Page 31 of His Passerotta

“In a minute,” Lorenzo says.

Settimo grunts before leaving, letting the door slam on his way out.

“Yes?” I calmly ask, retrieving a knife to cut Clyde’s binds.

“You didn’t tell me there was a problem during the meeting when I called.”

“It was nothing. I handled it.”

Silence. I can feel his eyes penetrating me while I busy myself with the corpse.

“Was the employee male or female?”

“Why?”

Lorenzo shrugs, but I’m not stupid. He isn’t curious, he’s suspicious. He knows. He always fucking knows.

Goddamn it, Settimo.

“Female.” I pull the body off the chair and let it slump to the floor.

“You killed her?” he asks.

Wiping my face again, I nod.

“Hmm.”

I huff. “Is that so hard to believe?” I walk to the closet with the body bags and cleaner, all the while hoping he’ll just leave. Just let it go.

I’m not that lucky. He’s still standing there when I return.

“What was her name?”

“Who?” I ask in the most pathetic attempt at playing dumb.

“The employee.”

I roll my eyes like I’m exasperated. “I don’t know, who cares?”

Lorenzo’s head tilts while he openly observes me. I ignore him, going about the process of loading up the body. I won’t actually transport it. Victor, a soldier, will be here to dispose of it, and normally, as the top-ranking capo in the familia, I wouldn’t be doing this. It’s part of Settimo’s punishment for me. Fucking asshole.

“Remember how I told you we’d keep an eye on the girl you gave a ride to? Bailey, I believe is her name?”

“Mmhmm.” My ears throb as my heart beats faster.

“She wasn’t in her apartment early this morning. It didn’t look like she’d come home last night.”

“That sounds hardly strange,” I say, hearing the strain in my voice.

Fuck.

“It’s probably nothing.”

“Then why tell me at all?” I snap.

The corners of his lips tilt up. “To keep you up to date. This is a favor to you, isn’t it? You wanted me to look into this girl?”

The skin of my face is taut, smooth, and I’m certain I look calm, but my skin is crawling. Why? Why did I have to ask Lorenzo for help?

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