“Whoever did this to you will try again,” Bruno confirms. “We’ll spread around the allergic reaction as a cover. Gigi is good with social media, she can start the gossip mill turning.”
“Ok, fine,” I lean back against the pillow. “Where’s Lucia?”
“No one has seen her at all,” Salvatore responds.
A flicker of unease twists in my gut. Lucia would never skip my events, especially my own party.
“Something must have happened to her. Did you send the soldiers to the warehouse?”
“Yes. There was a delivery but it wasn’t the shipment we were expecting. The gifts are being dropped off as we speak. Matteo is there now.” Bruno paces the room. “I don’t like this at all. This shooter needed some serious connections and power to pull this off. We went through every name on the guest list, cross-checked for ties to rivals and found nothing. I’m almost scared to ask anyone in our circle to do any kind of digging because they could be working with the person who shot you.” He pauses at the foot of my bed. “You can’t trust anyone at the moment.”
“I almost feel it would be wise to hire someone from the outside to find out who did this. Someone you know but has no ties to rivals and is a neutral party,” Salvatore muses.
My stomach knots as a thought flashes through my brain.
“The reality is we can’t hire a normal person to investigate, we can’t risk them snitching on us to the cops,” Bruno mutters. “We need someone we know but is more of an acquaintance and will keep his mouth shut.”
I grit my teeth. I didn’t want to resort to this, but this may be my only option to keep me from an early grave. “I might know someone who has the power and knowledge to figure out who did this.”
Salvatore and Bruno shoot a knowing glance at each other.
“It better not be who I’m thinking of, Farfalla,” Salvatore groans.
“It is but we have no choice.”
Bruno bangs his fist on the table. “Hell no! You can’t be serious. Farfalla! It’s been fourteen years. Fanculo a questo ragazzo. He broke your heart. Dominic Fucking Cartieri. I hate him. If it weren’t for you, he would have been at the bottom of a lake with a cement block around his neck.”
“It’s the logical choice, Bruno,” Salvatore interrupts his tangent.
“I forbid it,” Bruno snarls.
“You think I want to do this?” I snap. “It’s our only option.”
“There are always other options,” Bruno argues.
“Cipriani is thinking with her brain and not her emotions, unlike you,” Salvatore advises. “I know you don’t like it, Bruno, but the facts are what they are. Dominic Cartieri’s reputation precedes him. He has a world of intelligence at his fingertips and the bastard doesn’t care who he pisses off. He can find out who shot her when no one else can.”
“What makes you all think he will joyously accept our proposal?” Bruno snarls. “He hates us as much as we hate him.”
“Unfortunately, multiple hearts were broken in that situation,” Salvatore sighs. “However, it has been fourteen years, I would hope everyone has matured by now.” He glares at Bruno.
“That fuck won’t want the job,” Bruno growls. “He hates everything we are.”
“Then we’ll give him an offer he can’t say no to,” I chuckle.
“Don’t worry about it.” Salvatore clasps Bruno’s shoulders. “I’ll figure something out.” He looks at me. “Do you want me to reach out to him?”
I swallow down the yes that’s threatening to leap from my lips. “No, Sal. I’ll do it. Once I’m released from this hospital, I’ll pay him a visit in person. It’s better if it comes from me than someone in the family.”
Bruno snorts. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure that mafia hater will love that.”
“Bruno,” Salvatore warns.
“How do you know he won’t find the guy who tried to ice our Farfalla, then join forces with them to take out the whole family.” Bruno folds his arms. “A man who gets his heart broken by a woman always wants revenge.”
“He broke my heart first,” I snap. Every instinct in me screams this is a bad idea but this looks like our only hope of stopping another bullet intent on finishing me off.
“Alright, fine,” Bruno snarls. “But if that fucker tries to pull any funny shit, he’s dead. I’ll bury him, and that’s a promise I intend to keep.”
