Page 13 of Angelo

"Then tell me more about the middle man. What was his role in their arrangement?"

"He was assigned to pay Wilkes once both kills were confirmed."

Both?It appeared Tommy hadn't only been looking forGianna's lost lamb. He'd been hired to kill her, too, along with Alessandro. Elyse scowled as she pressed Benny for more intel, "Did he mention the names of any other associates?"

"Unfortunately, he was no snitch. I couldn't get much out of him."

"At least, give mehisname.Please."

"Javier Santos."

Javier Santosmeant nothing to Elyse, but she tucked the name away for safekeeping. Who knew where this rabbit hole might lead? She intended to start asking around about Javier. This man seemed to be the key to finding the fucker who wanted them dead.

Just then, Elyse heard some noisy voices in the background from Benny's end. He said in distracted tones, "Hey, doc? I got to go."

"When will you be free to talk again?"

"Maybe in day or two. Give me time to dig around for more names."

"Okay, thanks."

"Da svidania, doc."

"Bye, Benny."

They hung up. Elyse rolled out of bed right as Alessandro re-entered their bedroom. He drawled, "Good morning, wife."

Their eyes met from across the room. Her heart thumped. Elyse recognized how dangerously close she had come to being caught. If Alessandro returned two minutes earlier, he would've walked in on her phone conversation with Benny. Elyse tried not to look as though she might be hiding something. She greeted her husband as normally as possible, "Morning."

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yes," Elyse answered with a wary expression, "and you?"

He smiled cheerlessly. "Like shit."

"I'm sorry to hear it." She tried to approach him, offering, "Would you like me to make you some coffee?"

"No." His smile faded away as he inquired, "Who were you talking to earlier?"

She froze in mid-step and wondered if her husband had heard any snippets from her discussion with Benny. The door had been closed, but one could never be sure of anything.

"Just trying to find a priest for the funeral," Elyse fibbed.

Alessandro's expression relaxed. "Have you found one yet?"

"Almost." She studied him closely. Her husband seemed to believe her. Guilt bloomed in Elyse. She blurted out, "I didn't get a chance to tell you yesterday, but my meeting with Antonia went better than expected. I think the Svizzis will stay on our side as long as we benefit them more than Domenico can."

"Good." Alessandro nodded in approval. "Then let us do everything we can to pit Domenico and Carlo against each other."

Her husband was looking at her with trust in his eyes. No suspicion whatsoever. Guilt ate at her some more. She didn't want to lie to Alessandro. Not at all. Elyse suspected, though, that she needed to look into Javier Santos a lot more before coming clean to her man. At this point, an honest confession would only antagonize him. She possessed nothing to report. More substantial information would be necessary to convince Alessandro that her efforts were worthwhile. She wanted to show him that knowledgewaspower, and it'd only help him become a strongercapo. Even stronger than his father.

Most importantly, Elyse wanted to determine whether or not Valentina hired Tommy Wilkes to kill her and Alessandro. If Valentina was innocent, the real enemy was still lurking in the shadows. Or even masquerading as an ally.

Beside her, Alessandro cleared his throat. The sound drew her attention back to him. She glanced over. "Yes?"

"What are your plans today?" Alessandro's expression appeared unbothered. In truth, her husband seemed disturbingly composed. He looked nothing like the crazed beast who had fucked her until she nearly passed out last night.

Elyse pursed her lips. If her husband wanted to pretend as though everything was fine, then, Elyse decided, she was willing to play along. She decided to switch to business matters, informing him, "I'm finalizing the details for the funeral today."

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