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“If I don’t it’ll be like she won.” He stuck that stubborn chin out and I stepped close, reaching for him and cupping that chin, scraping the light stubble.
“Piccolo mio, you said you didn’t want to be like the others.” I didn’t give him a chance to answer because it had been too long since I had tasted what was mine. I leaned down and capturedhis lips, my other arm circling his waist and drawing him close. I expected him to either fight or to melt into me as he always id. I actually preferred the fights, it made his surrender so much sweeter, but this time he seemed to accept my touch, staying almost unaffected. I broke off because alarm bells weren’t just ringing at his immediate compliance, they were sounding a four-alarm fire.
I didn’t let go, but moved my attention to his neck, letting him take a breath. “Why do you feel you need to go?”
“Because while I dislike Sofia, I’d like to meet the others. If they’re all bitches, at least I tried.”
I leaned back, took in his guilty expression, and swore silently. Did he think I didn’t want him to have friends? Gia’s words came back to me. That Alessandro hadn’t left the property in the last two years, and that was only the period we’d tracked. I doubted if he’d left the property since he was fourteen.
I glanced down and took in the designer ripped jeans and the black long-sleeved tee shirt that looked so good on him I wanted to rip them off. “I know I also need to arrange the visit to your mamma. How did you talk to your mamma before?” I knew he hadn’t left the house and didn’t have a phone. I felt him tense, sure I was going to get a lie for some reason but no idea why.
“Rocco,” he whispered, “but never in private and I had... The same way as yesterday,” he added quickly, and the four-alarm turned into an inferno.
“What were you going to say?” I asked, deceptively quietly.
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied and raised his head at me.
It did, and my imagination worked overtime. The image of Alessandro in the exact same position as the gardener’s daughter made me want to vomit. For both of them.
“I promise we will talk, but not now.” He laid a hand on my arm.
I nodded and kissed the top of his head. I hated it but I wanted him to know he had choices now. “I’ll arrange for you to have your own iPad and phone. I’m sorry, I should have thought of that yesterday.”
I wasn’t expecting gratitude, obviously, but the fact that he just nodded into my chest was puzzling. I thought he’d be pleased I had no intention of keeping him a prisoner. I also didn’t understand why he wasn’t pushing for more. This calm acceptance wasn’t the spitfire I had married. Something else, and I didn’t know what, was going on. Was he about to betray me with his uncle? Was that why he couldn’t care less about a phone?
I stepped back. “You go ahead. I have a couple of phone calls I have to return.” Then I was taking the rest of the afternoon off, with him.
I immediately called Gia and related what had happened. “Do we have camera and audio covering Sofia’s visit? I need to know what they discussed.” Gia confirmed he would send it to my phone, and I heard a notification alert while I was still talking to him. “I asked Alessandro how he used to talk to his mamma, and he told me Rocco arranged it in the same way I did yesterday. Is there any way you can get a copy of those calls?”
Gia hummed to himself. “Possibly. Depending on the device he used.”
“You told me nothing was ever truly deleted from a computer,” I reminded him.
“If that’s what he used,” Gia said. “Not all devices record and those that do are often wiped after so many days.”
I sighed. “Try?”
“It might be easier to track what the nursing home used. They’re more likely to record calls for their own security and insurance purposes. I’m on it.”
I opened the door to find Lucio standing with Alvize and beckoned Lucio inside, leaving Alvize waiting. “What happened?”
“Sofia turned up alone,” Lucio said. “Alvize had gone to speak to Riccardo and George, who were watching the beach. But we have a deeper issue than the fact that Marcus and Emelio let Sofia just enter the house.” I arched a brow and waited. “All the protection you have arranged have all worked for you longer than Alvize. You made Alvize responsible for Alessandro’s protection without making it clear to the others that Alessandro’s protection is his responsibility. That he calls the shots.” Lucio rubbed his temple. “That is more my error than yours. They think he is new and don’t answer to him. He wants to make changes to the current security protocols but doesn’t have either our backing or authority to do so. You’ve made it clear you don’t trust him in front of the others.”
I swore loudly. I was tempted to bring everyone in and tell them myself but that would undermine Lucio. “Then I will leave you to handle this.”
Lucio nodded but before I left the study, I turned back to him. “There’s a gardener at Elisabetta’s. He has a daughter. Find out their details and arrange for them to be relocated, including his family, with jobs or college funding as needed. In fact, go through all the staff with my authority. Wages, working conditions, etc.”
Lucio nodded and I ignored the humor in his eyes. I turned, walking into the kitchen, and paused a moment, watching Alessandro hug Nonna. It looked totally genuine. Then another thought hit me. Alessandro had said he was going to collect his mamma as soon as Sofia left for the wedding, but then what?
As far as we knew, he had nowhere to live, no transportation, and no cash to pay for any of it. Roughing it was technically possible. Even getting on a bus with cash he might have hadsomewhere in the house, but with a vulnerable older woman? Exactly what was Alessandro going to do?
Nonna was delighted to see me, and I ate with the three of them, noting Alessandro barely pushed the food around. I watched Alessandro and Nonna and struggled to believe he had an ulterior motive as they seemed to be becoming close. Imelda was naturally shy, but I included her in all conversation, and after we had eaten, I told her she could leave early as I was taking the rest of the day off to stay at home.
Imelda jumped up obediently, but I caught her arm briefly before she disappeared and told her to find Lucio and arrange for her car to be replaced. I’d noticed the piece of shit tucked away behind the house as I arrived and knew it must be hers. She’d stammered her thanks, and Nonna had announced she too was going out because Maria Grecco had a doctor’s appointment, and her waste of space son hadn’t offered to accompany her. I knew she would find Lucio and arrange transport and that he would take care of it.
Which just left me and Alessandro.
“That was kind of you.”
