We held each other’s gaze. His nostrils flared, and then he exhaled as if he might actually believe me.
He wrote again, his words spoken over the sound of the pen scratching along the paper. “How can I trust you? Knowing who you are and what you do?”
The paper slid back towards me.
Because you won’t divorce her, they want me to use my daughter to take you down.
I grabbed the pen and scribbled a reply. “I have no idea who you think I am, Caruso. But you can keep investigating me until you figure it out, because I have nothing to hide.”
They?
“So you still refuse to admit any involvement in the drug shipment we confiscated at the port? The one we found in a warehouse under the CEO of one of the many companies you have shares in?”
The two masked men who broke into my house last night and did this.
He lifted his shirt with a wince, and I glared at the fresh bruising along the left side of his ribs.
“As I told the police, I have very little involvement in transport. I’m merely an investor in that company and have proved my innocence by showing them all my correspondence with the CEO. I had no idea about that shipment.”
What did they say?
“What about Damiano? My daughter’s bodyguard mysteriously disappeared after you were spotted outside her apartment, and then his ear arrived at my door.”
I have to convince her to spy on you and betray you. I have two days to get you arrested, or they’ll kill me and take her.
Rage surged through my veins at the thought of someone threatening Aria and her father. I grabbed the paper, forcing the grit from my voice as I tried to keep up with our conversation for show while scribbling my reply.
“He’s still missing? I guess if he’s walking around with one ear, he probably doesn’t want to be seen.”
Who the fuck are they? Are they working for Callum?
“What is the point of this, Buccini? What are you doing here?” Piero growled, maintaining the pretence as he shook his head and wrote,I don’t know.
“I want us to work together. Drop this bullshit investigation and let’s make Rome the best it can be by uniting our forces.”
You need to trust me, Piero. I can keep you and Aria safe, but only if you tell me everything you know.
He chuckled, though it was the fakest laugh I’d ever heard. He’d never win any awards for his acting. “I’d never work with you, Buccini. Over my dead body. You are the last man in Rome I will ever trust. The very fact that you stole my daughter and forced her to marry you means we will never see eye to eye.”
I don’t have any other choice but to trust you, Buccini. They are watching my every move. It’s too dangerous for me to meet you again. I will find a way to get everything I’ve put together over the last few days about what I think is really happening here.
“Then I guess you are right, Caruso. I am wasting my time.”
I stood up, grabbing the paper one last time.
Play along for now. Until I know who we are dealing with, do what they say. It’s the only way you will stay alive.
He looked at me, nodded, and pressed his lips together. I could see the fear and gratitude in his eyes. He still wasn’t sure about me, but I was his best option, and he knew it.
“Will I expect to see you and my daughter at the city fundraiser tomorrow night?”
If anything happens to me, don’t let them come for her.
“We will be there. Just so you know, Mayor...” I held his gaze and smiled, knowing this would be heard by more than just us. “Anyone who tries to take Arianna from me will be dragged so far beyond my mercy that when I finally grant them death, it will feel like a kindness.”
I marched out of the house and down the drive, my heart pounding with adrenaline and the need to see Aria.
I knew it. My instincts told me this was bigger than we thought, and they were never wrong.
