Using the lush landscaping for cover, I sneak my way around to the blind side of the house, carefully avoiding the known angles of his security cameras. Reaching the rear structure, I pull myself up with practiced, silent agility, climbing up onto the glass-railed patio attached to Nino's master bedroom. I am prepared to pick the lock or shatter the glass if absolutely necessary, but fortunately, the patio door isn't even locked.
Arrogant bastard.
I slide the door open and slip into the air-conditioned bedroom, my footsteps making no sound against the thick plush carpet. Immediately, the muffled sound of running water echoes through the space. I walk in the direction of the master bathroom.
Nino is in the shower.
At first, I hesitate outside the doorway. I really don't want to go in there right now because seeing Nino naked was definitely not on my bingo card for this lifetime. But then I remember I have to make this look like a complete accident.
And what better way to stage a fatal, tragic accident than on a wet, slippery bathroom floor?
Shutting my eyes for a brief second, I take a deep breath, steel my stomach, and walk right in.
The glass shower door isn’t fully closed. The moment my heavy footsteps cross the threshold, Nino turns around, wiping water from his hair. "So, you decided to join me after all?"
I physically gag, a look of pure disgust twisting my features. "Fuck no."
Nino gasps, frantically brushing the water out of his eyes. His jaw drops and his eyes widen to the size of saucers when he realizes it’s not his wife standing there, but me.
He reaches out with a trembling hand to shut off the running shower water. "Alessandro? What the hell... why are you in my house?"
"I'm here to punish you for siding with Luca," I say, my voice deadpan and entirely freezing. "And the punishment for treason, Nino, is death."
Panic seizes him. He moves abruptly, trying to scramble out of the enclosure—I don't know if he was trying to run past me or reach for a weapon hidden in the vanity—but his wet foot completely loses traction on the slick marble tile.
He slips violently.
His body flies backward, and his head strikes the sharp stone edge of the shampoo and soap dispenser-bearing shelf with a sickening, heavy crack. The impact instantly stains the white porcelain with a bright smear of crimson.
"Oh." I stand perfectly still, watching him crash heavily onto the wet floor. Blood begins pooling rapidly around his head as his body goes into a desperate, uncoordinated struggle.
Karma, you fucking angel.
I didn’t even have to touch him.
I stand there with my hands in my pockets, calmly watching him twitch and struggle until the movement slows to a twitch, and then finally stops altogether. His eyes stare blankly up at the ceiling lights.
Perfect. A textbook tragic slip-and-fall in the shower.
I turn on my heel and leave the master bath, exiting the house the exact same way I came in, making sure to wipe down the patio door handle as I slide it shut behind me.
As I jog down the landscaped lawn back to my car, a dark, victorious chuckle escapes my throat. It’s been so damn long since things worked out for me so beautifully and effortlessly like this.
I jump back into the driver's seat and start the ignition, suddenly in a great fucking mood. Thank fuck. Now, it's time to go hunt down Luca.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
SIENNA
By the time I finish taking a long, scalding shower to wash off the sweat from the padel court, eat a light lunch, and spend an hour on the phone catching up with my sisters, a strange quiet has settled over the house. I look at the clock and realize I haven’t seen Alessandro since the moment we got home.
Before he vanished, he only mentioned he was having a quick meeting with Valerio. But to be honest, I don’t trust his intentions—not after what we found out about Nino on that drive home.
The look in Alessandro's eyes when he read Luca's reply wasn't just angry; it was calculated. Cold. Lethal. He claimed he wasn't sure what his next move would be, but I know him. A man like him doesn't just sit on a smoking gun and wait for the smoke to clear.
He’s up to something right now. I know it down to my bones.
I set my phone down on the bed, the pleasant distraction of my sisters' laughter fading instantly as reality sets back in. Standing up, I decide to go hunt down Valerio or check Alessandro's study. If he thinks he can leave me in the dark after I did the heavy lifting to get that traitor's phone, he has another thing coming.
