Page 71 of The Thief

I call Dante as soon as Enzo leaves. “Is Angelica still with you?”

“No, I just dropped her off at her mother’s. Why?”

“I need everyone here for an emergency meeting. Joao, Tomas, and Leo. And bring Valentina in as well.”

“Valentina too?” he asks sharply. “Okay. Her neighbor can watch Angelica for a few hours.”

“No.” I don’t think Verratti would stoop to attacking a child, but I won’t take any chances. “Bring Angelica too.”

Dante digests the implications of that, and his voice turns grim. “Yes, Padrino.”

Twenty minutes later, I stare at the five people assembled in my office. My top lieutenants: the people I trust in a crisis. “I got a confidential tip,” I tell them. I word things carefully—I don’t want Enzo to get in trouble. “This situation with Gafur and Verratti is going to come to a head in a couple of weeks. We need to be more careful, but we’re already stretched thin. And so, until this matter is resolved, everyone stays in Giudecca.”

I turn to Valentina. She’s the only one in my inner circle who doesn’t live nearby. Her apartment is in Dorsoduro, a difficult neighborhood to secure. Too many university buildings, too many students. “Valentina, you’ll have to move. You and Angelica can stay?—”

Dante leans forward. “They’ll stay with me.”

I was going to suggest that Valentina and Angelica stay with me, but nobody will protect them better than my second-in-command. I glance at Valentina. “Does that work for you?”

Her face is expressionless. “Yes, Padrino.”

“Leo, nobody goes anywhere alone.”

“I’ll see to it,” my security chief replies calmly.

“Good. That’s it, everyone. Keep your eyes open, stay vigilant, and don’t take any chances. Leo, hang on for a minute. I need a word.”

The room clears out until it’s just Leo and me. “Lucia Petrucci lives in Castello. How safe is she?”

He frowns. “We upgraded her building security yesterday when we fixed her elevator. But there are other complications. The ski instructor downstairs rents his unit to tourists when he’s not at home. It’s empty right now, but a couple from Germany will arrive next week, and the week after that, a family from Canada. Same with the building across the street. Half the units there are tourist rentals, with a stream of new people coming and going. It’s a nightmare.” He gives me a questioning look. “Could she move in with you for the time being?”

Lucia in my house, in my bed. Waking up next to me every morning, her glorious hair spread out in a riotous tangle over my pillowcases, her eyes sleepy, her body soft and warm. For a brief insane second, I want it so badly that it clouds my judgment, and I’m tempted, so tempted, to order her to live with me. It is for her own safety, after all.

But then, common sense reasserts itself. Just last night, Lucia invited me to dinner. She’s scared and cautious, but she’s slowly letting me into her life. Her trust is fragile, and if I move too quickly, I could ruin everything. “Can you protect her where she is?”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, his face clenches with determination. “Padrino, may I speak freely?”

“Yes, of course.”

He takes a few moments to formulate his words. “Once upon a time, I used to believe that I could have it all,” he says finally. “I thought that I could work in the Mafia and have a family as well. But then my wife died in a mafia war because of me, and I learned differently. We live in a harsh and unforgiving world, Padrino, and our loved ones are targets. I say this to you as a friend. If you care about Lucia Petrucci, you will let her go. You will march into Casanova tonight, find another woman, and scene with her. And you will do the same thing tomorrow night and the night after until everybody has forgotten Lucia Petrucci’s name.”

Scene with another woman when I’m in love with Lucia? Is Leo out of his fucking mind?

“That’s never going to happen,” I say flatly.

Leo hears the frost in my voice. “If you want me to apologize for overstepping,” he says, “I will. But that doesn’t change anything. You know what I’m saying is right. The only reason Lucia is in danger is because of you.”

He’s right. If I truly wanted to protect Lucia, I should do exactly what he says. I should walk away from her.

But I can’t. Now that I’ve fallen in love with her, I’m not strong enough to give her up.

“Rent all the units in her building,” I order instead. “Buy every building in her neighborhood if that’s what it takes to secure them. I don’t care about the cost. Put your best people on her, Leo. Whatever it takes, keep her safe.”

37

LUCIA

If I had the slightest illusion that my dinner with Antonio wouldn’t be a topic of gossip, it’s dispelled the moment I get to work on Monday.

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