Page 12 of Angelo

No longer touching, husband and wife lay side by side in the dark, mere inches separated the two of them, but she found herself yearning for him. He felt distant yet again. This couldn't continue between them. Small fractures would only lead to an irreparable rift. The two of them had enough to contend with outside their bedroom walls. They couldn't afford to become their own worst enemies.

As she gazed at him in the dark, a swell of sadness hit her chest. Elyse wanted to give her husband the benefit of the doubt. He was a strong man, intelligent, too, capable of holding his own against those who wished him dead. Most likely, Alessandro would be able to shoulder the burdens that loomed ahead, but, no matter how strong or intelligent or capable he might be, the man was only human, and everyone had a breaking point.

Was Alessandro edging too close tohispoint of no return?

With this troublesome thought tunneling through her mind, Elyse fell into a restless slumber.

As sunlight cut through the grayness of dawn, Elyse awoke in a grim mood. She was completely alone in bed. The other side of the mattress felt cool to the touch. Where was Alessio? She was about to go look for him when a chime echoed through their bedroom. Elyse rolled over to the nightstand for her phone. The screen lit up with a text from Benny.

This could only mean one thing. He found something substantial about Tommy Wilkes. Elyse had him on the phone within seconds.

"Doc," Benny greeted her.

"Benny," acknowledged Elyse.

"I hear you are wearing new ring on finger.Pozdravlyayu. Congratulations."

His words carried the thin, raspy tinniness of a lifetime smoker, and he spoke with a hard-to-place accent of a native-born Russian who had come to Brooklyn in his early twenties. Articles likethe'sanda'swere dropped at random. Some words reflected the harsh-sounding Russianh'sand softere'swhile others possessed Brooklyn's heavyaw's. The familiarity of Benny's voice left her with an unexpected burst of nostalgia. Talking to Benny again made Elyse feel connected to her old life. Another world where everyone referred to her as Dr. Romero and notSignora Vitale.

"Thanks," Elyse laughed quietly. "News travels fast."

"Only because I know right people. How is married life?"

"Not bad. But enough about me. I'm much more curious about whatyouhave to tell me."

Benny snorted. "Alwaysbusiness, business, businesswith you. No time to catch up with old friend?"

"I'll make time for friends," she replied in pointed tones, "when I'm not paying an arm and a leg to talk to him."

“I see marriage has not changed you, doc. Still as abrasive as ever.”

Elyse ignored his jab. "Tell me about Tommy."

"Fine, fine." Benny sighed in resignation, muttering, "As you know, he was gun for hire. Wilkes was known to be very good at his job. He had been in business for ten years before, you know, your man sent him to sleep with fishes."

Concern creased her brow. Tommy was no amateur, then. Whoever hired him had been very serious about killing Alessandro. Unease fluttered across Elyse's mind as she processed this realization. "Anything else I should know?"

"Well, for his last job, Wilkes was hired to target your husband, but also..."

As his voice trailed off, Elyse urged, "Go on."

"I believe he was looking for woman."

"A woman?"

"Da."

"Who was she? What did he want with her?"

"I'm not sure. But they called her—Gianna's lost lamb."

"What was Gianna's last name?" demanded Elyse.

"They wouldn't tell me, doc. Sorry."

A chill slid down her spine. Questions shot across Elyse's mind like rapid-firemissiles. Had someone sent Tommy Wilkes to find and murderher, too? Was that someone... Valentina? Perhaps, the blonde bitch had been trying to kill two birds with one stone. This mounting suspicion prompted her to address the million-dollar question, "Who was Tommy Wilkes working for, Benny?"

Benny mumbled, "I could only get to middle man. I'll get you name you want next time."

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