AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, you don’t.”
“Fantastic. Then we’re off to a good start.” He raises one brow. “As I was saying, Massimo knows what happened in Paris. And so do I.” He spreads his arms. “The driver outside the hotel recognized you.”
Shit.
I was so preoccupied that night with getting to Callie and making sure she wasn’t being taken advantage of by those two drunk Euro-fucks that I didn’t even stop to wonder if the driver who tipped me off that Luca might be inside might himself be tipped off byme.
“When his boss wouldn’t answer his phone, and when said boss was discovered to bemissingonce he went looking for him, he put two and two together.” Dante spreads his hands. “Et voila.”
I just keep staring at him coolly.
“So why am I not dead yet?”
Dante smiles. “Well, now, there’s the good news. Luca was…not popular with the other heads of The Commission. Michael was being diplomatic and putting it mildly just now. The truth is, Luca was utterly reviled. He was a drunk, a cheat, a lech, and a sadist. He wasn’t loved at that tableat all, and he was loved even less so by his son. You killing that pig was the nicest present you could’ve given Massimo.”
I frown. “So, what—he’s showing me mercy out of gratitude?”
Dante chuckles. “Sort of. Hating his father or not, honor and reputation and all that nonsense would still require Massimo to kill you for killing Luca—if it’sknownthat you killed Luca.”
“But he does know.”
Dante sighs a little impatiently. “Yes, but nobodyelsedoes.”
I arch a brow. “You do.”
“Yes, well… I make it my business to knoweverything, Mr. James.”
“And the driver?”
“Oh, he’s dead,” Dante says flatly with zero emotion. “Massimo.” He shrugs, as if that explains everything. “As I said, only he and I know. And he doesn’t want it getting out that Luca was killed. The story of the heart attack has to be universally believed.”
“And why is that?”
“Because three days before Luca’s”—Dante puts his fingers up to make air quotes—“heart attack, he wrote a lovely legal will naming his son next in line for the Carveli throne, and heir to his entire fortune. Which was really a plot twist, considering that not a month before that, Luca had signed off onanotherwill that basically said the exactopposite.”
My brows knit together as I rake my fingers down my jawline. “So why the sudden change of heart?”
“Ah,” Dante smiles. “That’s the fun part. Therewasno change of heart. His heart was already no longer beating when he allegedly wrote this will. The date on it, a week before his alleged heart attack, was four daysafteryou made him disappear in that hotel suite.”
Oh.
“So Massimo forged a will after his father died, giving himself the keys to the kingdom.”
Dante nods.
I drum my fingertips on the table. “But if this is a non-issue with Massimo, why the fuck is he thumping his chest about Calliope Drakos and the marriage blood-marker we had with his father?”
Dante chuckles. “You must not know many Italians, Mr. James. Testosterone. Machismo. Bravado. The usual Italian shit. So, rest assured your new wife is safe in your hands. And my…” his lips curl. “Informedopinion is that these street rumors about Massimo’s anger regarding your recent wedding are simply that: rumors, and nothing more.”
I nod. “Well then, that just brings me to the only other question I have.”
Dante grins. “Why am I telling you all or any of this?”
“Bingo.”
He shrugs. “Because the king is dead. Long live the king.” He smiles grimly. “I make it my business, Mr. James, to make friends in high places. Hopefully, this will set us up for a mutually beneficial and profitable friendship.”
I make a mental note to kick Hades in the nuts for putting me in bed with this fucker, because I’m pretty sure I trust Dante about as far as I can throw him. But I’m also good at reading people, and while his intentions might be suspect, I get the impression that the information itself is solid.
