Chapter 25
LUCA
Victor and I sit across from each other in my River North office. I haven’t seen Valentina since she stormed out of my study yesterday, and I’m deeply pining for her. But it was the verbal slap I needed to pull me out of that all-consuming, anger-fed haze.
“How are we today?” Victor asks.
Neither of us is talking, merely drinking coffee and looking out the window at the ferries going by. The sun gleams from above and makes the river look like it’s made of diamonds and shards of gold. The scene is almost hypnotic.
“Given how we left it yesterday?” I ask.
My mind keeps wandering to Valentina, but she needs her space, as I do I, considering the horror I’ve had to wrap my head around since yesterday.
“I’m grateful you didn’t take me up on my suggestion,” Victor chuckles dryly, straightening his dark green tie. “You could’ve.”
“I could’ve. But I admit my reaction wasn’t the best.”
“You have every reason to feel that way, Luca. And frankly, had I not pursued that avenue in the first place, I wouldn’t have blamed you if you decided to put a bullet in my head.”
It breaks my heart to hear him say such things. As furious as I was with him yesterday, especially after my tense and violent meetings with Raymond and Tony, I couldn’t bring myself even to contemplate the idea.
“Victor, you were always like a father to me, even when my father was still alive. You’re the one I sought comfort and guidance from, not the old man,” I tell him.
“I would never end you without cold, hard evidence. Frankly, you’re the one I would hesitate in front of, even if I did have that cold, hard evidence. ”
Emotions twinkle in his tired eyes. “I’ve been nothing but loyal to this family, and so has Raymond.”
“I know. I’ll need to make it up to him. Earn his forgiveness,” I reply. “But if this insanity about Stefano really is true, if there’s no one else who might’ve gained access to our intel… Victor, how the fuck do we handle it?”
“I’m not sure yet. I know the police are on their way to exhume the body today. Once the body is back at the ME’s office, they’ll do another autopsy and a DNA test. Something tells me they’ll confirm what we already suspect. Cooper was certain of it, anyway.”
“We can’t let the cops deal with it either.”
He shakes his head slowly. “No. We can handle it in house, provided we figure out where Stefano after he left the club.”
“Or where he was taken. We don’t know what happened yet. But Victor… he’s my brother; he’s a Petrucci. He would’ve reached out if he were okay,” I say. “Wouldn’t he have?”
“I’m inclined to agree, but nothing about any of this makes sense.”
“This had to be Mancuso,” I mutter. “It had to be.”
“What’s the point, though? What’s his endgame? Mancuso may be sharp-minded, but he’s not a strategic genius. And his ego is too big to play the long game.”
Just then, Raquel walks in, her heels clicking softly on the hardwood floor. “Mr. Petrucci, Miss Mancuso is here to see you.”
“I don’t remember us having an appointment,” I reply, and Victor seems just as surprised. “Did we?”
“No, sir. But she says it’s urgent,” Raquel says. “Should I tell her to come in or ask her to schedule an appointment?”
“Send her in,” I say.
Raquel returns to the front desk while Victor and I exchange curious glances.
“I swear, the Mancuso’s are a different breed altogether,” he mutters.
Caroline walks in with a tense smile and worried eyes. The underlying hint of fear she exhibits piques my interest.
Victor and I both stand up to greet her.
“Caroline, I didn’t expect you here today,” I say, motioning for her to take the seat next to Victor’s.
“Would you like some coffee?” Victor asks as she sits down, his hand already on the pot, but Caroline shakes her head.
“No, thank you, I’m wide awake and then some,” she replies, then looks at me with the deepest frown she can muster. “Luca, I came as soon as I realized something after that ballroom horror. I couldn’t bear to leave you thinking the worst of me, of us.”
“I’ll admit, the Mancusos are at the top of my suspect list right now,” I say.
Victor clears his throat. “We’re not making accusations at this point, however.”
“I know,” Caroline sighs. “It’s just… For my whole life, I was raised to be loyal to the family and our business.
I wholeheartedly believed in our creed, in our mission.
Hell, I worked my ass off to prove myself worthy, even though I couldn’t have children of my own.
There had to be another way for me to make my mark as a Mancuso, you know? ”
“It’s sad that you’ve had your value reduced to just… that,” I admit.
She nods once. “It is. But over the past few months, I’ve seen a shift in my family. Things have changed, and not in a good way. It started with Stefano’s death. I didn’t see it at first because I didn’t want to admit how I felt at the time, but I see it now, clearer than ever.”
