“At least. I’m sleeping on the floor now. Did you know that? She gets too hot with me in the bed. Too hot. With me in the bed. Says I’m like a furnace and she’s going to smother me with a pillow if I don’t get out.”
“I’d fucking smother you if you were in my bed.” Marco pours a drink.
Clayton and I laugh, but Dante just shakes his head.
“Funny. Just wait till it’s your turn. I hope Karina has twins. Triplets! And makes you drive an hour and a half at two a.m. to get her fish tacos specifically from the late-night food truck she loves on the coast, and then changes her mind when you get back and sends you out again for ice cream instead.”
Marco shakes his head. “Two words, Dante. Not. Happening.”
Dante slaps our youngest brother on the back. “You’ll figure it out when it’s your time. There’s nothing you won’t do for the mother of your child. Nothing.”
I notice Clayton looking away, his smile fading. I’ve wondered about him and Charlie not having kids, but it’s not my business so I haven’t pressed him on the matter. Now, I file away his reaction for later. You never know when a hunch might turn into a fact might turn into a weapon.
Dante is right, though. Family is everything. That’s why I do the things that I do to keep everyone safe.
My brothers have wives. A new generation of Bellantis is coming. Despite Marco’s mouth and big talk, we all know how devoted he is to Karina. Like any true and good man, he’d do anything to keep her safe. As for me, I’m keeping the shadow of threat from Sicily at the forefront of my mind. And I won’t stop until we find the man with the tattoo.
It’s time for Candi to earn her keep.
I have a job for her to do.
11
CANDI
I can’t believeI’m actually doing this.
Cool, damp air washes over my face and forearms as I slowly descend a dark staircase into the mouth of the beast—aka the Deep Cellar.
My heart pounds so hard I can feel it throbbing in my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins, every nerve on high alert. I’m using my cellphone as a flashlight, but I’m shaking so badly I can barely see what’s in front of me. Pausing, I hold my breath and strain my ears for any sound. So far, so good.
The fear of getting caught has me taking every possible precaution, from keeping all the lights off to tiptoeing around in my stocking feet. If someone finds me, I’m screwed. I have zero excuses for being here and I’d just get sent straight to Armani anyway, so I don’t have a cover story. Making up some elaborate lie would be pointless. It’d just piss him off even more.
All I can do is not get caught.
Admittedly, going into the Deep Cellar after beingexplicitlytold not to is one of the dumbest, most reckless things I’ve ever done. But I haven’t been able to get it off my mind since mentioning it to Juliana, and gathering information is what I came here to do. If Armani doesn’t want me down here, there must be something worth finding.
People don’t lock away things that don’t have value.
Following that logic, I figured a place surrounded by a security gate wouldn’t exactly be a cake walk to get into. So for the last few days, I’ve been “working from home,” after explaining to Armani that Mr. Sprinkles is having tummy trouble and needs round-the-clock kittysitting. Armani frowned, but didn’t object.
What he didn’t know was that I’ve been holed up in his walk-in closet, staring out that one perfectly positioned window all day long, waiting for someone to go into the Deep Cellar and show me how it’s done.
My surveillance has paid off.
Every four hours, day and night, a two-man security team—driving around in one of the vineyard’s ultra-rugged utility vehicles—checks the perimeter of the entire Bellanti property, from the entrance gates to the winery’s guest parking lot to the horse stables and the actual vines. Their perimeter check includes the Deep Cellar, of course. Multiple times a day, just like clockwork, I’ve been able to observe one of the guards hopping out to punch in a code at the Deep Cellar’s security gate, then climbing back into the UTV so the two guards can drive around the stone building and make sure everything is in order.
Interestingly, they never go inside.
More interestingly, there are zero lights on the building’s exterior…and since there are no windows, there’s never any light visible from inside the place either. I guess to keep the cellar as off-the-grid as possible. Obviously, someone wants that place to be invisible. It gives me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach if I think about it too much.
I’ve also learned that once the guards are done with their Deep Cellar rounds, and they drive back out through the security gate…it automatically opens for them.
Meaning, no code or clicker required to get out of the place.
Meaning, that gate is motion activated once you’re inside its perimeter.
Meaning, if one were to hurriedly sneak in through the open gate when the guards drove through for their evening look-see, one could potentiallywalk right outagainafter having their own look-see. One just had to be sure that one stuck to the shadows, so as not to be observed.
