Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Luca
I texted my brothers as soon as I left the trattoria. I needed a full report on what happened last night. I also instructed Sergio to get all the camera footage from Valentina’s office, the dining room, and the alley.
If something happened, I would discover it.
Aldo drove me back to the house, his hands tapping on the steering wheel along to the music he was enjoying. I put my mobile in my pocket and tried to stay calm. There was no use speculating on the reason for Valentina’s behavior until I knew more. Maybe she was tired of me interfering with the restaurant. Or she didn’t want people to gossip about us. I tried not to think it might be another man, because I would have to kill him.
She’s only ever been with me. There is no other man.
Still, there was that nagging doubt. Any fool could see that she deserved to be with someone her age, someone from this town. Yet the idea of her with another caused my gut to cramp. I was not giving her up .
“Anyone see anything last night?” I asked.
“Where?”
“At the restaurant.”
“Not that I know of. We were up the block watching the cars. Dante and Rico were on the doors.”
Sergio had stayed back to watch the cameras, while a dozen men went out to search the area for Natale and Segreto. I texted with Gabriele earlier, who said all went smoothly at the bar with no sign of either man.
“Why?” Aldo met my gaze in the rear view mirror. “What are you thinking?”
“Something Valentina said this morning. It made me think she’s trying to keep me away from the restaurant.”
“Maybe she needs space. Women don’t like to be smothered by their boyfriends.”
Interesting advice coming from a man who’d never had a girlfriend or wife. “How would you know?”
“Women talk about it online. Don’t you ever watch any of those clips on social media?”
No, I didn’t. “I’m not her boyfriend.”
Aldo snorted as he turned a corner sharply. “You moved her in, spent a fuck load of money on her. You’re barely able to keep your hands off her, don’t want any other women. You let her give you love bites. All due respect, Don Benetti, but you’re her ragazzo .”
I didn’t bother to reply. This was the second time the title had been brought up, but I was too old to be a boyfriend.
When we returned to the house, I found Sergio in the office. He was connecting his laptop to the big flat screen on the wall. He looked up as I entered and did a double take when he spotted my neck. Smirking, he said, “Nice hickeys.”
“Fuck off.” I dragged two chairs to face the screen. “Where are Dante and Rico?”
“In bed. I didn’t wake them yet.”
Suddenly, the flat screen came to life and six squares of video feed appeared. Sergio clicked a button on his laptop, then sat down beside me as the video feeds began rolling.
“I have them synched up,” he explained. “Is there something you’re worried about? Did something happen last night?”
I repeated my worries over Valentina’s comment.
Sergio knew me well enough not to dismiss my suspicions. My instincts were rarely wrong. So he remained silent and watched along with me.
It was hard to pay attention to all six squares at one time, especially when I didn’t know what I was looking for, so I followed Valentina in every frame. She stayed busy, dealing with the staff, greeting customers, talking to the diners . . . going, going, going. She did a little bit of everything, always moving and smiling.
Sergio watched the screen as intently as I did. “I can’t believe you allowed Gabi to bartend. Look at how much attention they are giving him.”
I switched my focus to the bar camera. My son was leaning over, elbows on the wood, and giving a flirtatious grin to two middle-aged women. More women were circled around, either openly ogling him or watching him through their lashes. One customer pulled out her mobile and took a selfie with him, which caused my brother to sigh. “This is going to be a problem.”
I rubbed my eyes with my fingers. “I’ll talk to him today.”
We continued studying the footage. Aldo brought us cappuccinos and rolls, and we had to stop the laptop several times when calls came in from Catanzaro. The whole process was slow and arduous. Nothing happened during the day as the entire restaurant prepped for opening. When we began the night footage, however, a familiar man walked into the restaurant and Valentina was there to greet him.
Mayor Lombardi.
My muscles clenched and I set my cup down carefully. “This man has a fucking death wish.”
Sergio paused the footage. “Who? ”
“The mayor.” I gestured to the screen. “He came to eat at the restaurant last night.”
“I thought you took care of him. What is he doing there?”
“I don’t know.” I couldn’t believe the stronzo was stupid enough to show his face at the trattoria after I warned him away from Valentina.
“Maybe this is it. Maybe she didn’t want you to fight with the mayor again.”
No, I didn’t think so. “Restart it. Let’s see what happens.”
The older woman with the mayor had to be his wife. She clung to his arm with an air of familiarity and comfort, her expression filled with self-importance. The mayor glanced around nervously as he smoothed his tie. Good. I hoped he was nervous. Lombardi had no business coming to the trattoria for any reason.
Then Valentina walked the couple to their table and exchanged a few words with the other woman. Valentina nodded to the mayor and strode away, and this camera angle showed how the mayor ogled Valentina’s ass as she retreated.
Motherfucker .
“I’m going to kill him,” I said quietly.
“How did he get a reservation? Roberto is usually very thorough.”
This was not Roberto’s fault. I hadn’t said anything about barring the mayor, unfortunately. I’d obviously given Lombardi far more intelligence than the man actually possessed.
We continued to watch the footage. I was pleased to note that Lombardi and his wife ate quickly and left, with no more interaction with Valentina.
The office door opened and my two younger brothers entered. Sergio explained what we were doing, and Dante leaned against the wall and crossed his feet. “There was no issue at the front door. No sign of Segreto or the dishwasher.”
“Or the back door,” Rico added. “It was quiet back there.”
Grunting, I didn’t take my eyes off Valentina as she bustled throughout the busy crowd. She unlocked her office, went in, and removed her sweater. Then she put on fresh lipstick and fluffed her hair in the mirror on the wall.
“There you are, Luca,” Rico said from over my shoulder. “Right on time at nine-thirty.”
