Page 6 of Depths of Obsession
I want to argue, but I stop myself. If I push too hard, Gazzago might do something stupid and then I either go all vampire or I let Pippa get killed. Neither option is a good one.
One of Gazzago’s bodyguards moves first, followed by the man himself. I signal Pippa to walk ahead of me, and the other two bodyguards fall in behind us as we head toward the back.
I reach out to Renzo mentally, my frustration bubbling up.What the fuck is the Queen’s Heart?
What the hell are you talking about?Renzo snaps back.
Gazzago just asked me about it. Said he sent his cousin here to get the Queen’s Heart.
Fuck if I know anything about it. Ask De Carlo. Or better yet, ask Pippa. She must know something.
We reach the storage room just as Gazzago barks, “You’re the bastard who killed my cousin, eh?”
De Carlo, eyes defiant, lifts his chin. “He tried to cheat me.”
Gazzago grunted and two of his henchmen rushed forward, grabbing De Carlo and slamming him into the wall. “My cousin was not a cheat, youstronzo. You made a deal with him and didn’t keep your side of the bargain.”
“Bullshit,” De Carlo spat. “I kept my side. Your cousin didn’t keep his. Or yours.”
Gazzago’s eyes narrow and his voice lowered dramatically. “Are you calling me a cheat?”
De Carlo stuttered a bit as one of the bodyguards squeezed his throat. “Look…” was all he managed to get out before his airway was completely cut off. His eyes widened and he looked frantically around the room, making eye contact with me. He stared at me as if I was going to jump in and save him. I couldn’t care less if he died. Pippa was going to have to find a new job anyway. Of course, it would mean I wouldn’t have the pleasure of killing him for betraying her. That was a downside, for I would very much like to kill De Carlo and drain him of blood.
Luca, with Gazzago’s possible ties to the magick realm, this Queen’s Heart could be important. Find out what it is and what Gazzago wants with it, Renzo demands, his voice tense in my mind.
Fucking hell. I turn my gaze to Gazzago, my patience wearing thin. “Let him speak,” I growl, my voice low and dangerous. Gazzago shoots me a glare, but I hold his gaze, unfazed. “Might want to get your questions answered before you kill him. Hard to interrogate a corpse.” Not impossible, though. I’ve seen it done before in the magick realm—disturbing, but effective. Gazzago would shit his pants if he saw that. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Gazzago considers my words, then nods. The bodyguard loosens his grip on De Carlo, and he slumps between the two men, gasping for air.
“Now,” Gazzago hisses, “fucking tell me what I want to know.”
De Carlo struggles to breathe, his chest heaving, trying to form words but nothing comes out.
Then Pippa’s voice cuts through the tension. “Wait, Marcello, you actually have the Queen’s Heart?” Her eyes are wide, disbelief etched across her face.
De Carlo, still gasping, nods weakly. A chill skates down my spine. I’ve never heard of this heart thing, but the name alone sends a ripple of unease through me. “What is the Queen’s Heart?” I ask, bracing for an answer I’m certain I won’t like.
Pippa takes a shaky breath and speaks, her voice tight with unease, “The Queen’s Heart is a diamond necklace with a large center ruby. It was given to Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy by her husband, the King of Sicily, back in the eighteen hundreds. Supposedly he got it from the Pope at the time as payment for something. No one knows what.
“When Maria died after a short illness, her sister Charlotte took the necklace and wore it constantly until she was killed in an unfortunate riding accident. The necklace disappeared after that. It’s in the portrait of Queen Maria that’s hanging in the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. There’s been rumors about it over the centuries, but no one has seen it in years.” She hesitates before adding, “It’s worth a fortune on the black market, but if it became public, Italy and the Vatican would probably fight for it. No private collector would be allowed to keep it.”
The weight of her words sinks in. A priceless necklace that disappeared after the two people who owned it died. Sounds like a bad omen with possible connections to the magick realm. The sooner I get this sorted and get Pippa the hell out of here, the better.
De Carlo leans back against the wall, still catching his breath, his face pale but defiant. “I-I made a deal with you,” he stammers, looking directly at Gazzago. “Two point five million for the Heart. It’s worth far more than that! Edoardo showed up here and demanded the Heart but tried to give me five hundred thousand. Five hundred!” His voice rises with fury, his face turning red. “He said the deal had changed—take it or leave it. So I told him to fuck off. When he wouldn’t let me go, I stabbed him. I’m not getting ripped off by some lowlife thug.”
As De Carlo speaks, I notice Gazzago’s expression—cold, blank. But I can tell this is news to him. He hadn’t known about Edoardo’s betrayal.
“Where’s the money?” I ask, my voice cutting through the silence.
De Carlo jerks his chin toward a bench in the back of the room. “It’s under that bench, behind a box.”
Gazzago nods at one of his men, who moves swiftly to the bench, rummages around, and pulls out a duffel bag. He walks it over to Gazzago and hands it to him. Gazzago opens it, glancing inside briefly, but I don’t need to see. De Carlo was telling the truth—two point five million wouldn’t fit in that bag. Gazzago’s face remains expressionless, but the lack of reaction says everything.
“Where’s the Heart?” I ask De Carlo, my voice firm, demanding.
De Carlo glares at me, defiance twisting his face as he straightens up, trying to shrug off the men holding him. “Somewhere safe,” he sneers. Then, turning his hateful gaze toward Gazzago, he spits, “I’m not getting it until I get what we agreed to.”
Gazzago gives a subtle nod, and the bodyguard on his right slams a fist into De Carlo’s left kidney. De Carlo doubles over, gasping for air. Gazzago watches, cold and calculating. “How do I know you didn’t already take the rest of the money?” he says smoothly. “Maybe you took it and left this bit to claim you were cheated.”
