10. Renzo
B efore Luka married Cecilia and died at his wedding, I seldom went into the office at my house. Luka lived with Gio in the Bernardi mansion, but because I was the spare brother and always preferred to remain out of sight and out of mind, I had my own residence.
Nowadays, I was in that damn room constantly, dealing with what felt like nonstop supervision.
I need to delegate. Or I need to delegate more .
We had a whole organization to rely on, and I didn’t understand why Luka was so deeply involved in so many things at once. Didn’t he ever trust our Family and our men?
Or maybe he just liked to micromanage. I did not, and already, I was leaving the capos and leaders to handle the little shit I didn’t want to get tied up with.
Like leading an orchestra. I didn’t need to be hands-on like Luka was. And I bet letting the men see that I trusted them would boost morale.
Dean was too valuable to ever dismiss, though. I spoke with him late into the night now, trying to piece together more details.
He was older than Gio, just barely, and the old capo knew goddamn everything about everyone. Loyal to the bones, the man was a diligent, dedicated, and highly resourceful man to lean on. Luka liked him too, so when I stepped into Luka’s position, Dean became my right-hand man like he’d been for Luka.
He paced from one end of the office to the other, shaking his head. “I’m telling you, there are no leads. Anywhere.”
I pursed my lips, taking his word for it. He’d been on the case from the start.
“Did you confirm that Isabella was drugged, though?” I didn’t doubt Giulia, but I had to check and learn all that I could. Dean had spent hours following up that angle, and I wasn’t shocked that he nodded now.
“She was, but her tox screen reports were erased.”
I narrowed my eyes at the thick paperweight on the corner of my desk, zoning out. “Why?”
“She’s as vain as they come, high-maintenance in her looks and reputation.”
Unlike her eldest daughter. Giulia dressed impeccably, fitting right in with the other women of our world, but she never flaunted it. She knew she looked good, or she should know it, and I assumed that she was simply too confident to have to flaunt it. I had yet to witness her being selfish and vain, but I’d be waiting a long time.
Isabella might have given birth to Giulia, but they were not the same. Not even similar.
“I’d wager that she didn’t want anyone to know she’d been drugged or made vulnerable.”
“Do you think whoever did it wanted to kill her but failed?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I considered that, but that wouldn’t make sense. Luka was killed. Rocco too. Why screw up when they’d already done it successfully twice before? If they wanted her dead, she’d be dead.” Slumping into a seat, he exhaled a long, tired breath. “I wonder if it’s someone from inside.”
“In the Acardi residence?” I didn’t like the sound of that. What if someone targeted Giulia? Or her sisters? They were too young not to be innocent.
Fuck. I’m not supposed to care. Not like this.
“From what our spies reported, no one on the Acardi security team has pointed out where or how someone could have trespassed to drug them.”
I huffed. “Well, I know firsthand how shitty the Acardi security force is there.”
He furrowed his brow. “You do?”
Shit. I waved at him, dismissing that angle. I trusted him, but I didn’t want to tell him that I’d snuck in there and ended up with Giulia. I kept her secret not only because she’d asked me to, but also because it was our secret. I didn’t want to share her, or anything we’d done, with anyone else.
If word got out that I’d been with her at the wedding or in her room— or in my car —her purity would be challenged.
Dean stood, yawning and ready to go home for the night. “What I need to figure out is how they got the poison to the wedding. How that drug got into Luka’s drink when so many people were around at the reception.”
“Could Rocco have done it after all?” I asked, doubting it as I spoke. “He was near the table, near the drinks.”
Dean shook his head. “I don’t recall his being there for long.”
Dammit, he wasn’t. I knew Rocco wasn’t hanging around the head table near Luka and Cecilia because I heard him outside with Isabella, looking for Giulia.
“What are you thinking? That he killed himself out of guilt?” Dean asked. “If so, why drug Isabella too?”
I shook my head, waving him off again. “Go on. Sleep on it. We’ll figure it out somehow.”
As I retired and dropped into bed an hour later, I wondered how and why my brother’s death would connect with Giulia herself.
In the morning, I reported in at Gio’s study, curious about what he wanted. I had my days filled now, and if he wanted to nag me about finding the killer, I really would punch him. Never before had I realized how impatient he was. But then again, I hadn’t ever had to really be near him for long.
I nursed a coffee as I took a seat in his study and waited for him to get off the phone. Once he disconnected, he faced me sternly. “Where’s Cecilia?”
I frowned. At least he’s changing up his demands. “Was I supposed to find her?”
“Not necessarily. I want your input. Your thoughts. Where the fuck is she?”
I smirked. “Have you taken the most obvious step of asking Marcus where she is?”
He shook his head and then rubbed his chin. “No. It’s a delicate matter.”
I snorted. “Cecilia. She was delicate.” Mousy and shy, intimidated by her shadow, it seemed. She was nothing like the bold, calculating woman that Giulia was.
Fuck. I’ve got to stop thinking about her. Since she snuck into my car, she’d been on my mind. We’d kissed, but surprisingly, the moment we shared wasn’t an attempt to fuck or get her off.
Friends. That was what we’d behaved like. Something like friends, not enemies, and it showed me how valuable she was becoming to me.
“And I can’t blame Cecilia for running and hiding somewhere.” I shrugged. “She just got married, and at her wedding, her husband died. For someone with a weak disposition, I bet it would be traumatizing. Maybe she needs to accept her loss and all that.”
“Well, I’ll raise the matter with Marcus tomorrow. I’ll be meeting him at the club, and I expect you to come as well.”
“To talk with Nickolas?” I asked. He’d already mentioned it to me, and I hadn’t forgotten.
“Yes. To discuss the drug trade arrangement he’d started to plan with Luka. It’ll be a good first step to taking over that project.”
Great. I nodded, masking my sarcasm and lack of enthusiasm. The last thing I wanted to do was sit down and have a conversation with that hotheaded asshole. I didn’t look forward to listening to the prick who thought he could have any right to Giulia.
But who was I to judge or get mad?
She wasn’t mine.
No matter how much I wanted her to be.
No matter how perfectly she seemed to fit and belong with me, not as a needy, clinging wife to order around and knock up.
But as a partner. A friend. As something more, and definitely something I never could have anticipated finding in my enemy.
As my other half.