Page 37 of The Secrets We Keep

“As many of them as we can get. In case we run into any”—his gaze flicked up and landed on Dom before dropping back down to the photo again—“issues.”

Dom snorted, tossing back the rest of his wine and pouring a third glass.

“It might be better if we can try and get Bonacci elected president instead. Put our own man in higher office.” Luca glanced at Alexei, who raised a brow and nodded slightly. “Restivo should go down with Gallo.”

“We’ll see. I don’t want to rule anything out.”

A maid stepped into the archway to announce that dinner was ready, and Luca followed his brothers down the hall to the family dining room. It still felt heavy in here. They hadn’t used this room at all after their mother died. Not until Matteo came back to town.

Carina and Emilia appeared, the twins on their heels, and they all gave Matteo a wide berth before taking their seats. When the first course was served and Matteo still didn’t speak, Luca shook his head. One big happy fucking family. How in the hell were they going to rule Sicily as a unit if they could barely stand to be in the same room with each other?

Chapter Seventeen

Sienna absently tapped her pen against the notebook laid open in front of her. She was on her third week in this job, and already she’d spent more time in meetings than she did doing the actual work they were paying her to do. Such a mind-numbingly boring waste of time.

At least in her old job, they didn’t require her to sit in meetings for hours when all they really needed her for was a five or ten-minute presentation. This one was stretching beyond two hours, and she really had to pee.

If this was how every department of Gallo Industries was run, the Bianchis were doing the employees a favor by taking out Nero and restructuring everything. She’d have to give Luca some tips on best practices for the IT department. Things that had become second nature to her in Germany but were brushed off here.

Her old company prioritized the work she was paid to do over meetings. If her presence was required, she was given a window of time to pop in, say her piece, and pop out. If someone wanted her opinion on something else that came up, she got a message about it later.

Today’s marathon meeting was going to set her back at least half a day, if not more, on the project she was working on. And she still had to get up to speed on another project Ciro brought to her yesterday. She might be here for other reasons entirely, but she still needed to do good work to maintain her cover. And her sense of personal pride.

She enjoyed her work. Even when she was stuck doing it for the uncle who’d killed her family and the company generating the obscene profits that made it possible.

Maybe that was contributing to her irritation too. She’d been on the island for almost a month, and not a single person had paid for what was done to them.

Luca and Matteo were having lunch with the mayor of Palermo and his close friend, the Regional President, tomorrow. But according to Luca, Matteo was undecided on whether Restivo should be left in power. Too bad for him.

She’d tell Matteo the same thing she told Luca if she had to. Restivo’s career was over. As soon as her uncle fell, she was leaking every scrap of information she had on him to the press. There was no way he’d survive the fallout.

“And that wraps up our timelines for next quarter’s projects. Any questions?”

Furtive glances went around the room, and when no one spoke, everyone exhaled a collective sigh of relief. Nothing was worse than getting stuck longer because some eager newbie had a burning question.

She followed the crowd out of the glass-walled conference room and back to her desk. Jack caught her eye as she passed his cubicle and raised a brow.

“That was a long one.”

“Immeasurably. I’m going to take a stretch break and grab something to eat. Need anything from the lounge?”

Jack shook his head and refocused on his computer. He’d had his head down working on something all week, and she’d been forced to give up one of her work from home days to attend a handful of useless meetings. Lucky bastard.

Stretching out a kink in her lower back, she grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk and made her way down the hall to the ladies’ room. It was empty, and she was grateful for the peace and quiet. Using the bathroom and washing her hands, she studied her reflection in the mirror.

She was due for another color soon. The blond was growing out, her roots darkening a little too much. She studied the ashy shade and the contrast to her skin that had gone pale during her years in Germany. Every run of Luca’s fingertips through her hair made her wish it was brown again.

Pulling a vial of eye drops from her purse, she added some to her eyes and blinked rapidly. She hated the contacts as much as her hair color, more so under the bright fluorescent lighting. But a little discomfort was a small price to pay to make sure no one recognized her.

And it was only temporary. Her mission would be complete once Nero, Stefano, and Dante were dead. Then it wouldn’t matter if anyone recognized her or not.

The door to the bathroom opened, and she smiled at a woman she only vaguely recognized. Giving her hair a quick brush with her fingers, Sienna stepped back into the hallway and headed for the employee lounge.

She wondered if the lounges on every floor were as nice as this one, with its comfy, overstuffed chairs and sofas and full refrigerator. A narrow pantry next to the fridge was always stocked with snacks, and fresh fruit was piled in a bowl in the middle of a large round table.

Grabbing a bottle of iced coffee from the fridge, she twisted off the cap and took a drink while she browsed the snacks inside the cabinet. Had she eaten breakfast? She couldn’t remember.

After waking up late because she was supposed to work from home today, she’d seen the email that she was expected in the office for a meeting. Since she’d skipped a shower, she’d probably skipped breakfast too.

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