40. His Wife
His Wife
“How long can they hold me here?” I asked with my forehead resting on my hands splayed out on the table.
“Forty-eight hours before they have to request a validation for arrest from a judge. You’ve been here for nineteen.”
I groaned loudly, closing my eyes. The longest nineteen hours of my life.
I needed to see Aria—to know she was okay.
I made Salvo check in with Max every two hours.
I’d do it more, but he refused, and well, he needed to be in here with me most of the time.
I’d kept my cool so far, not letting any of this bullshit questioning get to me, but my agitation grew the longer I was away from her.
I lifted my head from the table when the detectives walked back in. They didn’t speak; instead, their eyes narrowed into slits as they sat down again and placed a laptop on the table.
Leaning back in my chair, I sighed, prepared for round three.
Detective Ferri pressed a button, and my voice filled the room.
“No one would declare war on me and think it’s a good idea.”
I tried to hide my panic and not react as Morelli smirked. Salvo shifted uncomfortably in his chair, clearly uneasy that he wasn’t prepared for this new, damning evidence.
“I know how many players in this city can be bought for the right price. I own them. They work for me and with me, and in return I give them what they want. We protect each other, whether it’s money or power.”
“What nonsense is this?” Salvo interrupted, but both Detectives kept their eyes on me, scrutinising my every reaction. Luckily, I had an amazing poker face.
“You just have to know their price. I’ve offered your father support in the past, and he refused. I’m no saint, Aria. Drugs. Weaponry. Hits. Retribution. If someone betrays me, I decide what they lose.”
Salvo exhaled beside me and started scribbling notes on his pad while I folded my arms and dropped my head back to stare at the ceiling.
Fuckkkk. They had the recording. Callum had sent it in as the final blow, and because he was such a certified cunt, he’d edited it to make it sound even worse, leaving every mention of himself out of it.
“And when someone forgets who runs things in my city, I remind them that I decide who keeps breathing.”
Ferri leaned forward and hit pause. I met his gaze. “Is that what happened, Santino? Did the mayor forget who runs the city? Did you have to remind him?”
I glanced at Salvo, and he gave a slight shake of his head. I exhaled.
“No comment.”
“So he refused to be blackmailed by you, and you decided to teach him a lesson?”
“No comment.”
“Was the plan to kill him and find someone more aligned with your ideals, or was it a warning? A way of reminding him that you decide who keeps breathing?”
I clicked my tongue as Salvo shook his head. “No comment.”
Morelli smirked and shut the laptop. “Your wife has just arrived, Signor Buccini. We look forward to hearing what she has to say.”
My glare hardened and my heart pounded as they rose to their feet. I opened my mouth to tell them she had nothing to do with this and to leave her out of it, but Salvo grabbed my shoulder, squeezing tightly in warning. Don’t lose my head.
As soon as the door shut, Salvo slammed his hand on the table. “What the hell was that?”
With my elbows braced on the table, I ran my fingers through my hair and closed my eyes. “It’s not what it sounded like. It was a conversation I had with Aria. Half of the conversation was edited out. I actually said I would never hurt the mayor during it.”
“Well, that’s not what it sounded like,” Salvo growled, shaking his head. “This is bad. Very fucking bad, Santino.”
“I know,” I breathed. “But that’s why my family employs you.”
He groaned, muttering, “I’m not a magician.”
“No. You’d better be a bloody miracle worker for the amount I pay you.”
He huffed. “What do you think your wife will say when they play her that recording?”
I swallowed and pressed my palms together, bouncing my hands against my lips. I hated the very thought of Aria being questioned or put in a situation like this, but I tried to focus on what she would do. How she would act.
“She’ll lie,” I whispered, my heart pounding with a mix of pride and worry. “She’ll lie to save me.”
Salvo leaned forward, searching my side profile. “You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“The mayor’s daughter? The innocent, blue-eyed woman who avoids the cameras and press, works at the hospital, and raises money for charities will give false evidence to save your skin?”
“She isn’t as innocent as she looks,” I said, as my lips curled slightly, knowing my little rebel had it in her to be very, very bad.
“Well, for both our sakes, I hope you’re right. I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”
“Amen,” I groaned, pressing my palm to my growing erection, which was quite unhelpful in my current situation, but just thinking about how naughty my wife could be had that effect.
“Are you… Cristo. Stop that right now,” Salvo groaned with disgust.
