Page 71 of Enduring Caine
Safe? What did that mean?
The operator switched primary displays so we could all see Henri. I wavered toward the door, my first instinct to run to her rescue. But I couldn’t leave the video review in case they continued.
“It’s Johann. He’s dead.”
Leonardo barely glanced at Cristian, and the two sped out, along with one of the men who’d been at the desk. The other calmly worked the computer system in front of him, sending out a priority message to the entire team.
“Lockdown initiated, signore,” he said.
“Lockdown?” I said, dragging my hand through my hair. “What’s going on, Zio?”
“Send a message to Cesca,” said Giovanni, ignoring my question. “Tell her to get to her room and lock the door.”
“Zio!” I said, clamping a hand on his arm. “Samantha was in the wine cellar with Henri.”
My uncle nodded. “Send a message to Vincenzo. Have him escort Samantha to her room and stand guard at her door. No one in or out.”
“Vincenzo again,” I spat. “She should have been with me in Napoli all along. Coming here was a mistake.”
Gio’s lip curled. “Pick your battles wisely, boy.”
“Are you threatening me now?” I growled, the first time I’d ever raised my voice to Giovanni. “Go ahead. Prove that all your words have been empty. Prove to me you’ve not changed an ounce.”
“I’m under attack and you make this about you.”
“No, Gio, it’s about you, like it always is.” About his need for power and control. His need to own and consume. “You’renot the one who’s dead. Johann is.”
“Get out.” He smacked the chair in front of him, and the man launched from his seat, making a hasty escape. Once the guard was out of the room, Giovanni sank into the chair, his hands easing over the control board. He swapped videos and resumed play on the gallery display. “Itisabout you, Antonio. You, your father, and the rest of the family.”
On a video to the side, Leo, Cristian, and two other men charged into the wine cellar. They burst past Henri, running the length of the room.
“Samantha and I are—”
“Not leaving.” He hit a button to pause the main video of the gallery and pointed to a spot on the floor at Samantha’s feet.
I froze, the excuses dying on my tongue. It was the camera, near the shards of her wineglass, plain as day.
“You’re a terrible liar, Antonio.” He swiveled in the chair, looking at me with impassive eyes. “How the others all missed this on fast-forward, I’ll never know.”
“It wasn’t her—”
He raised a hand to cut me off. “Don’t insult me with your pathetic excuses. Leonardo was right about her all along.”
Some combination of keys or buttons would delete that video, then there’d be no proof. No one would come after her. But Giovanni had this information to hold over us, and his word was the only one which mattered here.
He stood slowly, raising himself to his full height, tilting his head back. Still shorter than me, but his spirit took up all the air in the room. “Do you know what happens to people who betray me?”
“What’s it to be, then?” My stomach churned, anger battling with terror. If he’d known the camera was ours, why play this game? “You hand us over to Leo? Torture us? Have us beaten?”
“You were once part of my family. I trusted you with my life.” He stepped closer, but I gave no ground.
“I took a bullet for you, Zio.” Years of rage bubbled up, pouring over the edge. “And you had nothing to say about it. No regrets, no apologies, no kind words. Nothing.”
“How could I?” he shot back. “That Napolitano stole you from me.”
“That Napolitanosavedme from you.” Moving to Napoli with Mario after that event was one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me.
“He’s not here this time, is he?”