Page 137 of The Hitman's Secret Baby
I see it now. Every conversation. Every smooth deflection. The way he always managed to be useful, always just clever enough to avoid being feared.
That was the plan. Make himself indispensable and invisible. And I let him in. I called him brother. I trusted him with my back, my family. My jaw clenches so hard it aches. I swallow down the fire building in my throat.
"My father knew," she says. "He didn't care. He loved her. And she swore Cesare was gone. Dead. She said Giovanni had no ties to that world."
"But she lied."
"She must have. Somewhere along the way, Cesare found him again. Or maybe Giovanni found him. I don't know which came first. All I know is, about three years ago, he started to change. The way he spoke. The way he talked about Luca. About legacy. He was always clever, but he started asking questions. Watching too much."
"And you said nothing."
Alessandra trembles. "He's my family."
"No. He's Cesare's."
Cristiano breathes harder now. I loosen my grip slightly, just enough for him to gasp, then step back.
"He said he was building something," Alessandra whispers, looking miserable. "That the Salvatores didn't deserve what they had. That they took it. That Cesare would make it right. That he would make the name feared again."
"He was placed here," I say flatly. "Raised inside these walls. Built like a weapon."
Alessandra doesn't deny it.
My thoughts are already racing ahead. I recall the way Giovanni always managed to be exactly where he needed to be.
Always watching.
Always waiting, like there was nothing more important than for him to be involved in every family affair, big or small.
"What does he want?" I ask.
"Everything," she replies.
I have to act, and as fast as possible. Aria saw something that would have led to Giovanni's downfall.
Pointing my gun at Alessandra, I gesture to the pocket of her jeans. "Phones, both of you."
"What—"
"Shut the fuck up and give me your phones," I snarl, my patience running thin. "If you thought I'd run the risk of you calling Gio as soon as I turn my back, you're wrong. And if either of you makes a wrong move, you're not getting out of here alive."
Cristiano's eyes grow round with panic, but to his credit, he tries pulling the Luca card once more. "I bet I could kill you and tell Luca you had gone mad looking for Aria and wanted to hurt him."
The ridiculousness of that makes me snort. "You're a kid," I say, pity thick in my voice. "And you don't understand what I have with Luca. Fifteen years to your one. I wouldn't place too much faith in that bet of yours."
He opens and shuts his mouth like a fish out of water. "Please." Alessandra is the one who speaks.
She fishes out her phone and takes Cristiano's as well before tossing them both to my feet, where they land with a sharpthwack. "Please…are you going to kill him?"
"Not my call." I holster the gun, turning away.
Cristiano never had a spine, so he pleases himself by hurling a curse. Neither of them follows me as I break into a brisk run.
Giovanni doesn't yet know what I've uncovered, which means he's still in the estate.
I pass a guard near the orchard.
He nods, but I do not stop. My eyes scan the trees. I want to see him before he sees me.
