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“You’re a smart woman, Heidi,” he said after a long moment. “Why do you think I want that money?”
Apparently, I was to concoct my own noble reason for his endeavor. Rather lazy of him, in my opinion.
I opened my mouth to spout the obvious explanation, but then paused as another possibility jumped to mind.
“If you don’t care about the money, then what you care about is making sure Elio doesn’t get his hands on it.”
He nodded ever so slightly.
“But he’ll know you have the money,” I continued, “and that means he’ll have to come after you to get it.” Not that I expected to find a pot of gold hidden under the floorboards of an old building.
“Si.”
I took another step back as an uncomfortable sensation writhed in my veins.
“You’re trying to goad Elio into a confrontation… so you can kill him.”
I was tempted to imagine two bulls butting heads, but this man was a lion, strong and powerful, and Elio was a gazelle. The gazelle didn’t confront the lion; it ran.
But Amadeo was shaking his head. “I’m trying to draw him away from one target and onto another. But yes, I will kill him.”
“What if you’re wrong about him? If you have the money, then can you not just leave him be?”
“That isn’t how this works,perla.”
“But you say you’re trying to draw him from one target to another—to you, presumably. What if he doesn’t come after you?”
“Then I’ll find him.”
I shook my head. “I can’t let you do that.”
He looked down at me with an amused smile on his face, like he was looking at an ornery toddler and not a full-grown woman. “I’m asking for your help nicely. Don’t make me ask for it the not-nice way.”
Despite his smile, a cold sensation skipped down my spine. I should have run when I’d had the chance. But like before, I wouldn’t cower now.
“I can’t be party to Elio’s death any more than I could have let your man bleed out on the floor. That’s not who I am, Amadeo.”
He looked back at me, those piercing eyes peeling off layer after layer. What I wouldn’t have given to do the same to him, to see exactly what lay beneath.
He looked away after a moment, then nodded.
Was he conceding? Had I won? It seemed unbelievable.
“Help me,” he said, “and I won’t make a move on Bianchi unless he makes a move first.”
Not a complete win, then. “And if I refuse?”
He shook his head slowly. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
I shivered, clenching my hands tightly to hide it. “Fine,” I conceded. “I haven’t anything better to do anyway, it seems,” I said, trying to retain some sense of autonomy.
Somehow, I think I fell about a mile short.
***
“They look terrible,” I said, looking up at the six-story, red-brick buildings that stood nearly side-by-side. Half the windows were boarded up and the molding around them looked like it was crumbling, nothing like the vague recollection I had of them. “Your family bought these properties?”
Amadeo nodded.
