34. Deception Is Closer Than You Think
Deception Is Closer Than You Think
Salvatore
“Take your time.” Bianca smiles at Jasper. He reaches for the tissue she hands him, his smile buckling under a sob.
“Grazie. It means so much to talk,“ he says in Italian, eyes puffy and cheeks red.
Bianca’s investigation is underway. Her interviews have been nonstop this morning so we can take the day off tomorrow to sign our marriage certificate.
Jasper is the last of eight interviews I promised not to send to my kill container.
He was missing from his station the night of the second warehouse attack.
Turns out he wasn’t a traitor; he’d lost a battle with the toilet.
Jasper’s hands tremble.
Bianca gives him a reassuring smile. “I’ll talk with Mr. Bennici. Food poisoning happens to the best of us. I enjoyed meeting you and hope you and your wife have time to go on that cruise.”
“Bless you.”
Heels echo down the short distance from the dining room to my office. Bianca refused to meet anyone in my presence, for fear of intimidation. The buffet of pastries and fresh fruit she requested also wouldn’t fit on my desk.
I opted to handle the suspects, but I’m trusting the process and haven’t stopped peeking at the room’s cameras since we arrived at my Catania property early this morning.
“I’m clearing him,” she says, walking toward the table with her notes and evidence. The coral suit tugs at her curves in all the right places. “I believe his wife made him wash his drawers that he shit through. Talk to him so he doesn’t think you want to blow a hole through his head.”
“That’s exactly what would’ve happened.”
She waves me off to look at her board. It has enough photos and string to be a prop for a true-crime documentary.
“Based on the evidence and testimonies, I don’t think anyone else is involved.
Jasper never changed his schedule like Dante, who had access to both warehouses and attended Eden occasionally.
He was probably the one feeding information to your enemies, or someone else with closer proximity to you. ”
I lean back into my chair. “What are you saying?”
Bianca gives me a pointed look. “Have you considered the possibility that Andrea or Luiggi is working with the Preda?”
My chest tightens at any scenario involving betrayal so close.
“Who is this?” She points to a man in a group photo.
I squint from behind my desk and answer, “My uncle.”
A shadow of alarm creeps onto her face. She stiffens.
“What’s wrong, Trouble?”
“I’ve seen him before,” she says, her voice so low I lean in to catch it. “He came to the house yesterday after you left. I hid in the bushes while he spoke about Renata on a call. He took another after. Something about uniting families?”
He fucking wouldn’t.
Ziu went to war with the Preda when I was a child. What would he gain by destroying an empire we built? The words protest in my throat at the thought of his betrayal.
“Conspiring with Elio to force my hand to marry Elena would be a new low, even for my uncle. We’ve grown apart over the years, but he still helped raise me. Took me in after he lost his sister. He wouldn’t.”
Bianca’s voice softens. “It’s important to consider the angles that make the least sense. Sometimes they fit.”
I shake my head. “Not my uncle. Andrea is a brother,” I add. “I’ve known him since we were kids. Luiggi is a longtime associate.”
The thought crossed my mind once or twice, but I pushed it away. Deception of that magnitude will upend the Scilari.
Bianca sighs. “I’ll keep digging. The answer is in front of me.
Whoever is behind this likely has a personal reason not tied to finances.
You pay your employees well above the market rate and have an exceptional benefits package for someone with questionable values.
The people I interviewed have all worked for you for years.
They enjoy you, even when you’re a dickhead. ”
“Come here.”
Her brow arches.
“Please.” I smile, rolling back my chair for her to sit in my lap.
I wrap my arms around her and rest my chin on her shoulder. We’ve grown into a routine of working together that feels like an old practice and not unfamiliar territory we’ve mastered. I enjoy our time and like keeping her close.
“Jasper and his wife need a vacation,” she says to shift back to a lighter subject.
“I’m retiring him.” I chuckle at her side-eye. “Not like that. He’s been with the Scilari since I was born. He and his wife should enjoy the years they have left doing what they want.”
“Jasper said you paid for his wife’s medical bills a few years ago.”
I nod. “Paid off their house too. What?”
“Nothing.” Her toothy grin says otherwise. “You’re full of surprises, but it makes sense. Strip away the murder and occasional brooding, and you have a man who cares about his people.”
“I like the way you see me,” I confess into her braids.
“I like feeling seen.”
We sit in the stillness of unspoken words. Trouble is more than a handful and a brat, but she is my source of peace. My clarity.
“You may be the only person I can fully trust,” I say.
She angles to face me, giving me full access to her lips to kiss. “Even amid your enemies, you have people who love you. Your grandmother. Alfred. Andrea.”
“You?”
A smile wrinkles her mouth. “I don’t want to shoot you anymore or run away.”
“Sounds like a good start to a coerced marriage.”
“Voluntold,” she counters.
I shrug. “Same thing.”
“After I turned thirty, I wrote in my journal that I wanted to get married by forty and see the world. Just a little adventure.” She laughs to herself.
“You have it with more girth. Come on.” I swat her butt. “You need to pick up your friend and disturb the peace.”