Page 25 of Silent Night With Luca

I sitin the chair by the window, staring out at the snow-covered trees, my mind running through every possible scenario. The suite is quiet, Fiamma is out like a light in the other room. The weight of what’s coming is heavy. I keep glancing at the door, waiting for Adrian.

A few minutes pass, and then there’s a soft knock. I move quickly, opening the door just enough to let Adrian in without making any noise. He steps inside, his expression guarded, surveying the room.

“Why the cloak and dagger, Luca?” he mutters, his voice low, though there’s an edge of annoyance there. “You could’ve just told me over the phone.”

I close the door behind him, making sure it’s locked. “I wasn’t sure if Marco’s got ears on us—or worse, the feds. Couldn’t risk it.”

I explain everything to Adrian: the kidnapping, Marco’s fucked up idea about Fiamma, his plan to use her as a pawn and her idea to act like she was into him and could topple us from the inside.

“So is she bugged?” he asks, still unclear why I couldn’t explain all of this on the phone.

“Not exactly. I had the place swept, but just in case.” I shake my head and gesture for him to sit. “I didn’t want to risk giving anything away. I wanted it to seem like Fiamma’s up to something in the event he was listening. It may be for naught, but better to be safe than sorry. I certainly didn’t want to give it away that she tricked Marco.”

Adrian leans back, folding his arms. “So, what’s the plan?”

I take a breath, running a hand through my hair. “He told Fiamma he wants to take down you and Massimo while we’re all here on holiday.”

“A real life Grinch in an expensive Armani suit.”

“He’s convinced she’s helping him. She played along to make him think she’s infiltrating the family to take us down from the inside.”

“What exactly does he want her to do? Are you sure she isn’t in on this.”

“One hundred percent sure. He was going to hold her for ransom, thinking he could use her at Christmas to get Massimo to bend to his demands. That is when she suggested finding out a time and place he could ambush Massimo, instead. She convinced him she is in love with him.”

“Hmmm,” Adrian takes in everything I’m telling him. “How is all of this supposed to get relayed to him if you’re watching over her? Did he give her a burner, or something?”

“She’s supposed to leave him a note telling him how he can get into the lodge to kill Massimo. Apparently, he doesn’t trust someone isn’t listening in on a phone. He told her to find out Massimo’s schedule tomorrow and leave it along with instructions to access him for one of his guys to pick up at Frost Café, hidden in a specific place. He told her to have it there by noon.”

Adrian’s face hardens. “What the hell, Luca? Are you fucking kidding me? What is this, The Hardy Boys? He’s lost his fucking mind.”

“She was clever to come up with this on the fly,” I say quickly. “She told him what he wanted to hear, knowing it was the only way to get out of there alive. He believes her, but now we’ve got a clock ticking. He’s expecting something from her tomorrow, so we need to give it to him, set him up.”

Adrian nods slowly, processing the information. “So what’s the plan?”

“We give him a time and place to get to Massimo.”

“And?”

“We lie in wait,” I say, my voice flat. “We have to do it in a way that doesn’t tip anyone off. If Marco’s expecting her to help, he might have a tracker on us already. There has to be someone on the inside, how else did he get in to snatch Fiamma? We need to tell as few people as possible to pull this off. We can’t make a wrong move.”

Adrian frowns, rubbing his chin. “We’ll have to lure him into a situation where he’s vulnerable. Can’t take him down out in the open. He’s too paranoid to fall for that. But if we can make him believe Fiamma’s feeding him something valuable—something that would make him think he’s about to win—he’ll come running.”

“And when he does,” I say, leaning forward, “we make sure he doesn’t leave with his head intact.”

Adrian nods, a sly smile spreads over him. “So we need to give him what he wants: a time and a place and access to kill Massimo. And we can be ready for an ambush.”

I think for a moment, piecing it together. “Fiamma told him Massimo gets daily massages. That could be the perfect set-up.”

“Right,” Adrian says, his mind working just as fast. “That is the type of scenario that he will show up alone. He’ll think Massimo will be there alone, unarmed. That will probably give Marco the extra incentive, getting to catch him with his pants down, literally.”

I nod. “It’s a perfect scenario for a trap. We’ll have a decoy on the table with his head down and I’ll be in the shadows ready to blow his head off when he shows. I’m going to fuck him so hard he won’t know which way is up.”

Adrian smirks. He’s almost enjoying this. “Sounds personal. You okay, man?”

“Yeah. I just hate the fucking Vitales. Who the fuck pulls this shit at Christmas?

“Just keep your head on straight. And make sure Fiamma doesn’t fuck it up.”

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