“My father would never agree to Damiano—” I couldn’t even say the words. But then it was hard to believe Callum would agree to that either. Clearly, I didn’t know what he was capable of. Shit, he really was a dangerous man.
“I already came to the same conclusion, Raya,” Sani growled. “But Alessio and Gio want solid proof that this is all him before they’ll let me go after him.”
“But you’ve all overlooked one crucial detail,” she said calmly, her eyes shimmering. “Who was Damiano linked with?”
“The Leones. But they’re all dead.”
“Are they?” She raised an eyebrow, then leaned back into the sofa, returning to her TV programme.
Sani tensed beneath me as something must have clicked. He moved me off him and stood up, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Gio. You knew the Leones… were there any survivors? Family? Distant relatives? Heirs?” Sani put his brother on speaker so Raya and I could listen in.
“No. None.”
Sani ran his hand through his hair. “What about Don Riccardo Leone? He had only one son, Lorenzo, right?”
“Si, and he’s dead.”
“What if he had a mistress? What if he had a bastard heir? Who wasn’t in Venice when it all went down. What if he’d hidden him as insurance? To have a child of his blood out there, one day ready for revenge?”
“None that we’re aware of. Where are you going with this?” Gio asked.
“Callum. He was close enough to Damiano to confess his plans to marry Aria before even she or Piero knew. He knew he was a Leone soldier and pushed him under Piero’s nose. There has to be a connection to the Leones. Maybe Riccardo or Lorenzo set this bastard up with enough money to make something of himself. It can’t be a coincidence that a thirty-year-old man shows up in Rome with a fuck load of money to invest in the city, has a vendetta against the Buccini name, and recruits ex-Leone soldiers as bodyguards.”
There was a pause. “You said you already had Nero do a thorough background check on him.”
“I did. But what if Callum D'Ardenzi is a real person, or was once, but not the man we’re dealing with? The backstory would check out.”
“Leave it with me. I’ll speak with Alessio, and we’ll dig around. Don’t do anything until we give you the go-ahead. Understood?”
“Yes, Boss,” Sani gritted through clenched teeth and hung up.
“Honestly,” Raya sighed, flicking through the films on the TV for her next watch. “This is why women should rule the world.”
I turned to Sani as he placed his hands on the back of the sofa, lowering his head between his arms. “Do you really think Callum could be from an old rival mafia family?”
“It makes sense.”
“But what would he want with me? I get why he’d be using my father to help take you down, but what do I have to do with any of it?”
“I don’t know,” Sani groaned. “His obsession with having you is what fucking bothers me the most.”
“Maybe you’re mafia, too,” Raya chimed in. We both stared at her. “I’m joking. Obviously.”
I dropped my head into my hands, feeling a headache coming on. Sani started rubbing my shoulders. “You’re not going into work tonight. Call in sick, okay?”
“I can’t. I said I’d go—”
“I don’t care. I’m not risking letting you out of my sight for a minute. You’re staying here with me.”
“Welcome to my world,” Raya smirked at me, and I scoffed. But it did feel safer to stay here, and I didn’t really want to work anyway. So I didn’t fight him on it.
My phone started ringing, and my eyes widened when I saw the caller ID. “It’s Callum. Callum’s calling me.”
Sani stormed around the sofa and sat beside me. “Answer it.”
“What?”
