Page 41 of Gamble with Me
"That could really be an accident," Dorian mused, but Malin only shrugged, directing his attention to young Gravaldis.
"Nico's sister, Tessa, disappeared for two weeks without explanation," he continued, and Nico's face twisted with pain. "When they found her, she was overdosed and almost dead. Since then, she hasn’t left the psychiatric facility in Washington."
"Maybe she just wanted to try something new, and it got out of hand," Dorian said, trying to find reason behind it, but even a blind person could see it wasn't a coincidence.
"Italians have suffered weird accidents since the Holding started working on the projects for you," Enzo whispered, gulping anxiously when all three of us looked at him. "When we refused to cooperate, someone close to us died or got hurt badly." He sighed, shaking his head sadly. "My mom is the daughter of Carmelo Donatelli. She has first-hand information, and she said that heads of the clans have had some disputes between them. They don't pay attention to the construction company that serves as a link between Italians and Americans because they have bigger problems."
The name Chester Kellerman popped up in my mind, and I clenched my palm into a tight fist. His involvement with Italians suddenly made much more sense. If he worked for someone with ambitions to take over one or all Five Families, the situation was more complicated than I thought. And my goddess was in the center of it, not knowing what kind of danger crept behind her back.
"Let them go," I ordered, staring at the opposite wall but not really looking at it. My mind was elsewhere, and while I waited for my brothers to free our prisoners, I considered some scenarios, finding the most probable one.
"What do you think?" Dorian enquired when we were alone, and I turned to them.
"Donald Stern told me that Chester Kellerman persuaded the shareholders to participate in this massive fraud," I disclosed, watching my brothers exchange quick, surprised glances. "I think Kellerman is helping someone very powerful to take over the businesses Italians have under their control by acting like he works for them.”
Malin's brows shot up while Dorian blinked in confusion.
"Think about it," I said, hiding my hands in my pants pocket and walking around them in circles. "He has access and connections to influential people, thanks to his previous work. Someone notices his skill of persuasion and decides to use it. In three years, he invisibly plots the conflict between us, Italians, and American businessmen and forces us into a war." I stopped in the middle of the room, noticing the silver pin on the ground under Matilda's chair. I picked it up, admiring the diamond rose for a second.
"What's in it for him?" Dorian stepped closer and took the pin from me.
"Money," I responded matter-of-factly, sure about Chester's intentions. "We know how much he lost in our casinos over the past three years. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. Where did he get that money from?"
My question went unanswered, yet I knew they understood our next move.
"I'll check everything about him since the Starlight project started," Malin said, and I nodded, looking at Dorian.
"I'll dig out every person he spoke with over the past three years," he claimed, and I smirked, knowing it was only a matter of time until we discovered who he was in bed with.
"Assign our best hackers and trackers to this," I ordered, walking out of the tiny, stinky place. "Jamal!" I shouted, and he exited the room with a wicked grin, shifting his face into a sinister grimace. "Let the kids go with a warning!" Then I turned to my brothers, putting all seriousness into my next words. "We must uncover the name and face of our enemy."
"Of course." Dorian slammed my shoulder hard, grinning. "And you, brother, enjoy your date."
"Yeah," Malin joined in, hitting my other shoulder. "Just don't fuck it up more than it already is."
"Inspirational," I groaned, shaking their hands off of me and strolling to my car.
Their remarks were getting on my nerves, mostly because they were right. This innocent game I started quickly escalated, and the chaos with our projects blocked me from disclosing the stalker's identity to Valeria. I didn't want to expose her to danger, but I couldn't be without her either. So, all I could do was wear the mask and hope she wouldn't find out about me and hate me forever.
-20-
Valeria
Ipicked up Zara from her grandmother's house on Saturday morning, a little tired after my night shift. But I hadn't spent quality time with my baby girl lately, so I decided to take her to the shopping mall and the movies.
She laughed all the time we were there, and my heart fluttered with happiness. She didn't mention Chester at any moment, which calmed an unpleasant feeling of guilt that I had taken her away from her father.
Lisa also confirmed that Zara was weirdly comfortable with her parents' breakup. She replied with a shrug and a sentence when she asked about it, which slightly worried me. She said her father wasn't a good man and didn't deserve us. How could a seven-year-old girl come up with such a mature response? Did I really overlook her that much?
At four pm, Alice visited us in our new home, and we grabbed a quick coffee. I told her about my new job and the money Zyon gave me, and her eyes almost fell out of their sockets. She was even more surprised than me by that turnaround.
"What did he want in return?" Alice asked when I finished talking and watched Zara coloring Cinderella.
"Nothing," I replied, and she cast me a doubtful glance. "He even told me to come to him if I needed anything."
"That doesn't sound like Zyon at all," she pointed out, pouring herself a glass of water. "I’ve worked for him many times. He pays great, but he's not a charity. Be careful with him."
"Maybe he changed," I objected, slightly offended by her insinuation about Zyon's reasons. However, I had to admit that the thought occurred to me, too. I had already decided to pay him back the twenty thousand he won from my husband. It was his money, and I didn't want to owe him anything.
