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“I’m going to regret this.”
He tapped on the screen and put his uncle on speaker phone. This was a huge gesture on his part. He was finally letting me in. There were no more secrets between us. I beamed at him and sat on the bed, bracing for impact.
“Uncle Jimmy.”
“Luca, what the hell were you thinking taking Donata to the club? For fuck’s sake, you had the chance to tell me the truth yesterday and you didn’t. I told you she was our priority.”
Don Gallo made my heart race. There was just something about his smoker voice and the hint of murder in his tone that put me on edge. He went on and on about how Luca had put me in danger by letting me inside the Stag Mansion. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Don Gallo was genuinely concerned for my well-being. Well, he was concerned for his investment.
While I was a bundle of terrified nerves, Luca listened to his uncle calmly. He didn’t even try to set the record straight by telling him I had gone to the club of my own accord and that I had not bothered to ask anyone’s permission.
“Tell the girl I’ve handled everything for her. The bouncer made a mistake. He’s been fired, and the membership has been notified of the misunderstanding.”
“I’ll make sure and relay your message to Donata. Anything else?”
“She doesn’t need to be scared. In fact, I’ve arranged for her to visit the club for tomorrow’s Gala. So she can see it’s not the kind of place she was led to believe.”
Right. I furrowed my brows at Luca. Talk about gaslighting. I was almost raped last night because of their fucked-up hunting games, and now Don Gallo wanted me to believe it was all a misunderstanding? What the hell was wrong with him?
“I’m not sure if she’d be up for it, but I’ll ask.”
“Good. Do that. We need her to be happy for at least the next few days. Will she be ready?”
Luca met my gaze. “She’s ready.”
“That’s my boy.” Don Gallo clicked his teeth. Now that he had seemingly defused the situation with the ‘whore’ stamp, his tone was less angry and intense. “I’ll send you the Gala details later.”
“He’s insane,” I said as soon as Luca ended the call.
“You don’t know the half of it.” He pinched the bridge of his nose before he met my gaze. “At least he got that Nathan asshole off our backs. You never have to go back to that place.”
“And now we know he owns the place.”
“What makes you say that? I looked into it before. His name didn’t come up. Or any other name for that matter. Though, I have to admit, he does seem to have a lot of pull.”
“More than that.” I padded across the room, just to be closer to him. “He’s worried about what they did to me. Not because of me. But because of what it is. Don’t you get it. What that club has going on is straight-up human trafficking. And if the Dons find out, they won’t stand for it. I mean, Don Buratti might look the other way. But I know Aunt Vittoria won’t. And she’ll make sure Don Valentino intervenes.”
“Donata.” Luca slow-blinked as he inhaled deeply. “Whatever you’re thinking, no.”
“I’m perfectly safe. Don Gallo himself promised you that.”
“No.”
“We have to.”
“Why?”
“Because if you and I want us to work, we need to make sure your uncle is on a very short leash. How do we do that? By proving one of his businesses is dealing outside what the Society board members, the Dons, deemed legal.” Adrenaline rushed through me as I considered all the possible outcomes. Don Gallo made a mistake. His mistake would be how Luca gained his freedom. “If Don Gallo knows he’s being watched, he won’t dare go after Aunt Vittoria.”
“I hate it when your crazy schemes make sense.” He rubbed the side of his face.
“We’re going to that Gala tomorrow night.” I beamed at him.
And just because I was on a roll, I decided to push my luck with Ava’s case. Luca wasn’t too happy about accepting my help. But my gut told me that until her murder was solved, Luca wouldn’t have peace. He didn’t deserve to carry this guilt with him anymore. She didn’t die because of him. I wanted him to know that.
“Don’t you want to ask about Ava? While we’re there, we can find out if the wait staff knew her. Maybe they know why she was there to begin with.” I kept going, even though Luca was looking at me like I was crazy. “Why did she need money? Why go to the club for help? Or your uncle? Ava was part of the staff. She knew the risks and chose to take the stamp anyway. Why?”
“You really don’t know when to stop. Do you?” He shook his head at me.
