Chapter 15
Salvatore
In all, it took me twenty-five days to complete the painting. That was the fastest I’d ever worked. Normally it would have taken me about three months. But I’d been motivated to get Armando home, so I’d put in incredibly long hours, and it had paid off.
The moment I finished, Arie asked the housekeeper to get Fitzpatrick for us. He showed up twenty minutes later and called his art expert, who promised to come for an inspection in the morning. If he signed off on the painting, we’d be good to go.
After Fitzpatrick left, I was so exhausted that Arie and I went straight to bed.
He curled up in my arms, and I wrapped myself around him.
We weren’t totally out of the woods. Not yet.
If that expert actually knew his stuff, he’s see my forgery was flawless.
Even working under a time crunch, I knew for a fact I’d gotten it exactly right.
Now the question was whether Ashcroft would actually let us go, or if he’d find some bullshit excuse to keep us here.
The next morning, we packed our bags and brought them downstairs with us.
Fitzpatrick and an older man in a tweed suit arrived just as we were finishing breakfast. The man took his time with the painting, examining it with a magnifying glass and comparing it to photographs of the original.
Meanwhile, Armando and I stood at the back of the studio, all but holding our breath.
Finally, after what felt like hours, he told Fitzpatrick, “It’s the most exquisite forgery I’ve ever seen. There’s not an expert alive who’d be able to distinguish it from the original.”
Fitzpatrick shook his hand and thanked him. The man left the studio without so much as a glance in our direction. Then Fitzpatrick snapped a few photos of the painting and told us, “Please give me a few moments, gentlemen.”
After a brief text exchange, he turned to us with a smile and said, “You’re free to go.” We grabbed our bags and followed him to the front door, which he held open for us. A black SUV was waiting out front.
“Job well done,” he told me, as he shook my hand. “Mr. Ashcroft is quite pleased with the result.”
“Just to be clear, we’re even now,” I said. “He’s not going to come back in a few months and want something else from me, right?”
“Your debt is paid in full, and that’s the last you’ll be hearing from us. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. di Pietro.” As if I’d had a choice.
Armando looked suspicious. “So, that’s really it? We can go?”
“Yes. You’ve done what was asked of you, and a plane is standing by,” he said. “I’ve given your phones to one of my men, who’ll be accompanying you on your flight home. You can have them when you land. Safe travels, gentlemen.”
With that, we climbed into the back seat of the waiting SUV. The driver and the man in the passenger seat were both dead serious and dressed all in black. Armando clutched my hand tightly but didn’t say anything. A muscle worked in his jaw as he ground his teeth.
We were driven down the same country roads as the day we’d arrived and ended up at the rural airport, where the same plane was waiting.
The man in the passenger seat boarded the plane with us and took a seat up front, beside the door to the cockpit.
Armando and I sat all the way at the back of the main cabin, outside the bedroom.
As the crew prepared for takeoff, I asked, “Are you okay, Arie?”
“I will be, once we’re on our way,” he whispered. “I keep expecting something to happen, like maybe Ashcroft will change his mind and order his people to haul us back to that house.”
Part of me was worried about that too, but minutes later the plane began to roll down the runway. Arie clutched my hand, and as we lifted off he murmured, “That’s a relief.”
The trip home was long but uneventful. We spent most of it in the bedroom, where he dozed and I held him and counted down the hours. Eventually, we landed and gathered our bags. As we left the plane, the man in black who’d accompanied us handed over our phones.
While Arie sent texts to his son and his employee, I messaged Dante to let him know we were okay. He called me back immediately and asked, “Where are you?”
“They brought us back to San Francisco. We’re at a private airport, and we’re about to get in a taxi.” One was waiting in front of the terminal.
“Meet me at my grandmother’s house.”
“Okay. We’ll be there soon.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“We’re fine,” I said. “They didn’t hurt us.”
Once we were in the cab and on the way to our destination, Armando looked at his phone and muttered, “Is it really one p.m.?”
I nodded. “We gained several hours with the time difference.”
He hugged my arm and leaned against me. After a minute or two, he said, “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I guess it’s really over.”
