Page 25 of The Broker
I did.
It was an accident. As furious as I was with my brother, I didn’t shoot him in cold blood. I’m not that much of a killer. We got into an argument, and Roberto drew a gun. We grappled for it, and in the struggle, he got shot. To this day, I don’t know if it was my finger on the trigger or his.
I’ve always concealed the details of his death from Valentina. Because there’s a secret, shameful part of me that wonders if it really was an accident. On some level, did I want to get rid of my brother because Valentina was too good for him? Did my subconscious believe that she’d never be mine as long as he was alive, and that’s why I’ve never told her how important she is to me?
Valentina thinks the past doesn’t have any bearing on the present, but in this, she’s wrong. Our pastsdefineour present.
“Dante.”
“Sorry. My mind was elsewhere. It’s been a long day.” And I just want to sit here in this kitchen, which smells comfortingly of tomatoes and lemon, of cooking and love, with Valentina.
“Did you eat anything? I set aside a plate of food for you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Oh, I think I do,” she says dryly. “Angelica insisted.” Her eyes dance with amusement. “Shepromisedme you knew how to work the microwave.”
“That’s definitely within my skill set.” My mother wasn’t much of a human being, and I never knew my father. A home-cooked meal isn’t just about food. It represents something far more, something elusive and infinitely precious.
And now I’m just being a sentimental fool.
“Thank you for the meal.”
I heat my plate. Valentina remains in the kitchen, showing no signs she wants to leave. “Why was your day shitty?”
“I have an informant inside the Verratti organization who I asked for a list of people on the payroll, hoping to find your hacker.” I relay Giorgio’s news—Salvatore Verratti hunkering down, Bianca Di Palma’s abduction, and Romano Franzoni’s disappearance.
She chews on her lip as she digests the information. “You think Revenant is connected to all of this?”
Her unconscious gesture sends a shaft of heat straight to my groin. “More than that. I’ve been thinking about the money. Verratti shouldn’t be broke, but he is. How did that happen?”
She sits up. “Revenant stole money from the organization?”
“It’s extremely likely, yes.”
“But if he has, why hasn’t he disappeared? If I was stupid enough to steal from the mafia, I’d take the money and run. I’d cover up my tracks so that nobody could ever find me. Not Verratti’s enforcers, not another hacker.”
“I don’t know. My gut tells me that that’s where Franzoni comes in. It’s an extremely well-kept secret, but Bianca Di Palma, the missing woman, is Romano Franzoni’s mother. If Revenant—what a fucking stupid name—needed muscle, threatening Signora Di Palma is the easiest way to get Romano to fall in line. She’s a seventy-five-year-old woman. Small, slight. Bad knee. She wouldn’t have been able to put up much of a fight.”
“Crap.” She sips her whiskey. “Okay, here’s what I’m thinking. Your informant Giorgio. How long has he worked for the Verratti organization?”
“All his life. He’s one of their best enforcers.”
“Okay, he’s our way in, then.” She straightens her spine, her eyes gleaming as she plots our next move. “Everything is electronic these days. Your pet enforcer will have a device that connects to the Verratti network. A phone, a computer, something. If I can get in, I can get their payroll for you, and we can use it to figure out who Revenant really is. Even better, I siphon off what’s left of their money.”
“The fastest way to dismantle an organization. Make the paychecks bounce.”
“Exactly.” Her tiredness has vanished. “Let’s do it.”
“I’ll think about it. Can you get in without being detected?”
Her smile switches off. “Seriously?” she demands. “You’re not even going to let me try to do my job?” She slams her glass down on the table. “Because it’s notsafe?”She says safe like it’s an expletive. “There’s protective, and then there’s stifling. Do you know the difference, Dante?”
She looks furious, and I’ve never wanted to kiss her more. “This time around, it’s not your safety I’m concerned about.”
She opens her mouth to deliver another insult, then she shuts it. “What?”
“If your intrusion gets detected, your hacker friend will trace it back to Giorgio, who has a six-year-old daughter, Liliana.”