“Cecilia. She wants to see you.”
Ah,merda,if there was a woman I could never say no to, it was mymamma. When she needed me, I’d drop everything.
“Fine,” I exhaled, shoving all my weapons into my backpack and slinging it over my shoulder. “Meet me at my place. I need to shower.”
He nodded and headed for the car. I threw on a shirt and climbed onto my bike, speeding back to my penthouse like a bullet. I slowed as the building came into view, and I noticed the flashing lights on top of the police car sitting outside.
Fuckkkk.
The gates to my underground private garage opened, and I sped inside, parking the bike. I grabbed a packet of cleaning wipes I used to polish my bikes and started scrubbing my hands and arms, racing towards the elevator doors when the intercom buzzed from the main entrance.
“Pronto.”
“Good evening,SignorBuccini?”
“Si.”
“It’s thepolizia. Commissioner Marrone. Do you have a minute?”
“Of course, officer. I’ll buzz you up.”
The lift doors closed just as I saw my men and Max arriving in the garage, a confused look on my cousin’s face that said, ‘what the fuck?’. This couldn’t have been about Damiano. My men had been diligent, sweeping him off the street with no witnesses. And I had left no trace of myself at his house. No, this had to be something else. But if they saw the blood coating my skin right now, it would be hard to explain away.
I had about one minute and forty-three seconds to scrub my skin raw and change my clothes before the doorbell rang. I checked my reflection in the mirror once more, making sure there wasn’t a single speck of red on me, and let the officers in.
“Good evening, officers. Can I help you with something?”
The tallest man, who I knew to be the straight-collared commissioner Marrone, walked through my penthouse, his eyes sharp and taking in everything. The second, who was on my payroll, gave me a curt nod. It set me at ease a little, knowing I had at least one of them on my side, but not much. I never trusted cops, even if they did work for us. At any point, they could turn and hand us over to the ‘good guys’. It would end their lives, but still.
“Do you knowSignorinaArianna Caruso?” Marrone asked, glancing at the expensive painting my sister Elle had created for me on the living room wall.
I tried to hide my amusement that she’d actually gone ahead with her threat and called the police. My gutsy girl had a backbone. I liked that.
“Si.” I nodded. My smile dropped as I feigned concern. “Why? Is she okay? Has something happened?”
Marrone eyed me cautiously, assessing my worry. “She’s fine. But she believes you may have entered her apartment without her permission today.”
“Me?” I said with surprise. “Why would she think that?”
The doorbell rang again, and I knew it was Max. “Scuse, it’s my cousin. We’re supposed to be going to a family gathering this evening.”
Max walked in with an ‘everything good?’ look in his eyes, and I smiled wider to soothe his concern.
“This is Commissioner Marrone. My cousin, Maximus Buccini.”
Max shook his hand, dragging his other through his long beard with a deep frown. “Is there a problem, officer?” He was nearly as good an actor as I was.
“I hope there won’t be.SignorBuccini, how would you describe your relationship withSignorinaCaruso?”
I folded my arms across my chest with an arched eyebrow. “Well, I don’t like to kiss and tell, Officer. I’m a gentleman.”
He cleared his throat and stood a little straighter. I tried not to laugh at how awkward he suddenly appeared, knowing I’d just implied I was fooling around with the mayor’s daughter.
“It’s still early days, and we’re keeping it out of the public eye for now, but if I had to put a label on it,” I sighed. “I’d say we’re seeing each other.”
“Unfortunately, that is not the impression she has,SignorBuccini.”
I frowned, tilting my head. “Oh? How so?”