“Calm down, Carbone. It’s not for you, is it?”
He rolled his eyes.
I squeezed my hands beneath the table to calm the violent nerves and anxiety that were only heightened by the memories of the last time I was questioned at a police station, the morning after my mum died.
I’d been a mess then, barely able to string a sentence together through the sobs and the fact they thought I might have purposely caused the fire.
It was soul-destroying. Luckily, they soon realised I was just a completely distraught and grieving daughter who blamed myself anyway, and they let me go.
But this was different. They had the wrong man. Sani may be a sinner, but he didn’t do this. Instead of falling apart under the pressure, knowing that I could be the one to get him out of here forced me to stay calm.
Detective Ferri sat opposite me and opened a slim file, while one of the Buccini family lawyers sat to my left. His partner, Morelli, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching me.
“Firstly, we wish your father a speedy recovery and hope he’s back on his feet soon,” Ferri said with a gentle smile.
“Thank you, detective. He’s a strong man. I know he’ll be okay.”
“It must have been quite a shock when your own husband was arrested for involvement?” Morelli interrupted, and my head snapped towards him.
“Shock? Yes. It was a complete shock. Especially because he didn’t do it.”
“Signora Buccini,” Ferri attempted to draw my attention back to him. “We just need to clarify a few details to better understand what happened last night.”
“Of course,” I muttered. “Please. Ask me anything. My father is sedated in a hospital, and my husband has been falsely accused, so I am an open book.”
“Where were you when the explosion occurred?”
“I was in the bathroom, on the floor below.”
“Was that your choice to go to the bathroom at that exact time?”
I frowned. “Of course. Who else’s choice would it be?”
“And just a little while before, your father was speaking with you and Signor Buccini?”
“Yes.”
“What were you discussing?”
“The venue. How beautiful it was. And then my father praised how I looked before he had to get ready for his speech.”
“So there was no disagreement between your father and your husband?”
“No.”
“Has there ever been a disagreement between them?”
I took a breath, thinking about how to handle this. The lawyer advised me to stay as close to the truth as possible without revealing anything incriminating.
“On a few occasions, yes. Minor disagreements.”
“And what have they argued about?”
“Me. Mainly.”
“You? Can you clarify?”
“My father is very protective of me. When I first started dating Sani, we kept it a secret because of the press attention, and I didn’t want to tell my father until I knew it was really serious.
But he found out and… it took him a while to accept that we were together.
It wasn’t who I was dating that was the problem; it was that I was dating at all.
My papi is very traditional. He wanted to have a say in the men I dated. ”
“You reported a forced entry into your flat and claimed you believed it was Santino Buccini. In fact, you went as far as to suggest he was stalking you.”
I chuckled slightly, shaking my head. “That was a misunderstanding. Sani and I sorted it out. Privately.”
“Your father didn’t attend your very sudden wedding either, did he?”
I swallowed and shook my head. “No. Like I said, at first, he didn’t approve of our relationship.”
“And why wouldn’t he approve? Did it have anything to do with the investigation he was carrying out into your husband’s businesses?”
Oh fuck. “No.” I shook my head. “Like I said. My papi is protective and thought I was rushing into things too quickly. But since then, he’s come around.”
“Has he?”
“Si. In fact, my papi and Sani were planning to go for drinks after the party last night to get to know each other better.”
“Is that so? But your father isn’t awake to corroborate that story.”
I narrowed my eyes. “No. But he will be. Soon.”
“Hmm.” Detective Morelli pushed off the wall and strolled over to the table, pulling out the other chair. “You seem very certain that your husband is innocent.”
“Because I am.”
“Even with the evidence we’ve recovered that paints a very different picture?”
“What evidence is that?” I asked calmly, looking between them.
“Demolition materials ordered via one of his companies with authorization credentials directly linked to his network.”
I tilted my head. “My husband doesn’t authorise orders personally. He hires people to do it for him. So perhaps you should ask that person.”
“We did.”
“And?”
“They are suggesting they have no knowledge of it, that they were on their break when the order was collected, but they also don’t have an alibi.”
“Nevertheless,” Ferri interrupted his partner. “It went through your husband’s system.”
“Can’t systems be manipulated? Hacked?”
“You believe someone hacked into your husband’s company system to frame him for the attempted murder of your father? Why would you think that?”