Page 134 of The Beast Who Begged Me

“He was at the Obelisk that night. Before the bidding started. He kept saying it.”

“To you?”

“No, to the Russians. ‘It will be advantageous to you.’ Over and over. I remember thinking he should find another word. Then I used it myself. A private amusement, you understand.”

“Who was he?”

“I don’t know. Someone trying to do business with them. I think he wanted to pool money for the auction.”

I keep my eyes on Dami. “You hadn’t seen him there before?”

“No. That’s why I noticed him.”

“What did he look like?”

“Fifties, maybe sixties. Graying. Unremarkable.”

“But you remember what he said.”

“He was trying very hard to convince people.” There’s a little contempt in his voice now. “But every sentence had a condition. If they agreed to this, he could do that. Clauses, percentages. A financier, perhaps.”

I flatten my hand beside the phone. “Or a lawyer?”

“Perhaps.”

Dami stares at me.

Advantageous. My mother used that word when she talked about her marriage agreement. King described an older man in a decent suit, a visitor who claimed to represent someone interested in the ring, but who left when the bidding became too expensive. Marcello remembered a man of a similar description trying to raise enough money to bid, negotiating in clauses and percentages.

And I’ve been looking for someone who could have known details about Clemenza business dealings. Someone close enough to my grandfather to know what was contained in the ring.

A man who’d spent years putting the Clemenza Family’s affairs in order, say. Who knew the line of inheritance.

“Thank you, Marcello,” I say. “You’ve been very helpful. Say goodbye to Tiberius for me, would you?”

I end the call. Dami is still staring at me, waiting for me to say it. To confirm it.

“It was Uncle Tony,” I sigh. “All this time.”

CHAPTER 41

DAMIANO

The following afternoon, Tony Stuccio is brought to the Clemenza townhouse with Victor Gallo holding his arm, and two more hopeful ex-Gees accompanying them. Stuccio’s coat is buttoned wrong, his expensive shoes are muddy, and he’s telling them what a serious mistake they’ve made. He shuts up when he sees me waiting inside the door.

“Orsini.” He tries to straighten, but Gallo keeps hold of him. “What in the name of God is⁠—”

“Bring him up,” I tell the men, and they pull him up the stairs and to the study, where he must have met with Lou Clemenza regularly.

“Hello, Uncle Tony,” Caligula says from behind the desk. “Come in.”

Gallo drags him across the room and deposits him in the chair we’ve set in front of the desk. The others stay by the door while he secures Stuccio’s hands to the chair.

They’ve done what Caligula asked, without adding any damage of their own, which is promising. Resisting the urge to knock this asshole’s teeth out takes discipline.

“He had these.” Gallo sets a phone, wallet, and keys on the desk, then looks at Caligula. “Anything else, Don Clemenza?”

“Wait downstairs. I’ll let you know when we’re finished.” Caligula gives each of them a look before they leave. “Thank you.”