Page 30 of Deception

I let all of my worries fade away for a time, soaking in the bubbles and sharp herbal scents of the bath bomb. If I am to stay for the duration of the blizzard, I may as well enjoy some of it.

And I need time to gather my courage. Steel my resolve.

I need to spend as much time with Alessandro as possible, to find out anything I can. Likely, I’ll encounter his brother as well.

But which brother did he bring?

Rumors and gossip all agree that there are four Diamante brothers. Not much is known about any of them.

Aside from the fact that they are dangerous, and notoriously secretive.

The few articles and stories I was able to dig up suggest that two of them are twins, both of whom have gotten into loads of trouble with the law. Each offense conveniently swept under the rug, every charge dropped.

Even the alleged burning down of a nightclub in Turin.

Outside of that, fleeting gossip says one is completely insane, a globe-trotting fighter. The other is a daredevil. Fast cars, women, a nonstop party animal.

Leaving the other brother, who no one seems to know anything about. I’ve speculated that he might be Alessandro’s right-hand man, in charge of assets, numbers. Behind the scenes.

If he’s here …

I might actually find some evidence, documented accounting, names.

After drying off and draining the tub, I step into my room to find all of my things set out on the bed. My heart stutters at the idea of Carla, or worse, one of the Diamantes going through my bags.

“Please, don’t let them have found…” I unclip the secret compartment at the base of the suitcase. A sigh of relief slips out; it appears undisturbed.

Micro cameras, voice recording devices, and a backup laptop and hard drive.

My very own spy and surveillance kit.

I almost laugh at the spread of gear as I pack it carefully back into the case. Isabella Rossi—I mean Bianchi—international woman of mystery. Not so foolish now that I'm neck-deep in a dangerous situation.

If nothing else, maybe gathering intel will buy my way through this, or at least someone will figure out what happened to me if they decide to do away with me.

I'm dressed, patting down the front of my outfit when I hear Alessandro in the hall, slamming his door and walking out into the main room. I crack the door to voices.

“Any washing,SignoreAlessandro?”

“Please. I left the basket by my door.Grazie, Ava.”

Another one of the maids shuffles toward me, nodding as I ease the door open to avoid looking like I’m snooping.

“Buongiorno,” I say softly, heading out to see what the day holds for me.

Immediately, a deep-voiced, hushed conversation perks my ears up. Slowing down, I try to catch what they’re saying from just outside the den we sat in last night.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“I wasn't thinking. It was late and I was drunk as fuck.”

“Great excuse. I told you not to drink that last shot.”

“Probably shouldn’t have had more wine after we got home.”

“Fucking idi—” He stops short, to a growl from Alessandro. “You let a stranger into our safe house.”

“Not like we could’ve known she was following us. Couldn’t see shit in that blizzard.”

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