“I feel the same way. I think it’s going to take us a few days to fully relax after all of that.”
He didn’t say anything else during the rest of the drive. I hoped he was just tired, and not traumatized.
Dante was waiting on the porch of his grandmother’s house when we pulled up. I paid the taxi driver in cash and grabbed our bags, and my cousin hurried to the curb to greet us. He gave us both backslapping hugs before ushering us into the house.
His husband Charlie was in the kitchen, making a pasta salad. He stopped what he was doing long enough to hug us and say, “Thank god you’re safe.”
“Come have a seat,” Dante said. “We’re making you some lunch.”
Arie and I got comfortable on a pair of barstools at the kitchen island, and I asked my cousin, “Where’s your grandmother?”
“She’ll be home soon. Her husband took her to a doctor’s appointment.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, fine. It’s just a routine checkup. We didn’t know you’d be coming back today, so she’ll be ecstatic when she sees you.”
Dante and Charlie filled the kitchen island with trays of sandwiches, three different salads, and a pitcher of martinis before taking a seat. Arie and Charlie ate hungrily, while my cousin and I mostly drank our lunch.
Dante wanted to know what had happened over the last three and a half weeks, so I told him everything, finishing with, “It was odd. They treated us like guests, and we had the run of this beautiful English country house. But obviously, we weren’t allowed to leave, and our full cooperation was expected.
We didn’t choose to find out what would happen if we disobeyed. ”
Dante asked, “Do you think you can find that house again?”
“No. I only know we were in the UK because I’m familiar with the English countryside, and the style of the house was unmistakably British.
They made a point of never telling us exactly where we were, to make sure we couldn’t return and retaliate.
” I studied Dante’s dark expression and asked, “That’s not why you want to know if I can find it again, is it?
” He didn’t answer, so I said, “I know you’re angry, but you can’t go seeking revenge, Dante. You need to let this go.”
“Ashcroft sent armed thugs to my grandmother’s house.” His voice was calm and low, but I had the feeling it was masking a lot of rage. “They pointed guns at her. How can I let that go?”
“Please, do it for me. Armando and I need to put this behind us. We need to feel safe, and we won’t be able to do that if you try to stir something up.”
“You’ll be a lot safer if I kill him.”
“I doubt you’d be able to get near him,” I said. “Ashcroft never made an appearance at the house in the UK, but there was a small army on site at all times. I can only imagine how many layers of security are around him.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“You can’t go after him,” Armando said, his voice rising with alarm. “Tory and I are finally safe, but we won’t be if you stir things up again. I need to know those people aren’t going to come after us. I need it to be over!” He was shaking when I drew him into an embrace.
“He’s right,” I said. “I know it’s not in your nature to let anyone threaten and disrespect your family the way Ashcroft did, but we need to let this end.
If you make trouble, we could become a target again.
Armando just spent over three weeks as a hostage.
What he needs now is for his life to return to normal. ”
Dante nodded. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, especially now. Your nerves must be raw.”
Once we finished eating, Armando said he wanted to rest, so Charlie led us to one of the guestrooms on the second floor. “Don’t worry about Dante,” he said. “He’s not going to do anything to put you in danger. That’s the last thing he’d want.”
I nodded and said, “I trust him to do the right thing.”
After Charlie left, we stood under a hot shower for a while before climbing into the big, comfortable bed. Arie tucked himself under my chin and held onto me tightly. “Your cousin’s going to let this go, right? If he tries to take a shot at Ashcroft and misses, none of us will be safe.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, as I rubbed his back. “Dante’s angry right now, but like Charlie said, he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our safety. He’s all about keeping his family safe, and we’re his family, too.” He seemed to find that reassuring.
The next morning, we flew home to Southern California, after promising my relatives we’d visit them soon, and often. Kit and Devon were still in Baltimore, but once they got back, that would be another reason for frequent trips to San Francisco.
I’d suggested flying into San Diego, but Armando wanted to fly to L.A., so I could get my car and pack my stuff. I assumed he wanted me to stay with him because he was still rattled and didn’t want to be alone right now.