CHAPTER 72 - ARIANNA
CHAPTER
Arianna
SITTING ON A CHAIR at the edge of Dario’s bed, I place my hand on his arm. “I want to thank you for what you did yesterday.” I smile, sad at the pain lining his rugged face. “But thanking you doesn’t really cover it.”
Dario grins, wincing as the movement triggers a fresh round of pain. “It’s what I’m trained to do.” His face then becomes solemn. “I remember you as a little girl, and it’s against every fiber in my body to let anything happen to a friend’s daughter.”
I nod. On several occasions as a child, I remember Dario Vezzozi towering above me. Memories form of attempting to rope him into playing with my dolls and watching me perform a dance routine before Papà shepherded me out of the room. “Papà and your father went back a long way.”
“That they did, which is why it was an easy decision to work for Emiliano when I came to London.”
I smile, remembering the old days when my life seemed simple and marriages to people like Roberto weren’t yet on the cards. In hindsight, it seemed a halcyon time, but little did I know how things would pan out. “It’s been years since I’ve seen you.”
“I must have been sixteen or seventeen when I started working for your Papà.” Dario grimaces as he pulls himself higher up the pillow.
Jumping to my feet, I plump the pillow out and arrange it as best I can. “You’ll stay here with us and let us look after you, won’t you?” I can sense his embarrassment at being confined to a bed.
“Only for as long as I have to.” Despite his pain, Dario’s dark eyes glitter in his olive face.
“There are too many things to do to lie around for long.” He nods towards Red’s office next door.
“You’ve got a good man there, and I intend to help him bring the Eredità della Luce down.
We can’t allow them to form a stronghold here. ”
“Red told me what you said. This ‘Legacy of Light’?” That name is one I remember hearing about in hushed whispers when no one thought a child was listening. “You think Luca has been recruited since Matteo’s demise?”
Dario shrugs. “It’s what I’ve heard, but I can’t be sure. If he has, they will be difficult to infiltrate.” His face crumples with anger. “These people are different to the rest of us, Arianna. They are fucked up and don’t care how they get what they want.”
I smile, grateful once again for Dario’s unexpected presence. “Then we’ll need your help.”
He places his large hand over mine. “And you’ll have it.”