Page 68 of Enduring Caine

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Page 68 of Enduring Caine

Cristian wrapped an arm around my waist, like he was about to catch me. “Are you alright?”

No, I was not alright. Far from it. I ground out through clenched teeth, “My arm is killing me.”

“Go lie down, my boy,” said Zio Giovanni, placing the disc back on the table.

“It’s just an arm.” Leonardo huffed and shouldered past me to pick up the tiny camera. “When the cleaner came in after your girlfriend broke her wineglass—”

A shiver ran through me. That’s when she dropped it.

“—they found this next to the crates. It looks like a small camera.”

I swallowed hard, both from the truth and the pain. “The crates?”

Giovanni snatched it from Leonardo, curling his fist around it. “Let’s go to the security control room. Check the videos and find out which of the delivery men brought it. Then we track him down.”

Acid churned in my stomach. That video would surely show Samantha taking photos and dropping the camera. I had to do something. But what?

Chapter 30

Samantha

Twofloorsbelowthemain level of the tower, Henri held the thick oak door with its iron bands open for me, granting access first to a wide stone staircase. As we stepped through, he flipped on a light, illuminating a wine cellar that looked a great deal like the cave below us.

Rough-hewn arched ceiling, wooden casks lining one wall, and terracotta coves for bottles along the other. My hand glided along the cool metal railing, descending into the most stunning wine cellar I’d seen in my life.

Henri walked two steps behind me. “The casks in this room are all from Signore Ferraro’s vineyard.”

“This room?” The floor was smooth stone, a layer of sand dusted across it to absorb moisture.

Once Henri was off the stairs, he came next to me, pointing down the long, narrow room. “It takes a turn at the end to a tasting room with table, chairs, and more wine.”

Unseen lamps lit the casks from behind, casting an eerie glow, while wall sconces flickered with electric lights. “Just imagine—this place is old enough that those sconces would have been torches once upon a time.”

“You can almost feel the history, can’t you?” He walked next to me, gesturing toward the end. “I’ll get the wine thief once Antonio gets here for a barrel sample, but there’s another a bottle I want to pull for you to taste. You can keep going and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I cast a glance over my shoulder. How long would Antonio be? Was his arm really bothering him that much? Had he found Elliot’s camera? My gaze flew around the room, attempting to appreciate the moment and calm my raging heart. I maintained a look of awe and wonder, while pinpointing a single bullet camera, trained on the door. Antonio had warned me the place had eyes, but I’d never expected so many. “Should we wait for Antonio?”

“No need, he knows where we are.”

I nodded, something not sitting right with me. It wasn’t Henri. It was this space. There was a scent in the air that was off.

A good wine cellar had no smells in it, other than those you wanted to seep into the wine. I’d worked a few insurance claims for sommeliers in restaurants and estates, but nothing this grand.

“Does it always smell like this?”

Henri paused in front of a row of bottles and raised his nose, inhaling deeply. “Wet stone. Red fruit. Cranberries. Cork. A hint of salt.”

All those scents were there, but there was something else. I sniffed. Quick bursts. Something musty. Or it was frayed nerves. “I must be imagining things. You nailed everything.”

He smiled and returned focus to the rows of stacked bottles. How did anyone find anything down here?

“I’m going to head further back.”

Henri inched a bottle out, turning it slowly to see the label. “I’ll be right there once I find my bottle. Johann may have moved it as a joke.”

At the bend in the cellar, an arch of flat red bricks formed the transition into the next room. More casks, more bottles, but instead of being long and narrow, the room widened into a circle. At the center, a ten-foot round table with six chairs around it.

Two barrels sat on their ends by the far wall, next to an ancient free-standing cupboard. Ornately carved wooden doors in the bottom and top hid unknown treasures, while a row of crystal bottles held liquids in all shades from clear to amber to dark brown.




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