Page 147 of Double Trouble for the Mafia Prince
I cross to the table, pour myself a glass of water from the crystal decanter, and take a slow drink.
It tastes stale, oddly metallic. "You believed him?"
"I believe he believes it," she says. "And that might be worse."
Before I can answer, the knock comes.
One rap, then two.
In four quick strides, I open the door.
Two of my men stand outside.
Nico and Tomas, both handpicked, both quiet, both the kind who don’t speak unless they’ve got something important to say.
Tomas steps forward, lowering his voice out of reflex.
"We’ve been monitoring his channels. The usual fail safes. The secondary accounts. The burner rotations through the ferry logs and customs cross-checks. All of it went cold six hours ago."
My jaw tightens. "He pulled his signal?"
"Not just pulled. Burned. He triggered a wipe protocol through a Rossi-coded backdoor. Same kind your tech team flagged when you traced the Salerno manifest last week."
Nico adds, "It’s the kind of trail you lay when you don’t want to be followed. Not the kind you leave behind when you’re planning to return."
I nod once. "Go. Keep scanning."
They leave without further questions.
When I turn back to Gianna, she has already read it on my face.
"He’s gone," she says.
"Off-grid," I reply. "Not a trace left behind. Which means the next move’s already in motion."
She doesn’t look surprised.
She just looks tired.
I cross the room and stop in front of her.
For a long moment, I just study her face.
I look at the quiet tension there.
The worry she hasn’t spoken aloud.
Then I speak carefully, not because I want to hurt her, but because I know the truth has already arrived.
"When I find him, I won’t be asking questions."
Her breath catches.
Not loudly.
Just enough that I hear it.
"I know," she says.
