As a child, I had been quite afraid of his stern demeanor and unflinching ability to cut to the heart of any conversation.
But over the years, I’ve come to respect the older man a great deal, and not just for his iron-clad hold of the Guild’s finances and generous personal donations to the cause.
Or his fiery-haired daughter, who’d been a pain in my ass since she could speak in complete sentences.
“Transfer the money from my personal account. His debt is settled.”
I turn the corner, heading toward the meeting room at the end of the corridor, but Marco grabs my arm to pull me back.
“I had another look at Lazzaro’s loan documents,” Marco speaks so quietly that his thick mustache barely moves.
“Oh?” I keep my face as neutral as possible.
If anyone could dig up the truth about Lazzaro besides Teo, it would be Marco. But as a member of my inner circle, I couldn’t share my plan with him. Not if there was even the slightest possibility he could be the rat.
“Someone forged it. The original expired a month ago.”
“Is that so?”
Marco blinks as if suddenly seeing right through me. “You knew about this?”
“If you continue that line of thought to its natural conclusion,” I reply softly, “You’d realize I would have to have a very good reason for not telling anyone.”
“Claudio Lazzaro has made a mockery of my life's work,” he growls back.
He’s deadly serious, too. Marco doesn’t mess with money.
I take him in for a moment, considering. The thought of Marco willingly bending his rules for someone like Lazzaro is, in fairness, laughable.
So far, only Teo and I know of the plan to flush out the rat. Martino might have picked up a few things on a need-to-know basis, but aside from that, I was up against the entire Guild’s lieutenants alone.
Another set of eyes could be a valuable asset.
“I imagine there would only be a few behind that door over there,” I point to the meeting room. “With the knowledge to be able to accomplish something like that? It’s funny how information seems to be leaking out everywhere these days.”
Marco stares at the meeting room door, cogs almost visibly turning beneath that salt-and-pepper hair. “You think it’s the rat.”
I shrug before pulling away down the corridor. “Let’s circle back to this later, shall we?”
He doesn’t reply until I reach the meeting room door.
Someone wolf whistles as soon as I walk in.
“Here he is!” Alessandro croons as he balances on the back legs of his chair. “Today is the day to put in your requests, folks.”
“You sleep well last night, boss?”
“Hey, could I borrow a hundred? There was this girl I was chatting with at the bar last night…”
I roll my eyes as I approach the seat at the head of the table. “All right. Enough.”
“He’s in a good mood.”
“Glad you’re finally getting laid again, man.”
“I said, enough!” My voice carries through the room.
The twelve other people around the long, rectangular table fall into an obedient silence.
