Page 32 of Wanted Twins with the Mafia Boss

Chiara

“Is anything happening?” I ask as I enter the room where Adriano is watching multiple computer screens.

“Not yet.” He sighs.

He’s seated in a leather chair, his eyes slightly reddish and tired.

I place my hands on his shoulders, rubbing gently. “Maybe you should just go to bed. Your men are handling this anyway.”

The location I picked for meeting with Matteo, according to the note I left, is in a complicated spot to watch. Adriano’s men have to secretly pass by to see if Matteo or anyone else shows up at the times I indicated I might be there.

But at least Matteo is supposed to think that I’m on my own and terrified, and that I don’t trustanyone, so I chose a busy area away from all the Gaviani territories, including my own neighborhood. And the hours vary because I can’t be sure I’ll always be able to make it to that place.

But will he show up? Or does he have a spy who’s waiting to see if I’m there? Adriano’s men haven’t spotted any of Matteo’s, but that doesn’t mean Matteo hasn’t found a way to monitor the area. He and everyone else is probably on the lookout for me.

The area should be complicated for them too, though. There are some gangs in control of that neighborhood, which of course I’m not supposed to know about. Adriano doesn’t think that should stop someone like Matteo from trying to get to me.

The gangs are insignificant, but they can still cause unnecessary trouble if provoked. That’s why Adriano’s men have to be careful too. We don’t want the gangs to think Adriano’s looking to expand his territory and take theirs.

“Do you think he’ll just show up or send one of his men?” I ask.

“Actually, I expect one of his men to do it, and then take you to some location or give you more details about where he wants to meet.”

“But why would I go to him?”

“Because you don’t have a choice. And he’llprobably pick some public place to put you at ease. Maybe a busy bar or something. But it doesn’t matter what he thinks. If one of his men shows up, we can try to follow him. He could lead us straight to Matteo. We know Matteo has limited resources.”

“What if he figures out something’s weird about the whole thing? What if he just sends his men to look for me in the area? Or if he tries to strike a deal with the gangs, who are very familiar with their territory and could find me sooner than his men?”

Adriano turns his chair and faces me. “He’s not going to strike a deal with those gangs. No way. They’d never agree to it. They’re very proud and stick to their territory and their people. There’s nothing he can offer to them that they need, and they’re not for hire. It’s how they’ve stayed where they are for so long. Everyone decided it was best to leave them alone because they don’t touch anyone out of their territory either.”

He gets to his feet and moves away from the chair. “You should sit down.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, I need to stretch my feet anyway.” He takes a few steps up and down the room, but there isn’t much space, so I sit down to get out of his way.

“This whole thing is complicated,” I say. “We can only guess what’s going on in Matteo’s mind,but we don’t know what he’s going to do. Maybe he’s figured everything out. I just wish we could somehow... I don’t know. I don’t want him to be anywhere near our children once they’re born.”

“I know, and he won’t be.” He kneels down in front of me, placing his hands on my legs and looking up at me. “I promise you I’ll do whatever it takes to catch him. He won’t get anywhere near you or our babies. I give you my word. Rocco is already looking for a place where we can live in peace, no matter what happens with Matteo and Gennaro.”

“I know.” I put my hand over his. “But I would be much calmer if I was absolutely sure he couldn’t find a way to get to us.”

“He—” Adriano starts, but a beep from the computer startles us both.

He jumps to his feet and turns my chair, so we both end up looking at the screen. A photo of a note appears on the screen.

“What is that?” I squint at it.

Adriano leans forward and presses a button to zoom in on it. “It looks like Matteo left a note for you. Or one of his men did.”

“Meet me at... What’s that name?” I ask because I don’t recognize it.

“A restaurant, apparently. Outside the city.” Hescrolls through the message his men left for him. “Fuck.”

“What?” I’m not sure what he just read because there’s so much text.

“My men missed whoever it was that left the note. It was just stuck to the back of a statue. Anyone could’ve put it there. We don’t even know when it happened because people take photos there all the time, and that isn’t exactly the spot where you told him to meet you. One of my men spotted it by accident.”

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