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Nico
* * *
Iknow who might have seen her. I also know I need to speak to her in person. I can’t risk Giovanni finding out we’ve been talking.
I get Matteo to call Santina, tell her there’s a problem with one of her bank accounts. She arranges to meet him at our restaurant on Fifteenth Street.
When she turns up, I’m watching from my car. She’s alone. That’s good. I give it a couple of minutes to make sure no one’s following her in. Then I go inside and find her and Matteo in the far corner.
She looks up when she sees me and her black eye is fading but she’s got a thick scarf on despite the heat outside. I reach out and move the scarf. She winces but doesn’t stop me. Bruises on her neck.
“I’m all right,” she tells me before I get chance to say anything.
“It’ll be over soon,” I reply. “As long as you help me.”
“Help you with what?”
I nod to Matteo. He leaves the two of us alone, heading to the front door to watch for Giovanni.
“Take a seat,” I say to Santina.
She slips into the booth and I sit opposite her, looking at the way her face is paler yet again. Every time I see her, more color has drained from her like she’s a poor quality xerox of herself.
“What’s this about?” she asks. “Matteo said you needed to talk to me. Why not ring me?”
“Has Giovanni said anything to you about Rory?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“He’s locked her up somewhere but I don’t know where.”
She puts her hand to her mouth. “Oh, God,” she says, her voice muffled behind her fingers. “That’s who he was talking about.”
“What? What did you hear?”
She looks over to the door like she thinks he might burst in at any moment. “He’ll kill me when he finds out I told you, Nico.”
“What did you hear?” My heart is thumping. If she clams up now, I’m screwed. I have to keep from yelling, demanding she tell me.
“He was talking to someone on the phone about the Moretti mansion. Said something like ‘the basement is the perfect place for her.’ I didn’t know what he meant but it must be that.”
“What basement?”
“He can’t mean our place. We don’t have one.”
I think of the Red Dwarf episode. Her favorite one. Right by me so he can laugh at me. The idea hits me at once. The Moretti mansion basement.
I’m already on my feet when Santina tugs at my arm. “But why, Nico? Why would he do it?”
“She’s pregnant,” I tell her, squeezing her fingers lightly. “Pregnant and married to me. Soon as the commission find out, I become Don as per my father’s wishes.” I don’t tell her about the wedding being a sham. I’ll resolve that as soon as I find her.
She knows what it means if Rory is pregnant. I don’t need to spell out the rest. Once I’m Don, Giovanni’s kickbacks disappear. The money coming into his coffers dries up. His position in the famiglia crumbles.
I can see in Santina’s face that she thinks she’ll bear the brunt of his rage over this. “Don’t worry,” I tell her, managing a smile. “I won’t let him hurt you. Go with Matteo. He’ll keep you safe until I get back.”
She shakes her head. “No one can keep me safe from him.”
“Trust me.” I wave Matteo over. “Go with her, Matteo. Take her to my place.” I give him the address of my private place, the one on Maple where I first took Rory. “Don’t let her leave your sight until I get back, got it?”
