Chapter 11 #2
“No, nothing, Detective. If we have any contact at all with them, you’ll be the first call I make,” I lie.
“I appreciate you keeping us updated on your progress and look forward to hearing from you when you arrest Sizemore. I’m hopeful that he will be able to provide you the information you need to track down who is ultimately behind Constance’s abduction and bring them to justice.
Did you have any other questions for us? ”
There is a long pause, and I think I hear the detective taking a drink.
“Mr. Luciani, I want to ask directly, respectfully, if there’s anything you aren’t telling me?
I can’t shake the suspicion that you and Ms. Monroe may know more about this incident than you’re willing to admit.
In the interest of her safety and well-being… ”
“Her safety and well-being are my paramount interests,” I interrupt him.
“I assure you, Detective, if we had any information that might clarify what has led us to this situation, I would let you know. I would be eager to do it, in fact. The truth is that we know just as much as you do. I attempted to use my wealth and connections to help clean up a criminal element in our city, and unfortunately Ms. Monroe and I are now paying the price for my philanthropy.”
“Of course, Mr. Luciani. I didn’t mean to imply that I doubted you.
I only wanted to reiterate that any detail, even something you may think is unimportant, could make a difference in our investigation.
If you do think of anything, or God forbid have any issues, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Otherwise, I’ll be in touch once we’ve rounded up Jacob Sizemore and had a chance to question him. ”
“Thank you, Detective Tillman. I look forward to hearing from you.”
“Take care, Mr. Luciani. Please update Ms. Monroe on our conversation. Goodbye, sir.”
“Goodbye, Detective.” I look at the phone to make sure the call disconnects, then turn my attention to Constance. “Well, that certainly helps.” I smile at her.
“Of course she has more kids,” Constance mutters with a sigh. “How many do you think there are in total? This could go on forever if we have to snip entire branches of their family tree.”
“I’m sure the detective is looking into that as well. He’ll let us know as he finds out more information. In the meantime, this is good news, considering what I have planned.”
“And what is that, exactly?” Constance asks me. “Or is that what you wanted to talk about later?”
“Later,” I confirm. “In the meantime, Leonard just texted me back. He’s got the order in, and the caterer should arrive within an hour.”
“I hope I can eat,” Constance tells me. “I’m swinging between being hungry and my stomach tying itself into anxious knots.”
“I know that feeling,” I commiserate. To take her mind off everything, I try to change the subject. “I’ve got to call around and find a new chef for the estate,” I tell her. “It’s easier to have someone on hand feeding the crew rather than having to order out or get catering set up all the time.”
“How often do you have to call your men to stay at the estate? You’ve had a full house the last few days with everything going on,” she remarks.
“It’s not usually like this,” I confirm.
“Most of the time the crews run by Enzo…well, now Trenton, and his boys Sam Campoli and Jamie Nicolo have their own hangouts and residences. We’ve just called in the guys we can trust for added security until everything settles down.
Usually, the estate is fairly quiet, like that first day you showed up when it was just Leonard, Enzo, and I. ”
“Are you staying at the estate now, Trenton?” Constance asks him.
“I’ve got my own place, but yeah, recently I’ve been crashing there. Better to stay close in case Maximo needs me, you know?” He turns around in his seat and grins at Constance. “Why do you ask? You upset it’s hard to get any alone time with your man?”
“We’re still doing pretty good on alone time,” I say with a laugh.
Leaning over, I whisper to Constance, “Speaking of, I promise I’ll tell you everything tonight about the plan moving forward, once we’re away from everyone.
I need someone I trust to know what I’ve got in mind, just in case something happens to me. ”
She nods along at first but then shoots me a look of concern. “Are you worried about something specific?”
“No, no,” I quietly reassure her with a pat on her leg, while cringing internally at my poor choice of words. “I just don’t want to keep you in the dark. I know how you worry when you don’t know the details.”
My intent was to put her mind at ease. From the furrow of her brow as she leans against the window away from me, I’m fairly certain it backfired.
My suspicions are confirmed when Constance pulls me upstairs almost immediately after we finish eating.
