Page 45 of Daddies of the Underworld

More guards lined the walls than ever before.

We stepped out, and I paused at the balcony, taking in the garden below us.

Guests spoke in clipped tones.

Men I’d shaken hands with yesterday avoided looking in our direction. Suspicion thickened the air to the point of suffocation.

“How bad?” I asked Luca while the men in suits gathered in groups near the trees.

Luca rubbed his hands down his face. “There will be accusations by noon. Threats not long after. Your policy of non-violence will help, but it might not hold long term. We need to figure this out. Now.”

Dante’s focus stayed on the door, tracking the people beyond it. “Any chance it was someone in that room?”

“Never outside the realm of possibility. Everyone in that room lost between eighteen and twenty percent. It would make sense they’d make it look like they were a victim.”

“We check them first.” I let my shoulders fall an inch. “Leave no stone unturned.”

Luca pushed away from the balcony and adjusted his cuffs. “I’ll keep them talking. If they start comparing theories without us in the room, they’ll turn on us. We are the perfect scapegoat, and they hate you on principle alone.”

“Keep Nina away from this.” I directed the order at Dante.

Both men went still, but it was Luca who answered. “She’ll hate that.”

Dante’s jaw shifted, not quite in defiance but close. “She knows something is wrong.”

“She will know what she needs to know. We are all suspicious of Marco’s arrival. I will not say otherwise, but no one brings that up until we have proof.” Even then, I might try and shield her from the truth of another betrayal. Years of trust unraveled overnight because of this. “When was the last time you saw Marco?”

“At dinner.” Both men answered me together.

“Good. Keep tabs on him.” I turned away from the balcony. “I’m going to check on Nina.”

They followed me despite Luca needing to keep the rest of the committee calm. He’d handle that with his usual charisma.

We found Nina near the private staircase, barefoot despite the stone floor, her hair loose around her face and fear widening her eyes. “Where’s Marco?”

Dante tensed behind me, the question cleaving between us.

Luca softened, but the tension remained locked around his body. “Nina.”

“No. Don’t Nina me.” She held up her hand in a stop motion. “No one will tell me anything. His room is empty. His bag is gone. Rosa hasn’t seen him since last night, and every guard I ask suddenly forgets how to speak.”

Fuck. My jaw tensed, anger at Marco for putting that look on Nina’s face turning my body cold. “We’ll look for him.”

Her mouth worked, relief crossing her face before concern took over. “What’s wrong?”

I weighed my options and decided truth served us best. I’d told them to keep Nina away from this, but Marco’s disappearance put her smack in the middle. “There has been a financial breach. Protected accounts were accessed and money was removed. If your brother has run, he might have information we need. He might have seen who did it.” He might have been the one who did it.

Nina must have read that part on my face, because she shook her head. “Marco wouldn’t know how to do that. He was scared. Too scared. But if he saw who did it, they might have threatened him.”

I let her talk. There was no need in ruining her fantasy about her brother until we had evidence.

“You think he did it.” She glared at me, then at Luca. “Don’t you.”

Luca said nothing, but his silence spoke volumes.

I stepped closer, hoping to mitigate the damage. “We don’t believe you are involved.”

“Well, that’s fucking fantastic, but I wasn’t worried about me.” Her face twisted with her sarcasm, and she crossed her arms over her stomach, her chin lifting. “My brother is innocent too.”