Page 87 of Wicked Knight

“That’s Aurora’s dad.” I glanced up at Enzo.

“So it was true. He did visit the club with Don Gallo. Why?” he asked.

Luca raised his hand and pointed at the two men now sitting in the lounge area of the private suite. “I think we’re about to find out.”

“Are you sure you can pull this off?” Mr. Vitali poured himself a drink.

“Hush.” Don Gallo turned to Nathan who stood there like a statue. “Leave us, boy.”

“Oh, of course.” Nathan nodded then scurried out of the room.

Don Gallo waited another minute, then continued, “We strike now while everyone’s stunned with the news. Don Valentino’s ascension can’t happen. Now that Michael Alfera is out of the picture, all we have to do is kill Giovanni. I’m the natural choice to be king. They will have no choice but to vote for me.”

“What about Signoria Vittoria? Won’t she want to throw her name in the hat?” Mr. Vitali sipped from his tumbler. Surprise registered on his face, then he looked into the glass. “This is some good shit.” He sat back smiling and crossed his ankle over his knee. “I could get used to this. Correction.” He chuckled. “I’m already used to this.”

“Help me kill Giovanni. And you’ll have everything you ever wanted.”

“Piece of cake. I know exactly how to do it too. My daughter will do it for me. She’s friends with the Valentino kid.” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Like her mother, she’s not all that smart. But she’s pretty and obedient. She will do as I say.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

“When will you do it?” Don Gallo reached over and opened a box of Cuban cigars. “It has to be within the week.”

“Give me a couple of days.” He looked at Don Gallo’s cigar with greed in his eyes. “May I try it?”

“Of course.” Don Gallo offered him the cigar he had already cut. “When I’m king, I will make sure your family joins our ranks.”

I hit pause. “I don’t think I can listen to any more of this. How long does this go on for?” I fast-forward the video to look at the timer. “Was Ava really under the bed for a whole two hours? I can’t believe this.”

“Jesus fuck. Don Gallo put a hit on Dad?” Rex swallowed and winced. “And he was okay letting an innocent girl do it for him.”

“That’s some ballsy shit.” Santino blew out a breath.

“This conversation was recorded a few days before Mr. Vitali died in the fire at the beach house.” Enzo glared at Aurora’s dad on the laptop screen.

“Thanks to Don Valentino’s order to kill anyone loyal to Alfera, Vitali didn’t get to do what Uncle Jimmy wanted.” Luca sat back on the desk chair. Color completely drained from his face, while he stared intensely at nothing in front of him. “This conversation was recorded the night Ava died. The fake accident happened the following Saturday, the same day the Vitali family was killed.”

“These two events have to be related,” I said.

“I don’t know how though.” Luca shook his head.

“At least now you know she wasn’t killed because of you.” I gently tunneled my fingers through his hair. “My guess is Ava heard the conversation. She knew it had been recorded. So when the men left, she took the memory card from the camera and left with it. Just like Lisa said.”

“That sounds like her.” Luca nodded. “She would’ve wanted to do the right thing.”

“I bet she was killed on her way to turn this into the police.” My eyes brimmed with tears. I hated that someone as good and as innocent as Ava had to die because of Don Gallo’s greed. “Your uncle had her killed, didn’t he?”

“It appears so.” Luca pressed his thumb and index finger to his eyes. “But how did he find out about the recording?”

I wrapped my arms around him. He had every right to cry and mourn Ava’s death, but right now, we had to see our plan through to the end. Don Valentino had to see this video. Here was proof that Don Gallo was planning to kill a don—an offense punishable by death in the Society by-laws.

“I’m so sorry, Luca. At least now, you have your answers.” I pressed my lips to the top of his head.

“Yeah.” He stood, reaching for the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. He took out his phone and typed a quick message. “We have to go and finish what Ava started. Except, we’re not taking this card to the police.”

“I’ll call Dad right now.” Rex fished out his mobile and left the office.

“Okay, so we leave the way we came in.” I ejected the flash card from the computer and gave it to Luca. “Luca and I will leave first.”

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