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“Not real jail.” I moved to stand between Luca and the door. “He already told us everything he knows.”
“How do you know?”
“He all but pissed his pants when you beat him up.” I braced my hand on his chest. “Let him go. The person we want to talk to is that woman.”
“I’ll go make sure she’s okay. Maybe she’ll talk to me.” Santino smiled at me then headed toward Nathan, who was still berating the poor waitress.
“Who’s that guy?” Rex asked.
“Um.” For a second I considered not telling him. I didn’t want Rex or the others to come to my defense tonight. Unfortunately, though, they needed to know what they were up against. Something wasn’t right with this guy. He was so entitled. “That’s the Nathan we told you about.”
“Fucker.” He made to go after him, but I stopped him too.
“Luca already taught him a lesson for what he did. Please don’t make a scene. We need to find out why that woman is so afraid of him.” I glared at Nathan.
“I can’t stand him.” Luca’s chest rose and fell as he tried to calm down for the sake of the mission. “He’s a sadist.”
“Why does he act like he owns the place?” Enzo stepped toward Nathan too.
“I think he knows more than he says,” Luca said under his breath.
“This isn’t the place to push him. You’ll just get us thrown out.” I pursed my lips. “And I very much want to see what this new person has to say.” I glanced up at Luca, silently begging him to stand down. I understood his pain, but we had to play it smart. “Maybe she knew Ava.” I did a double take behind me. “He’s gone. And she’s leaving with Santino.”
“Tell him to meet us in my suite. Upstairs, fourth door on the right.”
“On it.” I typed a quick message.
When we reached the ballroom door, Santino nodded and ushered the woman toward the grand staircase that led to the private suites upstairs. “How did you manage to get one of those?”
“It belongs to Uncle Jimmy.”
“He has a room here?”
“I think it’s shared space.” He shrugged. “But we have it for the night.”
We waited another minute. My heartbeat spiked when Santino disappeared behind the door. If this new clue with the woman didn’t pan out, we would have to go home empty-handed. I didn’t want Luca to feel like he was back to square one. He’d come too far only to reach another dead end.
“What’s the play here?” I asked, reaching for the door handle. “Do we all just ambush her?”
“Why not?” Luca pushed the door open and gestured for us to go in.
The moment the woman saw the three men blocking the only exit, she panicked and made a break for it. Rex stepped back to block her, while Enzo grabbed her from behind to make her look at me.
“I’m sorry.” I put my hands up in a feeble attempt to show her that we didn’t want to hurt her. “We just want to talk. Please. It’s about Ava Conti.”
CHAPTER26
Where's the Fucking Card?
Donata
Every time I said her name aloud, I got the same exact response from people—recognition then sadness. Except for Nathan, he didn’t even know she was dead. He’d been surprised but hadn’t really cared.
“You knew her, yeah?” I met Enzo’s gaze.
He released her then flushed his body against the door. If I were trapped in a suite like this one with four strangers, I’d be scared too. But as sorry as I felt about her current situation, I couldn’t let her go.
“Okay, um, let’s start with introductions.” I offered her my hand. “I’m Donata Salvatore. This is my fiancé Luca.” I smiled at Luca, who gave me an encouraging nod. “Behind you, that’s my friend Rex. Enzo.” I pointed at him.
