Page 74 of The Thief

Iget back to my office, reeling, but before I have time to call Antonio, my phone rings. It’s Valentina.

“I need a favor,” she says. “Is there any way you can duck out early from work today, pick Angelica up from school, and keep her at your place for a couple of hours?”

“Sure thing,” I respond. Valentina sounds incredibly stressed. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“It’s a long story. Thanks, Lucia. I’ll let Angelica’s school know you’ll be picking her up. Heads up, Dante will probably be there, too.”

There’s an edge to her voice when she says his name. “Are you sure everything is fine?”

She sighs. “Dante is not the problem if that’s what you’re asking. As for the rest, I’ll fill you in tonight.”

She hangs up before I can say another word. After the day I’ve had, I’m happy to leave work early, so when it’s time, I quickly grab my bag and head out without stopping to chat with anyone. When I get to Angelica’s school, Dante is already there.

“Signorina Petrucci,” he says. “Good afternoon. I’ll be walking back with you and Angelica.”

“Okay.” I shoot him a sidelong look. I’m wildly curious about Dante. Whatever Valentina might say, he’s important to her. I wasn’t there for the last time she was in a relationship, so this time around, I’m going to do my due diligence and make sure the guy she’s interested in isn’t a jerk. “Please call me Lucia.”

“Lucia.” He spots Angelica, and a smile touches his lips. “There you are, monkey.”

Angelica looks thrilled to see him. “Uncle Dante,” she squeals, her face breaking out into a wide smile. “You came to pick me up!” Her eyes fall on me. “And Aunt Lucia.” Her expression turns worried. “Where’s Mama?”

Dante responds before I can jump in. “She got held up at work,” he says, his tone warmly reassuring. “Lucia and I volunteered to pick you up.”

“Yep,” I confirm. “Your mom has to work late, so I thought that the three of us could have an impromptu hot chocolate party at my place.” I’m not above plying her with sugar. “Unless you don’t want some?”

Her eyes shine. “I love hot chocolate!”

“Let’s go then.”

We start walking to my house. Dante looks relaxed, but his eyes constantly scan the crowds. And it’s not just him providing security; I think I recognize Ignazio and Stefano at a discreet distance behind us.

Something’s going on. Something dangerous.

My heart jumps in my chest when I realize I haven’t heard from Antonio all day. Is he okay? Has something happened? I take a deep breath and force myself to relax. Valentina would have told me if something had happened to Antonio. Right now, I need to focus on the child in my care.

“What did you do at school today?”

“We learned about zebras,” Angelica responds happily. “And I had a surprise math test.” She sounds as excited by the test as when I offered her hot chocolate. She’s her mother’s daughter, all right. “Did you know that zebras can run as fast as sixty-five kilometers per hour?”

Dante and I listen to animal facts all the way back. Well, I listen. Dante glowers at every tourist who gets too close to us. I desperately want to ask him what’s going on, but I’m very conscious of the fact that Angelica has sharp ears, so I hold off.

“You have new chairs!” Angelica exclaims as soon as I open the front door of my apartment. “And a new carpet and so many flowers!” She makes a beeline for the nearest bouquet, burying her face in their petals and breathing deeply. “Look how many flowers, Uncle Dante!”

“Yes,” Dante agrees with studied blandness. “It’s almost as if someone bought every spring flower in Venice.”

I flush. Is that what Antonio did? We joked about florists in the city running out of blooms, but I didn’t think it actually happened.

“Now,” Dante continues. “What should we do? Your Aunt Lucia is going to make you hot chocolate, of course, but while she’s doing that, you can either tackle your homework or. . .” He pulls a Lego kit from his bag. “We could build a pirate ship?”

She squeals in excitement, and Dante chuckles. “Pirate ship it is.”

With a grin, I leave them to their construction and head into my kitchen to make Angelica her drink. Five minutes later, Dante sticks his head in. “I’ve been sent to tell you that Angelica would like whipped cream on her hot chocolate,” he says, his lips twitching. “If you have any.”

Whipped cream is essential. “I do. What’s going on? Can you talk about it?”

“The Russian threat has escalated,” he says. “Valentina and Angelica are moving in with me until we take care of this issue.”

“For how long?”

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