Page 19 of Empire of Temptation

“Are you keeping the guards with you?” he asked, ignoring my question.

“I have been doing this a long time, figlio mio. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“You haven’t been away like this in a long time. It’s strange.”

True, I hadn’t been away much, especially not in the last few years. And I wouldn’t be away now if my cousin wasn’t sitting in jail. “I’ve only been gone a few days.”

“When are you coming back?”

The words caught in my throat. I didn’t have an answer. I could say soon, but I wasn’t sure it was the truth.

I can’t remember the last time someone cooked for me like this.

“Papà,” Leo said in my ear. “Are you still there?”

“I’m coming back soon,” I answered. “But you don’t need to worry, capisce?”

“I can’t help but worry. I feel as if something is going on, but no one is telling me shit.”

I considered this. Maybe sheltering him wasn’t necessary any longer. At some point I had to start trusting my boys with the problems I dealt with every day. “We’ll discuss it when I’m back.”

“Okay. I need to go. Mamma is expecting me.Ti voglio bene.”

“Ti voglio bene, figlio mio.”

After we disconnected, Aldo smirked. “The boys say it’s purple.”

“What is?”

“The sports car Gabi wants to buy.”

I rubbed my mouth, suddenly exhausted. “Madre di dio, that boy has no sense.”

“Eh. No sixteen-year-old ever does.”

I couldn’t think about Gabriele right now. I had too many other things on my mind. “Tell Sergio to keep Gabriele in line.” My brother was the only person my youngest son listened to. “What did you find out about this dishwasher?” I’d instructed my men to dig into John Natale’s background. I didn’t like how protective he’d been of Valentina.

“Nothing.”

“Impossible.”

“It’s true. He’s a ghost. No records of any kind. That’s what I was waiting to tell you.”

I sat a bit straighter. “No taxes, nothing online? No bank accounts?”

“No. It’s like he doesn’t exist. Identity must be fake.”

Now this I did not expect. “Prison record? The ink on his arms was not professional.”

“None that we could find.”

Angry, I stabbed my index finger into the desk. “I want him followed. I want to know why a man with a fake identity is working in her restaurant.”

“Of course, Don Benetti.” Aldo pursed his lips and studied thetable. “She is beautiful, no? Young women like her, they are like a wet dream for us old men, eh?”

The words lit my temper like a match to kindling. I didn’t want anyone leering at her, including me. “Watch your mouth before I punch you.”

“This would be unwise, considering she is here.”

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