30. Gio #2
Alik and I down them in one.
“You should move to the villa in the morning. All of you.”
Alik lifts a brow. “I thought you wanted to keep Aurora away until everything’s settled.”
“I do. I did.” I gesture for the bartender to pour two more. “But after tonight, I’d rather have you all on the island instead of here.”
“Do you think Romano is working with someone else? Is there a risk?”
“I think Romano is—was-one of the biggest fucking idiots alive, but I’d rather not take any chances. And now that Vivi has explained what happened that day…” My voice fades. I fill the silence with the astringent burn of vodka.
When I drop my glass on the bar, Alik is considering me. “So you believe her?”
“Do you?”
“No, no. I asked first.”
I drag a hand down my face. “I do. What she told us today tracks far better with what I’ve learned about her than if she’d actually planned to kill him.
Viviana isn’t the one Pazzi wants. Tino Valori is.
It was his idea to go to the village, his bag that he left on the curb, his bomb that he was planning to detonate so it took out Matteo Pazzi in his own car. ”
“Yes, all that tracks. Problem is, you can’t give Tino Valori to Pazzi because he’s dead.”
I narrow my eyes. It’s involuntary, but Alik sees it.
“He is dead, isn’t he? Burned to death in a church fire in Chicago about five weeks ago?”
“No. Not exactly.”
“What the fuck, Gio?”
“When I stole Vivi from the church, I took an insurance policy. I couldn’t have Valori trying to track her down and steal her back.
That would’ve put the entire plan at risk.
And I didn’t want to leave a body and give his family a reason to seek retribution and start a war.
So, I wired Valori’s uncle a vast sum of money, told him I was taking his waste-of-space nephew off his hands, and took the kid too. ”
Alik stares at me for a solid second before a wicked grin spreads across his face. “Where is he?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“Of course he is, you tight-lipped fuck.” His grin drops, expression contemplative. “So, wait—if Tino is responsible for killing Matteo, and Tino is still alive, and you can therefore turn Tino over to Gennaro Pazzi and satisfy your end of the agreement, what’s the problem?”
“I need proof.”
Alik frowns, his scar twisting across his face. “Explain.”
“Pazzi requires proof. He won’t give up his claim to his only grandchild if I can’t give him physical proof the person I’m handing over is the one who actually killed his son.” I let out a caustic laugh. “Don’t know why, but the old fuck won’t just take my word for it.”
“Great. Easy,” Alik says, not fully understanding the problem. “We torture a confession out of Valori. Record it. Hand both over to Pazzi. Done and dusted.”
“Not good enough. Anyone can confess. We both know that. A confession doesn’t mean they actually did it. Pazzi wants irrefutable proof. Something he can see with his own two eyes.”
Alik considers me. “You had that for Vivi?”
“Dash cam footage from my car. Caught her face, the bag, the explosion. Everything.”
Alik leans against the bar. “And since Tino had already cleared out, you don’t have him on camera. And we can’t fake the footage because if Pazzi ever finds out, the consequences will be nuclear. He won’t just take Aurora. He’ll kill all of you in the process.”
“Sì. Exactly.”
“Pizdets!” Silence stretches, broken only by snippets of chatter drifting in from other parts of the hotel. Then Alik says, “But what if we can prove Tino is to blame? If we find the evidence. What then?”
A weird rhythm starts in my chest, like if my heart beats fast enough the hope Alik is offering won’t be able to get away.
“If we can hand Tino Valori over to Pazzi along with the proof that he’s the one behind Matteo’s death, I’ll have satisfied my half of the agreement.
Pazzi will be forced to relinquish any claim to Aurora and never attempt to take her ever again. ”
“And you’ll get to keep Vivi.”
“And I’ll get to keep Vivi.”
“Assuming she wants to be kept.” Alik flashes a grimace. “You know, after she finds out everything you’ve done.”
Fuck. For a full second, panic crushes my internal organs.
Then comes the vicious defiance. The cold calculation that’s been the hallmark of my adult life.
Viviana is mine. Every molecule in my being screams that truth. It isn’t up for debate.
Which means I have to get the evidence against Tino.
And I have to show Vivi that, whatever else has happened, she’s mine and I’m never giving her up.
I need a plan. I check my watch before giving Alik a determined smile.
“Blyat’. I know that look. You’re developing one of your infamous schemes, aren’t you?”
I think about the file the nuns kept on Vivi. The one with all her personal details. Legal name. Home address. Birth date.
My grin stretches. “How did you guess?”
Alik groans, waving the bartender over. The Russian pakhan downs two more shots of vodka, wipes his mouth, squares his shoulders. “Just tell me. What do you want me to do?”
“Calm down, Russian. I’m not asking you to kill anyone. We’re just going to put together a party. A celebration my wife—and niece—won’t forget.”