“What’s going on, Caroline?” I ask.
“I think my father is deliberately keeping me out of some of the family affairs,” she says. “When I get close to certain topics, he shuts me down or sends me off on some wild goose chase, just to keep me busy, to keep me from asking more questions, from digging deeper.”
“Why are you sharing these thoughts with us? We’re still the enemy, aren’t we?”
“His enemy,” she replies, giving me a stern look. “Not mine. You and I were going to be married. I took that seriously.”
“And then I married your stepsister instead. You have every reason to hate me.”
“But I don’t, okay?” she snaps. “I don’t hate you. I’m worried about you. And I have concerns that directly address you and Valentina based on the bits and pieces I’ve picked up along the way.”
I lean back in my seat and read her expression carefully, slowly deliberating whether I should trust her or not. So far, Caroline has managed to straddle the line between collaboration and betrayal.
“What bits and pieces, exactly?” Victor asks.
Caroline exhales sharply. “My father has a safe house in Mayfair. It’s usually empty, kept pristine and fully stocked, but nobody ever uses it. Someone goes in once a month to clean up and check the expiration dates on the stuff in the pantry, but that’s about it.”
“A safe house. That’s not unusual in our line of work.”
“I know. He has stash houses all over the city, but this one is different. He never told me what it was for, just that I wasn’t allowed to use it for any of our operations.
I can’t even use the address for any new LLC I might want to open,” she says.
“Thing is, over the past few months, I noticed movement going to and going from the house.”
“Movement?” I reply, my eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“A security detail moving back and forth, giving reports to my father behind closed doors. He’s had fresh food and various in-home services delivered there,” she says.
“He’s either using it as a stash house and keeping the runners there happy, or he’s got someone there.
I don’t know, maybe a witness, maybe someone from your organization, I’m not sure. ”
My blood boils in my veins. I sit up straight. “What makes you say that, Caroline?”
“I overheard a few conversations. Dad thought I was upstairs or out of earshot, except I wasn’t.
I didn’t get any of the details, but I know something is happening in Mayfair, and I know it’s got something to do with the Petruccis.
The fact that he’s keeping it from me raised every red flag in my head, and if I can’t trust my own father, Luca, what else do I have left? ”
I ponder my response for moment while Victor taps a slew of messages into his phone, occasionally stealing glances at Caroline, who sits in silence, waiting for my reaction.
Her gaze seems a tad lighter, as if a huge pressure was just taken off her shoulders, so I give her a soft nod.
“Would you like me to look into it?” I ask.
“It’s why I’m here, Luca,” she replies. “Maybe I’m betraying my father right now but given what I know he did to your brother, even if he won’t admit it, I can’t let him do worse to you or Valentina. You don’t deserve it. There’s been enough bloodshed between our families.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with that,” Victor chimes in. “Do you have the Mayfair address?”
She gives him a piece of paper. “Here. But please, be careful. Be discreet. Find out what’s happening before you do anything. Stake the place out, if you have to. I can’t help you in that regard. I can’t intervene there at all, otherwise, my father might suspect I’ve been talking to you.”
“And that would get you in hot water,” I conclude.
“That’s right. His barren daughter. What use am I to him if I’m not even loyal?” she scoffs. She lowers her gaze, a bitter smile testing her red lips.
“Caroline, you’re so much more than just that,” I reassure her. “And if your old man can’t see it, then it’s his loss. The fact that you’re here tells me you’re trying to regain that common ground, to keep the peace between us.”
“I’m trying; I really am.”
“But you should know something. Or maybe you already know it, and I’m just here to remind you. The day will soon come when you’ll have to choose between peace with us and peace with your father. Because Mauro isn’t looking for an amicable resolution here. He’s planning something.”
She nods once. “I just hope you can stop him before he does worse.”
“What did he tell you about the ballroom shooting?” Victor asks her.
“Nothing. He swears he had nothing to do with it. Every time I ask him, I get the same answer. He had no reason to shoot up that ballroom or those people.”
“Except he had every reason, because most of the people who were killed were voting in Luca’s favor at the next council,” he replies.
Caroline sighs heavily and looks troubled. Her eyes dart around the room, a dark realization settling across her face. “If he was behind it, then he tried to have Valentina killed too, didn’t he?”
“It looks like it,” I reply.
“Jesus.”