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Yet, as I listen to Angel, my uneasy feeling about this situation won’t leave. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
“So, Carina is free to go? She can walk out of here and will no longer be a target?” I ask.
Angelus nods and, with a gentle smile, turns to Carina. “Your father’s death will not be on your hands.” The way he looks at her with kindness makes it hard to believe he killed his own sister.
But it’s the most dangerous of us who appear to be the kindest, isn’t it? The gentlest and most unassuming. They lure their prey with a false sense of security until they’re within reach, and then they strike.
Angel levels me with a considering look. “And I’m assuming there’s more we need to take care of. I’ve arranged a meeting with Evie O’Hanlon for tomorrow. I will make her a deal she can’t refuse.”
I want to ask what that is, but he waves his hand in the air.
“Take the deal, Luca, and then you and Ms. Scarpetta can run off into the sunset and do as you please.” His smile sharpens. “Within reason, of course.”
It’s clear to me that while he’s not formally a member of the Commission, Angel is setting himself up to be exactly that. “And what exactly are you getting out of this?”
Angel smiles and finishes his drink. Raising his empty glass, he continues to smile. “Progress, my friend. Progress.”
Chapter 29
Carina
Itcan’tpossiblybeover. Things don’t happen like that in our world. They end in blood and bruises and brokenness.
And yet…here we are.
After spending the night at the Valachi estate, which was both terrifying—because it was difficult to fully trust that someone wasn’t going to burst in and kill us at any moment—and exhilarating—because we were together, and despite our circumstances, felt safe enough to make love and then sleep relatively soundly—we’re heading into Manhattan for what I hope will be the final move in this chess game to end all chess games.
We’re going back to where it all began, the Bastoni e Pietre.
Outside the window of Angel’s SUV, the streets of New York flash by in a gamut of endless activity. I sit in the center of the back seat, Baccio and Luca flanking me protectively on either side. I run my fingers through the dog’s fur. Someone did me the courtesy of bringing him to me last night, and that single gesture, more than anything else, helped me trust that Angel Valachi meant us no physical harm.
Luca reaches over and takes my other hand, pulling it into his lap. Angel glances back at us in the rearview mirror, the corner of his mouth crooking up slightly.
At the Bastoni e Pietre, we file in toward the back of the main dining room and sit at a table in the rear, our backs to the wall. Angel’s guards position themselves at intervals beside us and around the room. There’s an absurd number of them, given the constraints of the Bastoni’s neutral status, but I don’t comment. Whatever a man needs to feel secure, I guess.
The same waiter who served me when I was here a lifetime ago, it seems, brings small plates and baskets of bread. Another follows with water. Angel eyes us and the two empty seats across from him. “We’ll have wine for the table, I think.”
“I’ll have a Bellini, actually,” I interrupt.
The waiter pauses and looks at Angel.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I scoff. “Do we need permission? Go get my Bellini.”
Angel chuckles, and the kid scurries away. Luca laughs outright and pulls my chin to him to kiss my mouth.
A throat clears, and we break away to see Evie O’Hanlon standing by the table, a sour expression on her face. “I hope I’m not interrupting,” she says, gaze fixed on me.
“Hello, Evie,” Angel says, rising. “Please, have a seat.”
Evie sits across from us, accompanied by a man I assume is her second-in-command. Several other men scatter around the room, eyeing Angel’s men distrustfully.
I look at Evie from beneath my lashes. She’s pretty—tiny and freckled, with dark brown hair and laughing deepblue eyes.
So very different from me.
Luca’s hand finds mine on top of the table, and his fingers thread through mine, squeezing in reassurance. It’s almost eerie, the way he seems to know exactly what I’m thinking.
“Would someone like to fill me in on what the hell is going on here?”
