Page 20 of The Broker
“Just an espresso, please.” I wait for her to walk away before switching my attention to my informant. “You wanted to meet.”
“Yeah.” Giorgio looks like shit. His eyes are bloodshot, and his hand shakes as he lifts his glass. Something has him spooked. He gulps down half his drink in one sip. “I looked into the thing you wanted.”
Verratti’s list of employees. After Antonio’s announcement today, taking over Bergamo has taken on new urgency. This is no longer just about keeping the region stable. The Russians want to smuggle their guns through northern Italy, and Verratti is prepared to get violent to make it happen. In a very real way, Valentina and Angelica’s safety depends on me taking over Verratti’s organization.
“And?”
“Salvatore has a secretary, Bianca Di Palma. She makes his appointments, controls his calendar, pays the bills. . . If there’s anyone who has what you were looking for, it’d be her.”
“And?”
“She wasn’t home.” He empties the rest of his drink. “Her house was ransacked, and there were signs of a struggle.” He swallows hard. “I found bloodstains on the carpet.”
“Someone took her? Who?”
“I don’t know.” He starts to lift his glass and then realizes it’s empty. “This is bad, Colonna. Very bad. Signora Di Palma isn’t the first person to go missing. Nobody has seen Romano Franzoni in weeks. Salvatore is spooked. He canceled the Christmas party, and he and his father are holed up in their mansion, surrounded by bodyguards.”
Franzoni is Verratti’s second-in-command. He’s smart and wily. A survivor. “This partnership with the Russians would never end well. Maybe Franzoni took off because he sensed the way the wind was blowing.”
“No.” Giorgio shakes his head. “Romano spoke up against doing business with the Russians, but he wouldn’t leave. He’s loyal. If he’s gone, it’s not by choice.”
I put aside the problem of Franzoni for the moment. “Bianca Di Palma would have had books. Payroll records.”
“There was nothing,” Giorgio says. “It was all gone.” His voice has a distinct tremble in it. “Someone took her out. And if I ask too many questions, I might be next.”
Earlier this week, I yelled at Leo for putting Valentina in danger. “I don’t want my niece growing up without a mother,” I told him. But if I tell Giorgio to keep looking, I’m risking his life.
His daughter Liliana is younger than Angelica.
I bury my guilt deep. “I don’t pay you for theories, Giorgio.” My voice comes out harsh. “I pay you for results.”
The truth is, if it’s a choice between protecting Giorgio and my family, my family will win every single time. I would make unfathomable choices to protect Valentina and Angelica. “I want the names of everyone on Verratti’s payroll. Keep looking.”
I drive back to Venice. Bianca De Palma was attacked, and the Verratti payroll records she maintained have been stolen. Romano Franzoni, the Verratti second-in-command, would have known every employee in the organization. He’s disappeared.
Revenant is actively hiding his tracks, and if Giorgio is right, he’s prepared to kill to keep his real identity secret.
I don’t have a good feeling about this.
12
VALENTINA
For a long time after Dante’s abrupt departure, I stand in Angelica’s bedroom and stare at the shut door. My thoughts churn violently, but I can’t pin down any of them. It’s all static in my brain. The sun is starting to set, but the boats still speed by, the roar of their engines muted inside the house. I pick up a stray Lego from the floor and hold it in my hand, my fingers running over the plastic. My stomach rumbles, reminding me that breakfast was a long time ago, but I can’t seem to make myself move.
It’s been a long and confusing day, and I’m having a reaction to everything. This bedroom, decorated with a princess bed, Legos, and love, is more than I expected. Much more. I figured Dante loved Angelica. I guessed he indulged her too, the way I sometimes did because deep down inside, I still felt a smidgen of guilt about her growing up without her father.
But knowing he loves her is different from truly seeing it. Angelica has a purple bedspread at home, and she has one here. She owns far too many Disney princess figurines at home, and that’s the same here. Her floor at home is strewn with Legos. Here, someone’s made an effort to tidy up. The bed is made, and the carpet looks freshly vacuumed, but there’s no shortage of toys spilling from the shelves.
This isn’t a guest room where my daughter sometimes stays when my migraines become too much to bear. This isAngelica’sroom.
And then, there was the look in Dante’s eyes when I packed my nightgown. I would swear in a court of law that he looked at me in asexualway. As if he wanted me and was picturing me naked. His predatory male desire should have sent me running,but it hadn’t.My heart should have started hammering in panic, but it hadn’t been fear that made it speed up.
He doesn’t even like you, I remind myself.
But his voice intrudes to counter that thought.
There’s nothing wrong with your shape.