"They found his body."
Good. I looked away, staring out the window. That was the one thing I needed to accomplish before returning to the States. The family here might suspect what really happened. They weren't stupid. They’d know it was me.
But they wouldn't do anything about it. They'd spent years avoiding trouble. The last thing they’d want was to be dragged into a war over Pasquale. Especially after they learned what he'd been involved in. And I would make sure they knew.
"It's being ruled a homicide," Terzo continued. "The guard who set the fire is the prime suspect. The news is saying that after he lit the place up, he escaped. I killed him, of course. But they don’t know that. I had the cleaners dispose of him properly. We leftenough evidence behind for the authorities to connect him to the fire."
“Good,” I muttered, still staring out the window.
"I went through the guard’s belongings before handing them over to the cleaners. Did you know the Corradinis planted him there?"
“I found that out the night of the fire.”
"Apparently, he'd been reporting Pasquale's movements to them for months. Giving updates, watching things escalate between you and your cousin, and keeping the Corradinis filled in."
That explained a lot.
"The Corradinis wanted leverage over Pasquale. They also wanted insight into the casino situation. The night of the fire, the guard sent messages to his Corradini contact, letting them know you were at the estate. They told him to make sure neither you, Pasquale, nor the other guards made it out alive."
Those bastards.
"I need to handle the Corradinis,” I muttered through clenched teeth.
"You don't need to do shit. I already filled Enzo in on everything."
"And?"
"And Enzo plans to handle the Corradinis."
“This has nothing to do with the DeLucas.”
“Fuck that. They targeted the Cattaneo-DeLuca Casino and Resort. This has everything to do with us. Enzo already has Eve plotting their demise. And she promised not to involve the Cattaneos here in Italy."
I blinked. "What?"
Terzo nodded. "He's giving her something to do so she'll stop trying to get him to practice cooking with her."
For a second, I wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly.
"He'd rather have her plotting murder than cooking?"
"We'd all rather have her plotting murder than cooking,” Terzo told me. “She’s better at murder.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. The movement immediately reminded me that I'd been shot. Only Enzo DeLuca would trust his fiancée with a murder plot before trusting her in a kitchen.
At least he could plot murder with the woman he loved. That had to feel good. My thoughts drifted to Juliet. To the woman waiting for me on the other side of an ocean. Well, maybe not waiting. But I hoped she was.
Soon, I’d be able to focus my efforts on finding her and on avenging Marcel. For the first time in months, I wasn't worried about Pasquale. He could no longer meddle in my affairs. I wasn't worried about the casino.
Anthony, Davide, Julisa, and the others would keep things running smoothly. And Sienna would be there to help out the translators. The Corradinis would be dealt with by the DeLucas, so I didn’t have to worry about them.
As far as the authorities were concerned, a dead guard was responsible for what happened at Pasquale’s estate. Everything was finally falling into place. I could go home without wondering if I should have stayed and managed things myself.
It was sometimes hard for me to let others handle things. I proved that with the way I’d handled the Pasquale situation. But I was learning that it was okay to let others help, to let others in. It was okay to trust others with important things.
Maybe I should try trusting Juliet and not assuming she was up to no good just because she needed time away to focus on work. Trusting wasn’t easy for me. But I could try. I wanted to try.For her.I looked over at Terzo.
"I'll rest up here. Heal. Get better. Then I'll return home... To the States. It's time for me to leave Italy."
