Page 61 of The Eagle's Vault

The terrain was growing riskier by the moment. To lie or to tell the truth? We had our theories about the notebook—but didn’t have any confirmation.

“The images seem to be of a recently uncovered vault in the catacombs.” I held Giovanni’s gaze.

Across the table, Scarlett narrowed her eyes at me.Deflect or say nothing, Dec.

Giovanni leaned back, his fingers steepling in front of him. “I put the notebook in the safe deposit box because I feared it would fall into the wrong hands. We had a few incidents at the villa after your last visit, Scarlett, so I didn’t trust the security in my own home.”

“Speaking of that visit…” Scarlett’s eyebrows arched. “I saw a photo of Daniel Weber in the back of the notebook.”

Giovanni’s nod confirmed our suspicions. “Sì, I would’ve thanked you for introducing me to him in January, but he vanished a month ago.”

Scarlett and Rav looked at each other for a beat. Their shared glance spoke volumes—they were as concerned about Weber’s disappearance as Giovanni was. I wasn’t privy to that job or how they knew Dr. Weber, but it obviously had something to do with Italian antiquities smuggling.

“I worried Daniel might try to recover the notebook, so I had a contact at Cassaforte keep an eye on things,” Giovanni said.

It must have been the security guard—our so-called inside man. We’d walked right into a setup on two sides.

Leigh leaned forward, the nervous glint in her eyes replaced with a spark of curiosity. “Are we right about the vault? Is it the one in the catacombs?”

Giovanni pursed his lips, then nodded. “Sì, I funded a study of the vault, and Daniel was my lead researcher. Leonardo suspected something was going on with him, so we put a pause on the project and locked up the notebook.”

Rav asked, “Did Daniel have a phoenix tattoo, by any chance?”

Giovanni and Cristian exchanged a glance before looking toward Leonardo, standing sentinel behind them. All three shook their heads.

“We were forced into stealing the notebook by a trio of men,” said Scarlett.

Leonardo moved closer, his brow furrowed. “From what I heard, there wasn’t any distress from your team during the theft. You didn’t seem forced.”

Rav pushed back his chair slightly, a protective wolf ready to defend his leader. “We’re professionals.”

Cristian raised a hand, muttering a low “Leo,” and Leonardo backed off.

Scarlett continued. “One of the men behind it all had a phoenix tattoo on his hand. It’s a mark of the Fenix Group. Are you familiar with them? Do you have any idea why they’d want your notebook?”

A vein in Giovanni’s forehead pulsed like a warning signal. I shifted closer to Leigh. Something about the scene didn’t sit right with me. Hell, nothing sat right with me about this.

“I’ve heard of them.” Giovanni’s gaze hardened, which he turned on Leigh. “I trust Reynolds. I’ve worked with them. But you”—another accusatory finger—“are an unknown entity. I will not discuss business in front of you.”

To my surprise, Leigh leaned forward, her chin lifted, eyes unflinching. “If you were researching a mysterious vault and someone wanted the notebook stolen, then someone else is after your research.”

Giovanni leaned forward and whispered, “That means I’ll have to act before they do.”

“Research doesn’t move fast.” Leigh seemed unaffected by the threat hiding in Giovanni’s words. She leaned in to mirror him, holding his gaze. “But cracking a safe does. So if that’s what they want—to open the vault—maybe they’ll do it before you can find a new researcher.”

A grin spread across Cristian’s face. “I like her. Reynolds Recoveries should hire her.”

Giovanni locked his eyes on Scarlett. “All I can say is that Fenix is collecting artifacts. They’re not amassing a fortune, but from what I hear, it’s a highly targeted set of items.”

Scarlett unlocked her phone and showed a picture to Giovanni. It was a shot of the thug who’d tried to nab the ring from us in London—I’d captured his ugly face pretty well. “This man is behind it. I also have some personal reasons for finding him.”

Personal reasons. Right. The bastard had held a gun to her new boyfriend’s throat, had beaten her brother, and he worked for Scarlett’s former fiancé. As if we needed more complications.

Giovanni looked at Cristian and Leonardo.

Leonardo stepped forward. “Send me the photo. We’ll ask around. If we find anything, we’ll let you know.”

I felt a wave of tension leave the room, replaced by an uneasy truce.

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