.
“Is she safe?” Alfredo asks, interrupting my thoughts.
“She is,” I confirm.
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”