Page 116 of Empire of Temptation

I stood in the street, leaning against a car and watching, all while contemplating the ways I planned to hurt Flavio Segreto when I found him. No one had been harmed in the fire, but I hated the idea of strangers in my personal space. Not that I left anything incriminating in the mansion for the firemen to find. That would have been incredibly stupid.

A man in a crisp blue uniform with the tag “chief” on it approached me. “You are very lucky, Mr. DiMarco.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.” He pushed his glasses further onto his nose. “You have minimal damage, mostly contained to the garage where the fire was started. There’s some smoke damage on the ground floor of the house, though, so I would recommend leaving the windows open to air the place out.”

“How was it started?”

“Rags with an accelerant in a bin. You’re lucky none of the carswere parked inside. Otherwise, we might not be standing here talking to you.”

Fucking Segreto. I was going to enjoy killing him.

“Grazie.” I offered my hand for him to shake, which he took. “We appreciate you coming so quickly.”

“It’s our job. We’re happy when the fires are this easy to contain. I’m going to recommend the Portofinos install a smart system throughout the property. The fire could’ve been detected earlier and saved you a lot of headache.”

I thanked him again. “I’m going to have the trattoria send over some food to the station house later, as a way of showing my gratitude.”

“Not necessary, but I’m sure they’d appreciate it, Mr. DiMarco. Thank you.”

Slowly, the crew began leaving, and I made sure to thank each one and shake their hand. It was something we always did back home. A personal touch went a long way with people, something unmatched by texts and emails.

As the trucks rolled away, Aldo and my brothers circled around me. Even Rico, who I was still pissed at.

“Fucking crazy,” Dante remarked. “The garage is a mess. It needs to be torn down and rebuilt.”

“I’ll speak to Portofino today,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I’ll explain what happened and pay for the damage. How the fuck did Segreto get on and off the estate? What did the cameras see?”

“He snuck here last night when we were away. Came on a boat, docked down river and walked over. Then he set the fire on a timer so it would go off today. Guards didn’t see or hear him.”

“Why today?” Rico asked. “Why not burn it all down last night? And it was a nuisance fire, not a giant blaze meant to hurt anyone. It doesn’t make sense.”

A terrible feeling settled in my gut. “This was a distraction,” I said, my heart beginning to pick up speed. I reached into my trouserpocket and pulled out my phone. “Call Roberto,” I snapped at Sergio as I pressed the button to reach Valentina.

She’d better answer.

It went straight to voicemail. “Merda!” I tried to connect again.

When that failed I knew something was wrong. It could be nothing, but my intuition was screaming that a terrible thing had occurred. I rang her a third time and pinned Sergio with a harsh stare. “What did he say?”

Sergio shook his head. “He didn’t pick up. Straight to voicemail.”

“Call Giovanni. Call the trattoria. Find out if anyone has seen them.” Valentina’s phone went to voicemail again. “Cazzo!” Disconnecting, I left my brothers and hurried toward the car. “Aldo!”

“I’m here, Don Benetti,” he said.

“The fob. I’m taking the Maserati.”

“We are coming with you.” Sergio jogged up alongside me. “You’re not going alone with Segreto somewhere around. He’s probably waiting for you to drive into town so he can ambush you.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic, but I wasn’t slowing down. I would leave without them if they couldn’t keep up. When we reached the car, Aldo unlocked it and slid into the driver’s seat. Sergio got in the back with me, talking into the mobile at his ear. “Che cazzo? Hold on.” He quickly put it on speaker. “Here, Luca. Listen. It’s Giovanni.”

“Don Benetti. The fire chief just called here. On the way back into town they found Roberto on the road. There was an accident and he has been shot in the leg.”

“Valentina?” I croaked. “Was she with him?”

“According to Roberto, Valentina’s father caused the car to crash by blowing out a tire. Then he took her away on an ATV.”

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