78. Rose
ROSE
Iknow Dante is being sincere when he says he would leave with me right now.
And part of me wants to say yes. Part of me wants to take the easy way out and just disappear with him, but that has never been me.
I’m a fighter, a survivor, and there are too many unanswered questions to just leave and pretend this life doesn’t exist. So I know what I need to do.
“Let’s go.” Without waiting for Dante to respond, I push open the car door and step outside. I don’t need to look to see if Dante is coming with me. I know now that he will literally follow me anywhere.
Angelo is waiting for us in the foyer when we walk through the front door of his brownstone.
“Come, we have much to discuss.” He has a somber expression as he greets us. I wonder if he regrets bringing me into this situation as much as Dante does.
We are led upstairs and into a room that I assume is Angelo’s office. So this isn’t a sitting room kind of conversation, I guess. Perfect. Angelo even dismisses the bodyguards that were present by his sides the last time I was here. I get the feeling I am not going to like what he has to say.
“Please sit.” Angelo gestures to the two leather wingback chairs situated in front of a large oak desk that is littered with papers, an ashtray with an old cigar sitting in it, and an empty crystal rocks glass with a matching crystal decanter next to it, half full with an amber liquid I can only assume is amaretto.
I remain silent, not sure what to say in a situation like this.
Angelo is still a stranger in reality, even if he is my grandfather by blood.
“What did you find?” Dante seems comfortable here, which makes sense if Angelo has been his boss this entire time and the man who raised him.
“The intelligence team was able to recover a single USB flash drive from the area.”
“A flash drive? That wouldn’t have belonged to us. What was on it?” Dante is quick to respond for both of us, which I am thankful for.
“It was encrypted, but they were able to enter a password to gain access.” Angelo is looking only at me when he responds, and I finally find my voice.
“A password? What was the password?” Now my mind is starting to spin with all the possibilities. Like how did a jump drive even survive the fire? And how would they know the password?
“Rosey,” Angelo says.
“Yes?”
“No. The password…was Rosey.”
“What? How is that possible? What does that even mean? Where did they find it? How would they know to try Rosey? How did it survive the fire?” The questions are coming faster than I can control now, but Dante reaches a hand out and places it over mine, which is tightly gripping the arm of the chair.
The leather creaks in my grasp. That small gesture calms my swirling thoughts and allows me to pause and take a breath.
The gesture is not lost on Angelo, however, who clocks the small touch, but he doesn’t give away how he feels about it in his response.
“It wasn’t found at Dante’s house, but in the area near his house. And ‘Rosey’ was written on a piece of paper that the flash drive was attached to.”
“If it wasn’t at Dante’s house, then where was it?”
“A house being rented by a man named Anthony Rossi. I believe you know him as Luca.”
Luc. Why would he have a flash drive with any information that could be helpful?
And why would the password be my nickname?
And why would they even look at his house or know it exists?
Angelo must take my silence as permission to continue because I don’t have a chance to respond before he says something that changes everything.
“The information on the drive was a list of names, dates, and dollar amounts. Some names, however, didn't have a date listed next to them.”
“A hit list?” Dante's voice jerks me to attention.
“What do you mean a hit list? Why would Luc have a hit list?” My ears ring so loud with the spike of my adrenaline that I almost miss what Angelo says next.
“Your name is on the list,” Angelo says plainly, looking directly at me.
“I’m sorry. Did you just say my name…is on a hit list? Why the hell would someone want to kill me? Who would want to kill me?” I’m shouting now as I stand to pace the space behind the chairs.
“You are the sole heir to the Nicoletti family organization, Rose. The list of people and organizations that would want this family destroyed is long, unfortunately.”
“I literally just met you less than forty-eight hours ago! How is any of this possible?” My arms are gesturing wildly around to emphasize my distress.
“There’s more,” Angelo says, unconcerned by my outburst.
Of course there’s more.
“Your mother’s name was also on the list. However, her name has a date next to it. It was the day she was murdered.”
That piece of information stops me in my tracks.
“So, you’re saying the same ‘hit list’ that has my name on it also has Liliana’s?” I still can’t call her my mother. It just doesn’t feel right. “Who is responsible for creating this list?”
“We can’t be certain. However, we believe it’s a secret underground organization operating for the government.
We have known about them for a long time but have never officially crossed paths with them, to our knowledge.
But I guess considering they are likely responsible for your mother…
Liliana’s death, that would explain why we could never track down information on her murder.
Their resources are endless, and without the concern for police or FBI involvement in their dealings, they operate freely and unchecked. ”
“Wait, why do you think it’s some super-secret organization? None of this makes any sense.” My head is spinning as I try to put all the puzzle pieces together, but something just doesn’t fit.
“We believe it’s that organization because Anthony Rossi is a code name used by them. And considering that is the name Luca used to rent the house under, we believe he was a part of their organization.”
Was. That is the only word my brain can fully compute with all of the crazy accusations being thrown around right now.
“What do you mean, was?” My voice is low, already knowing the answer.
“Luca has been confirmed…deceased. There was an obituary for him listed this morning.” Angelo’s response is quiet, but I don’t miss a single word.
Somehow this secret organization has not only taken my mother before I ever had a chance to meet her, but now they have taken the only person I have ever truly loved without question, Luc. My Lucy. And now I know what I have to do. End it. End it all.