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“Thank Alessandro,” I said, turning to my brother. “You are taking care of her.”
“Fine,” he said. “It’s fine.”
“Come on, let’s go,” I said. “You have a good evening, Luisa.”
“Thank you,” she said, nodding. “I should finish this cleaning and then see what your father wants for dinner.”
“He’s lucky to have you, you know?”
She shrugged. “I’m just doing my job.”
“Yeah, but you treat him better than any of his wives have,” I said softly. “And he doesn’t really treat you very well.”
“I’m his confidante,” she said. “And that’s enough.” She shrugged. “I guess if he goes to hell, I’ll be going there with him, too.” She looked bleak for a moment, her fingers rubbing the crucifix hanging around her neck.
“You’re not a bad woman, Luisa,” I said. “Just because you’re his housekeeper.”
“Ah, but the people you keep company with,” she said softly. “Those are the people that determine your fate.” She nodded. “Anyway, have a good evening.”
I nodded at her and then looked over at Alessandro. “Let’s go. We got to pick up Elisabetta, take her home, and then we’ll head over to Florence’s on Fifth.”
“Okay,” he said. “Shall we tell Dad?”
“Tell him what?” I said, shaking my head. I grabbed my phone and looked down at the screen, checking to see if I had any messages. I frowned as I saw that I’d had a missed text message from Callie from last night or maybe early this morning. I opened it, and there was a picture of her smiling in my bed. My heart melted for a couple of seconds, and then I hardened it. I read her note quickly.
“Miss you already. Come back to bed,” the message said. “I’m glad you’re not a mole anymore. I’m glad you let me in.”
I pressed my lips together. I wished I hadn’t told her about the fact that I considered myself a mole. I’d opened myself up to her in a way I’d never done to anyone else, and I wasn’t sure why. It hadn’t been part of my plan to draw her closer to me. I felt like we had a moment, and I’d wanted to share that with her, but now in the light of day, looking at this message, I realized that I made myself vulnerable as well, and that was the last thing I could be. I couldn’t break her heart and break her if I had feelings, though I wasn’t the sort of man that was made for feelings. I wasn’t the sort of man that was made for caring. The only person I gave a shit about was Alessandro and then, possibly Jimmy.
At the end of the day, no woman would ever have a place in my heart. Not even one like Callie Rowney. She was beautiful, sweet, and innocent, and she trusted me, and I’d destroyed that. I had my reasons, and I would continue with my plan. I would destroy her. And that would destroy her father. It was the reason I’d been living for the last several years. All I’d been waiting for was this revenge. And just because there’d been a slight glitch in the plan, it wasn’t done.
7
Callie
My room was surprisingly the same when I entered it. I looked around and stared at my ruffled sheets, the clothes on the end of the bed, and the posters on the wall. I looked over at Valentina’s side and saw the newspaper still lying on the top of her comforter. So she still hadn’t been back. What exactly had Antonio said to her? A part of me wished I worked for the CIA so I could tie her up and get her to give me some answers. I shook my head at my thoughts. Antonio had rubbed off on me already.
I blinked as I looked around. It was weird. Everything was still the same, and yet I was a different person. My entire life had changed, and yet the world hadn’t changed with it. I felt like I should have been entering a different universe and place, but everything was still the same, except for me. I was not the same person I’d been just the day before, and it had nothing to do with the fact that I was no longer a virgin.
I walked over to Valentina’s bed and stared down at the sheets. They were surprisingly clean, with not a drop of blood to be seen. Jimmy and whoever had helped him had cleaned up very well. I wondered when the police would talk to me, what questions they’d have for me.
And then I slapped my hand to my head. It was unlikely that Jimmy and Antonio had actually gone to the police. Since when did members of the Mafia file a police report? They’d most probably cleaned everything up and just disappeared into the night. For all I knew, they’d placed the horse’s head on the bed themselves. I’d contact the police department and find out.
I really hoped that Valentina would come back to the room. I needed to talk to her. I needed to find out what she’d known and why she’d done it. Why she’d set me up. Surely, she wasn’t that cruel. We weren’t friends, but we’d lived together since freshman year, and while I knew she liked to make fun of me and thought I was just a little girl living in a dream world, I thought she’d respected me, even if just a little bit.
I headed over to my bed, sat on the mattress, and lay down. I stared up at the ceiling. My phone rang, and I was going to ignore it, but I stared at the screen to see if it was Antonio calling me. It was Imogen. I picked up.
“Hey,” I said, my voice a monotone. I couldn’t even fake happiness at this point. And Imogen was my closest friend; she wouldn’t want me to feign happiness.
“Oh my gosh. Where are you, Callie? I have been trying to call you forever.” Imogen sounded annoyed, and I took a deep breath. Imogen was insufferable when she was in one of her moods.
“I would hardly say forever. I just spoke to you recently,” I said in a dull tone.
“What’s wrong? You sound like shit,” she said, ever the diplomat.
“You won’t believe me if I tell you,” I said, wanting to cry. The enormity of everything that had happened had suddenly hit me. I hated that I had to deal with it all alone.
“What’s going on? You don’t sound good.”
