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“Oh, and where do you work?”
“Here and there.” Her small talk was really irritating.
“Is it nearby?” I really wanted to get rid of her so that I could speak to my wife.
“Sort of,” I replied vaguely. “How long until you can get my script filled?”
“I’ll do it right away, sir,” she said, her tone sultry and her hips sashaying as she left the room.
Anni shot her a disparaging look as the door closed.
She turned to me with a beaming smile. “What good news! The doctor told me you haven’t had a heart attack, and it’s just an allergy.”
“Just an allergy?,” I repeated incredulously. “Anni, not only did you try to kill me again, but that fucking feline was in on it too!”
She tilted her head to one side as she looked at me. “You’re being a drama queen,” she said calmly. “How was I to know that you’re allergic to cats—you didn’t even know it yourself until the doctor told you today.”
“That’s not the point,” I blustered. “I’ve had as much as I can take of your cat. He has to go.”
“Now you’re being a real drama llama.” Her tone was patient. “Wilbur’s not going anywhere. The children, particularly Clara, would be heartbroken if he did. The doctor says that you just need to use an inhaler daily—as youshouldhave been doing already.”
I clenched my jaw. It was true, I didn’t use my preventative inhaler—because I usually felt fine without it. Anyway, a Made Man couldn’t carry around an inhaler—it was a sign of weakness and I didn’t want my enemies to know of any physical frailties that I had. “It’s weak to admit I have an allergy or that I have to use an inhaler.”
“My brother, Christian, takes antihistamines for his allergies—he makes no secret of it, and no one thinks any less of him as a Made Man.”
“What’s he allergic to?”
“Just about everything, according to him,” Anni responded.
“Yeah well, I’m not like your weird family. And while I’ll use the inhaler, as I’ve got no choice now, I won’t be mentioning it to anyone.”
CHAPTER 43
ANNUNCIATA
Lorenzo was released from the clinic that same day.
We needed to pick up the children from Cosima’s on our way home and headed there after we left the clinic. Or so I thought.
Although we had been headed in the right direction, after a while I noticed that we were traveling in circles and that Lorenzo was checking his rearview mirror even more than usual.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.
“Nothing.”
“I thought we were going to Cosima’s?”
“We are. But first, I need to make another stop concerning a business issue.”
“Don’t you think that you should rest today like the doctor advised?”
“The doc is an old woman. I’m perfectly fine now, and I’ve already missed nearly an entire day of work. I need to check on some things, otherwise they won’t get done.”
I knew he wasn’t going to be persuaded otherwise, so I sat back and tried to stop my exasperation at him from showing. This man, who’d thought earlier that he was stressed and might be having a heart attack, was refusing to go home and rest. Instead, we were repeatedly circling some dodgy neighborhood while Lorenzo checked that we weren’t being tailed.
Eventually, we pulled up at a shabby industrial estate, stopping in front of a factory.
“What is this place?”
