Page 33 of The Silence Lies

For a moment, I don’t think he’s going to answer me. He pats my shoulder, shaking his head and chuckles. He heads back towards the open car door, glancing back at me. “Be careful what you wish for, Fontana.”

“What am I looking at?” Sera frowns. She’s perched behind her desk, her large chair swallowing her small form.

“The Rocco family aren’t as impartial as we thought,” I answer.

“Weapons, ammunition,” Marco adds. “They look like they’re about to go to war!”

“It’s nothing we can’t handle, though,” Matteo reassures.

If there’s one thing I know about the Ferrante brothers, it’s that they could go to war, just those two, and win.

“Merda,” she mutters. “We really need to get Greco on our side more than ever.”

“Agreed,” I say, taking a seat beside Levi on the couch.

He’s got his arms folded, looking like someone just pissed on his favorite suit. I would ask, but I can already hazard a guess that it has to do with last night.

“Where did you get these from?” she questions, narrowing her gaze on me.

“I already told you,” I smirk. “The less you know, the better.”

She turns her attention to the twins, hoping they might supply her with the information, but they don’t budge. We had a firm discussion in the car on the way here, and we were all in agreement that if Mancini doesn’t want his name dragged through the mud, we don’t. He has his reasons and unless he’s willing to show face, it’s not on us to bring him up in conversation.

Rolling her eyes, Sera returns her attention to the file Mancini gave me. I can see the concentration etched in her features. The way she worries her lips as she flips through each photograph tells me she’s trying to work out what’s going on.

“I don’t know what they’re up to, but I don’t think their alliance is to go against you.”

She lifts her eyes to meet mine. “You think something else is going on?”

I nod. “They don’t need that much arsenal to take you down, Bianchi.”

“Then what?”

“I’m still trying to work that out. But I’ll have more information soon. We just need to make sure we get Greco on our side.”

“Right,” she sighs, leaning back in her chair. Her gaze lands on Levi for a moment, before flickering back to me. Whatever happened last night has left them both in sour moods and I don’t think I want to be a part of it.

“What I have on Greco, he’ll never want it getting out. You won’t need to put his balls in a vice,” I tease, trying to lighten the mood.

Levi huffs beside me, telling me it didn’t work. He didn’t find my jokes funny last night, and he certainly doesn’t now. Deciding to move the conversation on to more important things, I ask about the wedding. “You all set for next weekend?”

Sera runs her hand through her hair, the chocolate waves falling over her shoulders as she leans forward. “Yes. We’ll meet at mine, attend as one unit.”

“Good idea. A united front might sway Greco. And if it doesn’t,” I shrug my shoulders and smirk, “then we go to plan B.”

Serafina nods, albeit reluctantly.

“It’s going to be fine,” I reassure.

“You’ll have us there, we won’t let anything happen.” Levi finally speaks up, and it seems to put our leader at ease.

“Thank you,” she smiles. I sense those two simple words mean a lot more than just gratitude. There’s something else going on and it feels like these are the first words they’ve spoken to each other all morning.

I don’t want to be the one to crowd the situation. It feels like they have a lot to discuss. So, I nod at the brothers and we take our leave. Hopefully, whatever has got those two acting like kids will be smoothed over by this weekend. We can’t afford to have anything go wrong.

Serafina

“I don’t like any of these,” Levi mutters, scrunching his face up at the bright yellow dress in his hands. “This feels too scratchy.”

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