"Exactly," Vito says. "And if someone inside is feeding information to an outside threat, her schedule would be one of the easiest things to obtain."
"What about her personal life?" I ask. "Is she seeing anyone?"
Teresa answers this one. "No. Not for a while."
"Any close friends outside the family?"
"A few," she says. "But they're not involved in... this. They're people she knew from school, from before."
"Good," I say. The fewer variables, the better. "Does she have a personal routine? A regular place she goes for coffee? A gym? A favorite restaurant?"
"Yes and no," Vito clarifies. "She does have a routine, but she’s also smart enough to vary it. She has a few different places she'll go for coffee, a few different gyms she'll use. She's not completely predictable, but to someone watching closely, her patterns are... recognizable."
"Recognizable is enough," I say, my mind already mapping out the potential risks. "That ends now. I'll create a new, unpredictable schedule once I know her current one."
"I'm sure she'll be thrilled with that," Teresa mutters.
"I'm sure she'll be alive," I counter. "I'll take alive over thrilled."
Teresa sighs, but she doesn't argue.
"She's going to hate you, you know," she says, a hint of sympathy in her voice. "She's going to fight you on everything."
"I've dealt with worse than a stubborn woman with a chip on her shoulder," I say, thinking of a situation in Fallujah that involveda very determined journalist who refused to stay put. "She can hate me all she wants. As long as she's breathing, I don't care."
Vito's gaze on me is unreadable. I can see him weighing me, measuring me. He's trying to decide if I'm the right man for the job. If I can handle his sister. If I can handle this family.
I meet his stare without flinching. I've been vetted by the best. I've been shot at, blown up, and left for dead. I'm not easily intimidated.
After a moment, he gives a slight, almost imperceptible nod. He's made his decision.
Teresa isn't quite ready to give up, though.
"She's going to resist," she says. "And I mean, really resist. She’s going to fight you on this." Her gaze is steady on mine. "Don't underestimate her, Adrian. She's not a delicate flower. She's going to push back. Hard."
"I don't expect her to roll over," I say. "But that doesn't change the facts. And it doesn't change my job."
"You'll have to be more than a bodyguard," she says. "You'll have to be a strategist. A psychologist. A negotiator. And you'll have to do it all while she's trying to find every possible way to get rid of you."
I look at her, then back at Vito. "Is she aware of the seriousness of the threat? The whole story about the car and the garage?"
"Yes," Vito says. "She knows. She's not an idiot. She knows what it means to carry the Conti name. But she also has a very strong sense of her own competence. She's proud. And she's used to being in control, to being the one who makes the decisions. This... this is a loss of control for her."
"Shouldn't she be used to security?" I ask. "She's Luca Conti's daughter."
"Yes," Vito says. "But not like this. Not on a personal level. The security at the casino, the guards at the gate, that's background noise to her. That's part of the business. It's always been there. This is different. This is someone in her space. In her house. That's not business. That's personal."
"Understood," I say. "I'll treat her with respect. But I won't compromise on her safety. Not for her pride, not for her comfort, not for anything."
"It's more than that," Teresa says. Vito looks like he's going to object, but a look from Teresa has him staying quiet.
I've seen that look before. The one that says whatever Teresa is about to say is a point of contention between them, a conversation they've had before, one that didn't go well. For him, anyway. "Vito, it's important. He needs to know what he's walking into."
Vito leans back in his chair, a clear sign of surrender. "Fine. Have it your way." He's not happy about it, but he's letting her have her say.
Teresa takes a deep breath, her hands on the table in front of her. "It’s not just her pride. It's... complicated. It's about trust. And it's about her place in this family."
I raise an eyebrow. "What about her place?"
