2. An Impulsive Mistake #2
There was Ivano, my bodyguard. He seemed loyal to me, but he was paid by my brothers. It would be a huge risk. He might take the file straight to them, and the last thing I wanted was to get Nero in trouble. I could ask Sophia. She’d definitely do it for a new handbag.
Quickly, I scribbled a note saying I gave permission for Sophia to pass it on to me, then ran down to the staff quarters beyond the kitchen. I knocked on the door, but when there was no answer, I poked my head around to find it empty.
Where Sophia’s bag and coat should have been, there was a fresh maid’s uniform. No. She’d already left her shift.
For a split second, I considered letting this go.
What was the point of knowing where M was?
He didn’t come to Italy to meet me. He’d stopped writing letters.
The message was clear. He wasn’t interested.
And I was about to offer myself in a marriage alliance to a Russian underboss for their loyalty in a war against Sean McKenna, the Irish mob boss.
I shouldn’t care what information Nero had.
Yet I made the most reckless, impulsive decision of my life, something my brother was better known for than I was.
I locked the door, changed into the maid’s uniform, scraped my unruly curls back into a ponytail, fastening it with my hairpin, and grabbed a black hoodie from another hook.
I pulled up the hood, sat down, and stared at the clock, watching the minutes crawl by as my nerves built.
This was stupid. If any of the soldiers on duty got a good look at my face, I’d be caught immediately.
How the hell would I explain being dressed as a maid and trying to sneak out of the grounds to my family?
I’d never done anything so ridiculous in my life.
But it would only be for a few minutes...
When it was five to nine, I stood up and grabbed one of the black bins tied up by the door, ready to be taken outside during the night staff’s shift. I had no idea whether the maids took the bins out or not, but I had to look as if I was doing something.
With my head lowered beneath the hood, I walked along the path that circled my family home and towards the back gates. My heart was hammering so loudly that it was all I could hear as I approached the armed soldiers standing on either side of the steel gate.
“Where are you going?” one asked as I slowed in front of them. Luckily, it was dark enough that they wouldn’t be able to see my face clearly unless they shone one of their torches on it.
I lifted the black bin bag in answer, and he gave a stern nod.
I walked up to the gate, pulled out Sophia’s ID badge, and flashed it towards him.
He shone his torch on it quickly, though he looked like he barely cared and was more interested in getting back into his conversation with the other soldier.
Ten seconds later, he’d opened the gate for me, and I was walking through it onto the street at the back of our estate.
I couldn’t quite believe it was that easy, but I knew getting back in would be trickier.
Keeping up appearances, I walked further down the road towards the overflowing bin and threw the bag over the top.
Then I turned slowly and searched for Nero.
I knew he wouldn’t be standing out in the open where he’d be spotted by the soldiers, so I walked further down the road until I came to a small wooded area just before a main street.
A dark figure suddenly appeared from behind a tree, and I froze. For a second, fear gripped me, but then he stepped into a streetlight, and I recognised Nero’s unkempt brown hair and glasses. I hurried towards him, keeping my head down so he wouldn’t recognise me, and held out the note I’d written.
He took it, read it, then pulled the folder out of his rucksack. “Tell the princess that’s all I could find out. I can’t do more than that. If she’s going to pursue this, she needs to tell her brothers.”
I nodded, wishing I could thank him properly, but the words were already dying in the tight, useless space between my ribs. Nero wasn’t exactly a stranger, but having to speak to someone for the first time always caused anxiety and made my selective mutism rear its ugly head.
With shaky hands, I took the folder and hid it under the oversized hoodie, flattening it against the maid’s uniform. I stepped back, glancing over my shoulder and down the road towards my family’s back gates, already eager to get back inside before anyone noticed I’d slipped out.
Then the brightest headlights flicked on, blinding me. A parked car flooded the darkness with white beams that shone like a spotlight on Nero and me. I threw my hand up to shield my eyes, and the hood slipped back, revealing my face.
Nero’s eyes widened so quickly that his expression shifted from mild confusion to utter disbelief as his lips parted.
“Signorina Buccini?” his voice cracked with shock. “You shouldn’t be—“
He never finished that sentence because the car’s back doors flew open and men poured out like dark shadows: black clothing, black balaclavas, heavy boots pounding the gravel, and guns raised.
My stomach plummeted. I opened my mouth to scream at Nero to watch out, but not a sound passed my lips, just that awful choking silence that fell when my body decided fear was greater than language.
And these men were definitely threatening.
Nero caught sight of them a moment too late.
He grabbed me, pulling me behind him, then reached for his gun.