Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
JULIET
APRIL
Having babies around has created a new version of Gino and the rest of the guys in a way I’ve never seen.
It’s spring now, and every day feels like we’re farther and farther away from finding Mateo.
They’ve helped with grocery runs, babysitting when we all know Vanessa needs a few hours to herself… She’s taking motherhood in stride.
But knowing her, she’s itching to be useful.
I’m sitting at the dining table reviewing Lorenzo’s finances and looking to see if there is anything we can work with. Gino still believes there could be something in there.
“Vanessa, I was wondering if you could help me with something?”
She turns from the fridge she’s standing in front of, a small smile creeping up her lips. She walks over and takes a seat next to me.
“Sure, what’s up?” She replies.
“I’m reviewing Lorenzo’s transactions. I’m looking to see if there’s any connection we haven’t found yet,” I respond.
“Haven’t you all looked over these things a million times?”
I nod my head.
“What makes you think there’s something else?” she asks.
“We’ve gotten some intel over the last few months; nothing has panned out, but there’s something there, there has to be, and Gino wants us to keep digging.”
She nods. “Okay, what can I do to help?”
I hand her a stack of papers of transactions from Lorenzo’s bank accounts dating back years.
“If you want to review these, see if there are any transactions that seem like they shouldn't be there,” I say.
“How did you get these?” she asks.
“Drew hacked into their system and downloaded his transaction history,” I reply.
“Ohh.”
She was there when Gino told us he was giving Drew full authority to hack into anything. Maybe she didn’t think it would be this.
She looks up from the page she has in her hand.
“Be honest with me. Are we ever going to find him? I would like him to meet them one day.”
I grab her hand and squeeze. “Vanessa, I can’t promise it’ll happen tomorrow, but we’ll find him.”
She nods. Biting her lip.
One of the babies starts to cry through the monitor, and her head whips towards the noise. “I’m going to check on them and be back,” she replies, getting up and leaving the room.
Looking over the transactions, nothing seems too out of the ordinary. It’s too perfect. Like I’ve noticed before. Either they have the best accountants and analysts in the world, or they’re covering something up.
Moving to the asset documents Drew found, there are a lot of properties of Lorenzo’s and Anthony’s. All have been searched.
Then I see it.
Anna Russo.
Lorenzo’s mother. Anything associated with her hasn’t been searched.
It’s an unwritten rule.
Except.
She’s been living in France for the last year. Some disagreement with Anthony pushed her and her daughter to move there.
This shouldn’t be here.
I dig deeper.
Some of these properties were put into her name after she left. Anthony wouldn’t do that. The only reason it would be in her name is if it’s a gift, she bought it herself, or someone moved it into her name.
I keep digging, not paying attention to my surroundings.
The chair next to me moves and I hear the light scrape of the legs on the floor.
I feel a hand on my arm, a warm, rough hand.
“Bella,” I hear a gruff voice whisper.
Gino.
“Bella, what is it?”
I look up and scan the room to make sure Vanessa isn’t around.
“I may have found our smoking gun.”
I hand him the asset file I was looking at.
“Do you see it? These properties,” I start pointing to a few lines in the file.
“There are at least a dozen of them. All owned by Anna Russo. She moved to France last year. Why would she be buying properties or moving them into her name in Italy if she moved to France?” I say.
He flashes that smile of his I love. Then, in one swift movement, he grabs my hand, pulling me up. He grabs my waist and lifts me, spinning me around, placing a quick kiss on my lips.
“This is a great lead. Keep working at it,” he replies as he sets me down.
His gaze flicks down the hall that leads to the stairs.
Then his expression turns serious. "How's she doing?” he asks.
I’ve been spending more time at Vanessa and Mateo’s house since the babies were born. She’s been trying to hide how she’s coping, but Alonso and I can see right through it.
“I think she’s okay,” I reply honestly.
I look up at him. His eyes are soft but tired.
“She’s still texting him. She won’t give up, no matter what we tell her,” I say.
“Hopefully, when we get him back, it’ll be something he treasures,” he replies.
“It’s Mateo; no matter what she does, he’ll treasure it. We both know he’s loved her since the moment he saw her at the hospital.”
I return to the file and continue to look over it.
He grabs a piece of my hair and twirls it between his fingers.
“I’ve been thinking,” he leans over and says into my ear.
I bite my lip. “Uh-huh…”
“Once this is all over, you and I are going to take a vacation,” he states.
I put the pen I have in my hand down and turn to look at him.
“Where do you want to go?” I ask.
“Hmm, how does Hawai’i sound?” he gives me another smile.
“Hawai’i?” I say, letting out a soft laugh.
“Yes, you, me, and Pohoiki Beach.”
I haven’t mentioned Pohoiki Beach in years.
“How do you remember that?” I ask.
He leans over and whispers in my ear. “Bella, I remember everything when it comes to you. Everything you’ve said, done, or mentioned in the last ten years is all up here,” he says, pointing at his temple.
My heart skips a beat. I remember everything when it comes to you.
“I would love to think about a vacation, but I’m busy.” I turn back to what I was doing.
He lets out a soft laugh.
He lets go of my hair and gets up from the chair.
“I’m going to have another call with Anthony and try to get something out of him.” He leans down and kisses me.
“I won’t mention anything about the property in Anna’s name to him. Can you keep working this angle? I’m going to send Gabe back in a few days if we have something solid for him to look into.”
I stand and look at him.
“If this is the smoking gun, you’re going to need to send more than Gabe,” I tell him.
“Who else would I send?”
“Ryan, Alonso, Marco, or Drew.”
“Sending all four of them would be a terrible idea. That many men showing up will be too obvious,” he replies.
I sigh; he’s right.
“Maybe send one or two from the old guard to go with them? Is there anyone you could call?” I ask.
“No, none of them are willing to help that much. Sure, some have provided details on some of the leads we have, but none of them want to come out of retirement.”
I can hear the strain in his voice. He’s been awake every night pondering what to do.
He would spend hours talking to me about different strategies and ideas.
It got to the point where he wasn’t sleeping.
I had to make a rule that once we walked into the bedroom, no conversations about what was happening outside of those four walls.
“I’ll see you at dinner,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead and leaving.