“This doesn’t look good. Someone makes a delivery from Marconi on the day you get shot at your own party. Could someone be trying to resurrect the name and send a message?”
“It looks like it.” I groan. All of this is making me realize that I need his help more than I want to admit. “I didn’t want to do this but I’m going to have to stoop to drastic measures to get to the bottom of this.”
Lucia arches an eyebrow. “What are you talking about, Cipi?”
“It appears that whoever shot me is affiliated with or is someone in our inner circle. I can’t rely on our normal crew to figure this out because they may be the one who wants me dead. In order to find the killer, I’m going to have to get someone fromthe outside. Someone who knows my lifestyle but isn’t part of it and will remain neutral.”
“Who the hell are we going to get that can do that?” Lucia scratches her head.
I take a deep breath. “Dominic Cartieri.”
“What the fuck! Dominic! How the hell is hiring your ex to find your killer remaining neutral?” Lucia cries. Her eyes narrow. “Oh I hate him. He broke your heart and you want to get him on the case. I would have killed him.”
I take a deep breath. “This isn’t about feelings right now, this is about logic. You were there when things ended between us. He chose the law over me. He believes in justice.”
Lucia places the back of her hand against my forehead. “Are you feeling okay, Cipi? You’re talking crazy. Yes. I remember the breakup, but have you forgotten, you’re the complete opposite of everything he believes in. I’m sure he would love nothing more than to charge the Capuano Family with a bunch of crimes and put us all behind bars.”
I scoff. “Dominic would never do that, he can keep his mouth shut.”
“Cipi, he works for the FBI.”
“Not anymore.” I smirk. “He retired.”
Lucia wrinkles her nose. “Retired? Isn’t he a little young for that?”
“I don’t know, but according to my sources, he retired out of the blue two years ago and opened an investigation firm. It’s become the best in Chicago. High-powered celebrities and billionaires have gone to him.”
“You’ve been keeping tabs on your ex?” Lucia smirks.
“No, of course not,” I lie. “Matteo told me about it.”
“Yeah, alright,” Lucia rolls her eyes. “Let’s get back to reality here. What makes you think Dominic is even going to want to help you find your killer? As you said earlier, he is an uptightlaw-abiding citizen. I doubt he’ll want to help his ex-girlfriend who’s a mafia boss and smuggles weapons and drugs into the country, then launders the money through luxury nightclubs.”
“I’ll pay him,” I groan.
“That company he has is making him billions of dollars. I’m sure he doesn’t need your dirty money.”
I glare at her. “Then I’ll have to find his weakness and use it against him. Everyone has a price.” I sigh. “I’m not happy about doing this, Lucia. I haven’t spoken to Dominic in over a decade and I would love nothing more than to keep it that way. He never approved of what our family did and he made me choose between the two.”
“And I believe you made him choose as well.” Lucia remarks.
I bow my head and don’t reply.
Lucia bolts upright in her chair. “Oh my god, I almost forgot. There was more to that strange delivery.” She gets up and walks over to her bag that she had dropped on the floor by the door. “The old man gave this to me after I signed for the shipment. He said to give it to you and not leave it in the warehouse.” She pulls out a black box wrapped in a blood-orange ribbon. “There aren’t any toxic substances on the ribbon or box.”
“Did he say who it was from?”
“No. I guess Marconi, since the three crates in the warehouse were from him.” She presses the button on the hospital bed to move me upright, then places the box in my lap.
I wince and take the tag between my fingers. Turning it over, I see my name Cipriani written on this paper. The letters have been clipped from a magazine and pieced together.” I shake the box and hear a muffled clunk.
I tug at the blood-orange ribbon and it falls away. Jiggling the top free, I peer inside.
A black satin pillow fills the bottom of the box. On top of it is a king piece from a chess set and lying across it is a black raven feather.
Lucia leans over. “Well, that’s a weird gift.”
I take the raven feather out. “The Marconi family is the only one who used black raven feathers to symbolize their reign. Whenever you saw this, you knew they were behind it.”
