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He shrugged as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “Bob wants a drink,” he said, looking everywhere but in my eyes.
Hmm. “He does, does he? And how does Bob feel about chocolate milk?” I asked, crouching down to be eye level with Nic.
“He likes it,” he said solemnly.
“Well, good. And what about you? Do you want some chocolate milk?”
He nodded his little head enthusiastically.
“But you’ll have to brush your teeth after, okay? We want to keep showing your new dentist a perfect smile, right?” I figured that was the right move, not that I knew a single thing about parenting.
He gave another enthusiastic nod.
“All right, hop up,” I said, spinning around on my knees so he could climb up onto my back.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his green eyes widen with delight right before he lunged and wrapped his arms tight around my neck.
After getting a glass of chocolate milk for Nic from the kitchen, I piggybacked him up the stairs, first to the bathroom to brush his teeth, then back to his room. We agreed that Bob probably shouldn’t have chocolate milk this late at night since the skunk couldn’t brush his teeth afterward.
“Sweet dreams,ometto,” I said once I’d tucked his comforter up beneath his chin and flipped off the bedroom light. His eyes were already starting to droop.
I’d no sooner made it down the stairs when there was a knock on the Costas’ front door. This late at night? It had to be well after midnight.
Rafael, one of the tall, broad Costa men, appeared from the front parlor, looking entirely unperturbed. Actually, he looked downright bored, but Rafael kind of always looked that way.
When he opened the door, I blinked hard, fairly certain I wasn’t seeing right.
But the blinking didn’t help. Enzo Luciano was still standing on the Costas’ front porch. After midnight. By himself.
“Buonasera, SignorLuciano,” Rafael greeted him as he stepped back to let Enzo in.
Just a year ago, it would have been insane for any member of the Luciano family to show up at the Costas’ estate—anytime, day or night—but a lot had happened since then. Ties forged, and alliances formed. The Lucianos, Costas, Lucas, and even the Old Dogs had worked together so many times now, I think it was becoming commonplace. I guess that made us a bit of a criminal melting pot?
Enzo nodded to Rafael, then looked right past him. “I’d like to speak with you and Gabriel,per favore,”he said to me.
“Of course,” I said, because what else was I supposed to say?“No, sorry, I’ve pretty much had it with speaking tonight. I’d really just like to get to drinking.”Hmm, probably not a smart move.
I motioned down the hall toward the office from which the others had yet to emerge, then led the way and knocked on the mostly closed door.
When I pushed the door open and everyone in the room caught sight of the new arrival, I think just about everyone blinked.Oh good, at least it wasn’t just me.
“Buonasera,Enzo,” Nico greeted him first, standing up and extending his hand, welcoming Enzo into the room.
“Buonasera,Nico,” Enzo replied as he crossed the hardwood floor and shook Nico’s hand, nodding pretty much cordially to Ella and the men in the room.
Nico sat back down behind his desk and motioned to the chair I’d vacated, offering it to Enzo.
“No, grazie,” he said, waving off the offer. “This won’t take long.”
Nico nodded, waiting for him to continue.
“I’ve spoken to Deo about the man you’ve had trouble with—as you know, my own business was affected by this disturbance. I decided to look into the man on my own,” he said as he withdrew a thin, brown envelope from inside his jacket.
I looked at the envelope as my heart picked up its beat. Had Enzo figured out where Domínguez was hiding? Had he located the man’s victims? There could be answers in that envelope. Real answers.
“I met Domínguez’s father once—more than twenty years ago now,” he explained. “He had his son with him at the time. The boy was twelve years old.Thisis that boy,” he said, reaching into the envelope and pulling out a photograph.
Oddly, he handed it to me.