She checks the hall as she leads the way into our bedroom, then pulls the door closed and locks it behind us.
“Irina Volkov kidnapped Salvatore Bianchi’s son?
” she gasps with her back pressed to the door.
“That’s what he told me. Irina must blame Salvatore for arranging the meeting to give Kirill up to us.
It was the Bratva elders that pushed him out after all the damage he caused, but she won’t see it that way.
Either that or she knows Salvatore was a good option for trying to draw me out.
Whatever her thinking, he’s not playing ball with her.
He’s got a lot more to lose than just his youngest son if he makes a move against me. ”
“I know you think that, Max, but we’re talking about his son. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my child. I would burn down the world if someone kidnapped them…”
“I bet you would,” I interrupt her. “But you haven’t been in the game as long as Don Bianchi.
Irina doesn’t have any personal grudge against Bianchi’s son, Gregory.
She won’t do any permanent damage to him.
She’ll just hold onto him to send a message to Salvatore to try and pressure him into doing her bidding.
He’ll try to appease her and negotiate for his son’s release while I make my moves to neutralize her. ”
“And what moves are those?” Constance asks me as she walks over to the closet and begins getting undressed. “Is that what you didn’t want to discuss in front of Trenton and Joey in the car?”
“Yes. I trust them both, but with our recent experiences good sense dictates that I play this closer than usual to my chest. You know I had Trenton set up a meeting with those bikers today. We came to an agreement for them to bring Mr. Sizemore in for a talk. They’re going over to the Gargoyles’ clubhouse in Jersey tonight to round him up.
Once the deed is done, they’ll contact me and we’ll arrange a meeting to question him.
He can either tell us where his mother is hiding, or, barring that, we can use him as a bargaining chip to get her to back down and maybe even get her to release the Bianchi boy. ”
“You think you can make him lead us to Irina, or at least give us a way to contact her?” Constance asks me as she squirms out of her jeans.
“Oh, I think I could convince him to do almost anything given a little one-on-one time with him.” I flash her a devious smile as I squeeze past her into the closet to hang up my suit coat.
“Even if he proves difficult, I can always just ask that Bratva elder, Sergei Ivankov, who texted me to warn me about Irina. He’s likely to have a phone number I can reach her at, if nothing else.
With the moves she’s been making, they’ll likely be glad to get rid of her. She’s a loose cannon.”
“I feel terrible for Salvatore’s son. You said his name is Gregory?
” Constance shakes her head as she rips the Velcro side panels of her bulletproof vest and squirms out of it.
“God, it’s nice to get that thing off. I’ll never get used to breathing with that thing squashing my boobs.
But as for Gregory Bianchi, I think you’re underestimating how pissed Irina is at Salvatore for his part in this.
I can imagine some of the things she might do to someone to get back at them for the death of her son.
She could hurt Salvatore badly through his boy. ”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I concede. “I was trying to downplay that a bit. I didn’t want you to think too hard about the Bianchi angle. It’s awful for Salvatore, true, but I’d give Irina a hundred Gregorys to make sure she never gets one of you.”
Constance peels off her socks and throws her bra on top of the pile of clothes in my closet hamper.
She stands in front of me in only her panties as I finish getting undressed and adding my shirt on top of her discarded clothes.
Once I unwrap the ballistic vest I’m wearing under everything and hang it on a peg in the closet, I stretch and smile at her.
“I need to wash up before bed,” I tell her as I step forward and sweep her into my arms. “Join me?”
She presses her face into my chest and nods. “Let me find some clean panties and grab one of your t-shirts to sleep in tonight. Go warm up the shower and I’ll be right there.”
I leave her to gather up whatever she needs and go brush my teeth while the water heats up. I climb into the stall and have already soaped up and rinsed before Constance steps in behind me, using a scrunchie to twist her dark hair into a messy bun on top of her head.
“I don’t want to get my hair wet right before bed,” she explains.
“Of course.” I smile at her. “That wasn’t my first thought when the hair went up, of course. I thought you had something else in mind…”
“Oh? Whatever do you mean?” she teases as she presses her body against mine and I embrace her.