Page 21 of Silent Night with Massimo

Fine. I guess Adrian is not a person I can get information from.

As we walk down the passage, the door to one of the rooms swings open, and Elio steps out, bumping into Adrian.

"Oh, sorry man," Elio mutters, rubbing his shoulder where they collided. Then his gaze drops to me, and his eyes narrow with disdain. "What…" he stammers, clearly caught off guard. His glare is sharp, cutting through the tension between us.

"Are you heading down for a cigar?" Adrian asks, brushing off the bump and the clear hostility in the air.

"Yeah," Elio replies, his gaze never leaving me. "What are you doing with her?" His tone sharpens, laced with suspicion.

"Showing her to her room," Adrian says, his voice clipped. "I'll join you in a minute."

Elio nods, but his eyes darken further, a brooding intensity settling over his face as he stares me down. For a moment, it feels like he's weighing something, measuring whether I'm worth the trouble. The tension between us thickens, his unspoken thoughts hanging in the air.

As he turns to leave, the cold stare he leaves behind lingers in the hallway, like a shadow of what's yet to come.

Adrian takes me to my room, sighs heavily, and thensays. "I suggest you stay in your room. No one wants to catch you sneaking around after dark."

I bite back on my snarky comment and nod.

He turns and walks away.

As soon as I am one hundred percent sure he is gone and not coming back, I run to Elio's room. Quietly pushing the door open I slip inside. I doubt I have much time. Elio will be uncomfortable knowing I am up here, but I need to look around.

I pull the drawers open, search through the back of his closet, and finally, underneath the bed, right near the back - I find a box.

Dragging it forward I lift the lid open and pull out a notebook.

I wish I had a phone. I could have taken photos.

It looks like he attempted to code it, but the effort is sloppy—amateurish, really. The encryption is weak, and it's almost too easy to crack just by glancing at it. It's clear he either underestimated who would be looking or thought this would be enough to keep curious eyes away.

It lists dates and times of meeting points with someone from the Vitale family. On another page, it lists incoming payments.

Someone is paying him to share internal family information.

I can't believe he was stupid enough to write this all down.

I hear voices coming up the stairs outside. Shit.

I have to go.

Now.

I shove the book and the box back under the bed and run for the door. Slipping out just in time before Elio walks around the corner.

I pretend as though I'm walking towards the stairs, but Elio's sharp voice cuts through the air, stopping me in my tracks.

"Where are you going?" Elio snaps, his tone dripping with suspicion.

I lift my chin, refusing to let him intimidate me.

"To say goodnight to Massimo," I reply curtly, matching his sharpness with my own.

Elio's eyes narrow, his voice darkening with warning.

"I suggest you get back to your room instead. No one wants you down there."

I stop and glare at him, my anger bubbling to the surface.

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