I shoot Bruno a look. “Don’t do anything to you-know-who. I’ll handle it.”
Bruno holds up his hands in defense. “I won’t for the moment, but I can’t promise I won’t be thinking of how to kill him in the most torturous way possible.”
“You can think whatever your heart desires, but acting on it is a different story.” I roll my eyes.
“I’m posting a guard outside your door until the hospital releases you,” Bruno adds.
“Grazie,” I reply.
They exit, leaving me alone with my best friend.
“How are you?” Lucia begins.
“I’m surviving,” I grumble.
“Cipi, I can’t believe you would think I’d miss your birthday party. You know if I wasn’t there it was because I had orders from you.” Lucia leans forward and squeezes my hand.
I sigh. “I know. Tell me everything that happened yesterday. You mentioned that a delivery did come but it wasn’t the shipment we were expecting.”
Lucia sinks into the chair next to me. “This is all my fault. I should’ve double checked with you in person before I went to the warehouse.”
“It’s okay,” I assure her. “The message came from my number. There is nothing that would have made you question that itwasn’t from me. The text would have fooled me too if I hadn’t been looking closely at it.”
Lucia takes a deep breath. “I spent the morning running errands. Later that day, I was getting ready for the party when the text came through on the burner phone. I texted you back but you didn’t respond. I tried to call but you didn’t pick up, so I dropped everything and drove to the warehouse.”
“So what got delivered?” I ask.
“I was waiting with a few of the soldiers, when this old man driving a truck pulled up. I asked about our shipment, he said that it was coming tomorrow, and this was something that you had special-ordered to arrive today.”
“But I didn’t request an important delivery.” I shift my weight and feel a slight jolt of pain down my side.
“Something felt off about the whole exchange. Two young guys hopped out and took three large boxes from the cargo area. I had them stack the delivery against the far wall.”
“Did you see what was in it?”
Lucia shakes her head. “The old man told me that you requested the boxes remain sealed until you open them. He kept talking my ear off too as I was signing the papers. Normally deliveries go quick but this one felt like eternity even the guards were getting restless.”
“Maybe he was stalling on purpose,” I shiver. Lucia grabs another blanket and places it over me. “I called you multiple times and texted you on your regular phone but you didn’t respond.”
“Because I was an idiot and left my regular phone in the car. I thought you were going to text me from the burner since this was a transaction. By the time we had finished and were securing the warehouse, another guard pulled up and told me you had gotten shot. I rushed here as fast as I could.”
“Did the old man say who he was? Was there any signage on the truck?”
Lucia shakes her head. “No, it was just a plain white box truck. But the old man did say the delivery was from Marconi.”
My heart leaps to my throat. “Marconi? No, that can’t be.”
Lucia nods. “That’s what he said. He said that he was delivering a special order to Cipriani Capuano from Marconi. And you had requested the boxes remain sealed until you came and opened them yourself.” She studies my face. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
“It can’t be Marconi. Did he say a first and a last name?”
“Just Marconi…Interesting name,” Lucia muses.
“There is nobody with that name still alive today,” I reply. “Marconi as in the Marconi family. They were wiped out in 1995. They were rivals of my father back in the day.”
“Hmmm, maybe it’s a coincidence?” Lucia offers.
“Luci, you know nothing in this business is coincidental. Everything is calculated and well-thought out in order to send a particular message. Plus I didn’t order anything from a Marconi and that name is not associated with anyone we deal with.”
