24. Nicki
Danny looks tight-faced when I climb out of the car.
"Testing?" I say, one last time.
"I can hear you - listen, Nicki, please be careful. Use the safe word if anything at all feels off." The muscles in his jaw are clenched, and his brows are knotted.
"Danny, I am going to be fine. You'll see. This is going to work."
I close the car door and walk the rest of the way down the street toward the very eccentric-looking mansion. At the gate, two security guards are eyeing me closely.
"I'm here to see Marco Vitali. He is expecting me." I say politely.
One of them talks into his two-way radio. Then they continue to stare at me, and I shift awkwardly from one foot to the other.
"We have to pat you down, sorry Miss."
"It's not a problem," I reply, hoping that the microphone is small enough that they won't notice. I hold my arms out and the guard runs his hands over my side and then lightly down my back and legs.
"She's good." He nods, and the other guard opens the gate.
"Go straight up the walkway to the main door."
"Thanks," I say, and step onto Marco's property.
The garden is magnificent. Bright flowers are in bloom everywhere and every inch of the place is perfectly manicured.
At the front door another guard, wearing a black suit, opens for me and escorts me through the house into the living room.
Marco is sitting on one of the oversized sofas sipping tea.
"Miss. Nicki Dellacroce." Marco says, standing up.
I move towards him to shake his hand and the guard stops me. "Miss. We please ask that you do not approach Mr. Vitali directly."
"Of course," I say, feeling embarrassed.
"Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you a cup of tea?"
"Yes, thank you." He waves to a young girl standing near the doorway and she moves to make tea for me.
"I have to admit that I was not too keen on meeting with you. I know who you are, and I know of your father. When you mentioned both of my nephews, and I am aware that you have been interacting with both of them - well I had no choice really."
"I am sorry to barge into your life like this, but it is important."
"Well, let's get right to it then." He nods towards the folder in my hand.
"I think it's best if you look at it yourself, and then ask me any questions if you have any. I can try and explain it afterward, but the evidence is vital to you understanding how serious all of this is for your family."
He pulls his mouth tight and puts his tea down on a small oak table.
The guard takes the folder from me and hands it to Marco.
I sit quietly, telling myself not to fidget, while he reads through the bits that I have put together. Every now and then he takes a deep breath or lets out a heavy sigh.
The young girl arrives back with my tea. I am relieved as this gives me something to do while he carries on reading.
I am halfway through my tea, sipping nervously when he closes the folder and stares at me.
"I am not sure I want to be involved in this." He says bluntly.
I stare at him in shock. "Mr. Vitali, this is your family?"
"Yes, it is my family. But as I am sure you know, I am retired. This - this is a lot to deal with. What is it that you expected from me?"
"I was hoping you would use your status to talk to the rest of your family and allies and put a stop to Luca's business and violence."
He leans back onto the sofa and rubs his hand across his chin. "You are asking me to provoke my nephew, Luca, and then have to face the consequences of whatever he wants to do to me."
"I am asking you to stand up against something your family does not agree with."
"I had my suspicions of Luca already. He always played against the rules. I have always been cautious of him. But I am out of the game now. My life is peaceful."
"What if you contacted your other family members without him knowing?"
"He would find out… oh excuse me for a second."
He pauses to pull his phone out as it vibrates loudly.
Staring down at the screen, his expression changes. "Vitorio." He says, pressing the phone against his ear to listen. My heart beats wildly in my chest. Vitorio messaged him. He is alive?
My breathing is so heavy I can barely hear myself think. Calm down, Nicki. Stay calm. Maintain your composure.
Marco closes his eyes and presses his fingers into the lids.
After a moment he turns to look at me.
"Miss Nicki, you might want to hear this."
He presses play on his phone and Vitorio's voice drifts across towards me.
"- my brother has been involved with human trafficking - "
Vitorio goes on to explain everything, and how he has just completed a rescue mission to bring home the numerous people that Luca kidnapped - allied family members and even some of his own family. "… I ask that you make a choice. Choose whose side you are on. Because I am going after Luca to redeem my family name. I will not let him bring us all down like this…"
My heart is slamming against my ribs at the sound of his voice. I had no idea how deeply I was missing him until this exact moment. And the relief of knowing he is alive and fighting against Luca - a massive lump forms at the back of my throat. Fuck don't cry, Nicki. Not now. I swallow hard and clear my throat politely.
The voice note ends, and I look towards Marco.
He is chewing at his lower lip.
He looks so worried; I feel as though he is still undecided about whether he wants to be involved or not.
"Vitorio is so much stronger than Luca, and by the sounds of things, Luca is starting to piss off a lot of people. He kidnapped allies and his own family. You know that the only way forward is to stop him. If you don't, your entire family will be torn apart by his sadistic behavior. Choosing to support Vitorio is going to secure the future of your entire family. Your name. Luca is cornered now. If we all support each other he won't stand a chance."
Marco waves at the girl. "I need something stiffer than this." He gestures towards the tea.
"Would you like a drink?" he asks me.
"Yes," I say, hoping that this is a good sign.
He sits incredibly still and quiet until she brings in two vodka sodas with lime.
He picks up his drink and takes a sip.
"Nicki, what did you have in mind? Do you have a plan of some sort?"
Relief floods through me like a wild river breaking through a barrier.
"We have the evidence, and quite a bit more actually, which I have brought with me, and you can look over, but we think we need a confession directly from him to really expose his betrayal. I was hoping we could lure him into some sort of trap, some kind of confrontation where he has no choice but to defend himself and in doing so - tell the truth?"
"Is he working alone?"
"There is a woman, Sasha, who we know was involved before. We don't know what role she is playing now though. Getting both of them into the same room, and putting them up against each other - well, they are both the type of people who will throw the other under the bus to save their own skin."
"What do you get out of all of this?" Marco asks, tilting his head to the side.
"The truth is, that I want to know who killed my father all of those years ago. And - well - I am in love with Vitorio."
My confession brings a smile to Marco's face. "It's about time someone stole Vito's heart." He chuckles. "Alright, Nicki. I will help you with this. It breaks my heart that my family is fractured in this way and I will do what I can to fix it."
We continue to discuss the options, our plans, and how to piece it all together.
Sasha was close to Luca at one point, we know that for sure. She knows something, certainly enough to prove Luca's involvement or to reveal who was responsible for my father's murder.
My main focus is to avoid further violence, but still find out the truth. We have to be cunning, but manipulating a manipulator is not as easy as it seems.
After our plan is put together, Marco assures me he will make the arrangements he needs to make and stay in touch with me, and I walk out towards where Danny is waiting.
He climbs out of the car and opens the door for me. "You did an amazing job." He says, looking impressed. "Perhaps you might want to consider a job as a detective. You seem to have your father's same talent."
"You never know." I laugh.