I knew what the entryway camera would show—me, speaking to the hostess and being shown to my table—but I stayed locked on Valentina. She checked her breath, then tugged the neckline of her dress higher, then lower. Higher again. Finally lower. Was she excited for our dinner? Nervous? There was no reason for her to be, but I found her uncertainty adorable.
“You have it bad,” Sergio said.
“What is bad?” Dante asked.
“Luca’s obsession with Valentina.” Sergio angled toward my younger brothers. “He’s grinning like an idiot at the screen every time she appears. And wait until you see his neck.”
I ignored them. On the screen Valentina walked toward me, and I watched as she pressed tight and gave me her mouth. When we both finally sat, I could only see her profile from the camera angle. “Skip ahead,” I told Sergio. “Find where she goes into the kitchen. See what happens then.”
Sergio clicked on the laptop and the video footage sped up. Dinner progressed, we shared dessert. When Valentina got up from the table, Sergio let it play at normal speed. As Roberto came to speak to me at the table, Valentina went into the kitchen and talked to Giovanni and the kitchen staff. She looked excited and happy, and she made sure to hug each of the workers. Lucky for each man, he kept the contact brief and respectful. She went into her office, and I could see her from that camera.
She didn’t spend long in there. It all seemed very routine until she left the office and reentered the kitchen. At the same time, one of the line cooks came in the back door.
“Dai, I remember that guy,” Rico said. “He was out taking cigarette breaks all night.”
On the screen, the line cook spoke to Valentina and hooked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the alley. I straightened in my seat, the nape of my neck itching once again.
Valentina hesitated, then her spine lifted as if she were preparing herself. I held my breath. Who was in that alley? She wouldn’t be stupid enough to go out there alone, would she?
Silence descended as my brothers and I watched Valentina slip out the back door into the alley.
My brain short-circuited as fury filled every vein, cell, and pore inside my body. “Motherfucker!” I snarled, then whirled on Rico. “You didn’t think to mention this to me?”
He held up his palms. “Luca, I swear. I didn’t see her come outside.”
“Then explain how you missed it, stronzo.”
Color lit his cheeks and he shifted on his feet. “The car alarm started going off?—”
I slapped my palm on the armrest of the chair. “Porca di una puttana!”
“It was quick,” he finished. “I went to shut it off and came directly back. There’s no way Segreto got past me in that short amount of time.”
“You had better fucking hope so, fratello. Sergio, enlarge it and play it,” I barked.
The alley camera filled the television screen. Valentina glanced around, then marched over to the dumpster. Because of the camera position, we could only see her, not whoever was behind the dumpster.
But I knew. That was Segreto, getting Valentina alone in a place where he could still hide from me.
To keep from strangling my brother, I gripped the armrests and watched her. I couldn’t see her face, but it was clear from her body language that she was telling Segreto off, arguing with him. Good .
Then she tried to leave and her father grabbed her arm, moving forward just enough where the side of his face was revealed to the camera for a split second. “There he is,” I hissed. “That’s Segreto. Touching her.”
She ripped her arm out of Segreto’s grip and continued arguing with him. I couldn’t see her father any longer, but the two of them seemed to be going back and forth. She threw her head back, as if laughing, but I doubted this was amusement. Then she marched toward the kitchen once more.
Abruptly, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. Segreto must have said something upsetting, because she whirled around and started gesturing with her hands, talking back to him. She folded her arms angrily and listened to whatever her father was saying. Was he trying to warn her about me? Forbid her from seeing me? Finally, she pointed in Segreto’s direction as if telling him to go away, then hurried back inside the kitchen.
Once there, Valentina wasted no time in returning to our table, where she gulped wine and told me she was ready to go. The two of us walked out into the night.
Sergio shut off the video.
Very slowly, I turned toward Rico, the leather chair creaking beneath my weight. In any other situation I would collect my thoughts, give my emotions time to level out before speaking. But I was too fucking angry right now. There was no reason left inside me, no grace to be given. “Get out of my sight. Go back to Catanzaro. Immediately, fratello. Because if you stay, I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”
Sergio and Dante remained quiet. Both of them knew better than to intervene.
Rico sighed heavily. “ Perdonami , Luca.”
“Go!” I roared.
I dragged both hands through my hair, then rested my elbows on my knees. Cristo santo, this was unbelievable. Segreto was right under our noses last night—and we missed him. Worse, he somehow got to my woman and upset her .
“Should we follow her?” Sergio asked quietly. “Maybe he will try to approach her again.”
“No, he won’t. She wasn’t receptive to whatever he said last night. It’s a waste of time for him. And by now he knows that we’ve seen him.”
“So what will he do?”
The answer was obvious. It was exactly what I would do if I were in Segreto’s shoes. “He’ll try to kill me.”
Sergio nodded his head in understanding. “You should stay here, safe, while we search for him. And we need to keep Valentina away from you, or else she’s at risk.”
“He won’t hurt her. Last night was about warning her. He wants her to know who I am.” Yet she still came to me, went home with me. Let me fuck her for hours. My chest pulled tight as a lump of emotion gathered behind my sternum. It was like a boulder sitting there, pressing down on me, weighing me down. I hadn’t felt like this before, protective and grateful. Greedy for her. Never wanting to let her out of my sight.
Am I in love with her?
Was this what love felt like? Obsession with a dash of panic?
It seemed improbable. What would a man like me know about love? I loved my brothers, but we grew up together, took over the empire together. We banded together as boys to endure our father’s ruthlessness.
But a woman? An outsider? An American? I couldn’t possibly?—
“What is that smell?” Sergio swiveled his head, inhaling.
I took in a deep lungful of air and realized the scent right away. Cazzo madre di dio! Shooting to my feet, I raced for the door. “That is smoke. ”