Page 56 of The Mafia's Property

“So he’s coming,” I said after Nico ended the call.

Nico nodded. “He’s a little less fussy than most of the bullshit rare rock dealers I had to deal with. Plus, I’m sure he wants that thing not to resell it but to keep it to himself and maybe show it to a few of his friends.”

“I don’t care where it goes as long as it’s out of our hands and Volkov’s.” Nico agreed. After all that happened connected to the jewel, even I was starting to believe the existence of the curse.

The buyer’s boat came to shore in the afternoon like we agreed. Nico, Freya, me and a few of my men were there to welcome him to the island. Except when the boat docked, nothing happened. Rico and I glanced at each other the longer the boat stayed there, unmoving like a ghost ship. I took the binoculars of the man standing next to me and tried to spot signs of life. There were people on it and from what I could tell, it looked like any billionaire’s pleasure yacht you’d see floating in the Mediterranean.

Lots of women in bikinis and very few men, most of whom were twice the age of the women. His was no different. I counted at least seven women basking in bikinis on the deck and one middle-aged man in trunks. It was not our guy. The buyer was Asian, Chinese to be exact and short. The man in trunks was tall, pale and distinctly Caucasian.

I turned to Nico and shook my head. He took out his phone and dialed. “What’s the holdup?” I couldn’t make out the muffled reply. Nico cut the call. “He’s there. He just needs a few more minutes to get ready.”

“For what? It’s not like we’re doing a fashion show.”

A few more minutes later and a smaller boat was loading some of the passengers if my binoculars were accurate. Finally, I thought. A speed boat with one little man in the middle and several very large man enveloping him made its way to shore.

“Mr. Luo, nice to meet you again,” Nico said, extending his hand as the entourage got out of the boat. All of them wore dark suits except for the man in the middle who wore a beach shirt, shorts and sunglasses.

“Nice island you have here, Niccolo,” Luo replied. “Yours or part of the family?”

“What’s mine is my family’s and vice versa,” Nico said.

Luo chuckled, “Of course.” He turned his attention to me and said, “and you must be the other twin?”

“Enrico. Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.” Behind him, one of his bodyguards fidgeted, catching my eye. He was taller than all the other men and there was something familiar to him I couldn’t place. Maybe he was part of a security firm I’ve dealt with before, but nothing about Luo said he would outsource his security. And the guard seemed to stand out more than the other men. He seemed more intent on our conversation, while the others looked like they found the scenery more interesting or had plain expressions. I made a mental note to check upon this rogue guard. He was giving me the ick.

“And who is this lovely lady?” Luo asked, bringing my attention back to him. I drew Freya to my side, feeling a sudden rush of irrational jealousy at his innocuous comment.

“My girlfriend, Freya,” I said. “Shall I lead you to the villa?”

“To business. Of course. It’s what I came here for.” He glanced at that odd-looking bodyguard before moving forward. Yeah. Something was odd. I tried to code Nico, but he went to walk beside Luo and launched into some inane talk about the island’s flora. The bodyguard walked a little too close to the two of them than was normal. And when I took Freya’s arm, she felt stiff.

“What is it?”

Her eyes were watery with fear. The hair on the back of my neck rose. Something was definitely off. “Nothing,” she said, glancing back at Luo’s guards. Not at the strange one I had spotted, but another one walking behind us. He had shaggy hair and a mustache. I can’t say I had ever seen the man before. However, upon a closer look, he had a familiarity to him as well.

“Do you know him?” I asked her as we entered the villa. She shook her head. “I must have confused him with someone else.”

“Are you sure? You can always tell me if you feel something is off.”

She gave me a half convincing nod. Even she felt the vibes were off. That reassured me a little. But so did the security team. Unlike yesterday when this house was just the three of us, today it was filled with a fair number of our men who made up the security of the island. Some were patrolling the roof. Others were all around the house and a few were inside. I rarely had my gun with me, but today I made sure I had one. I felt the gun at my hip, confirming it was there.

“You have a lot of security around here,” Luo said, looking around him as Nico ushered him into the living room.

“Considering what we are dealing with today, we thought we could never be too careful.”

Luo’s smiled, and it faltered. He sat down on the couch and opened his arms. “So where’s the jewel, the thing we came for?”

The tall, suspicious bodyguard I had my eye on and was standing behind Luo, bent down and whispered something in his ear. Then Luo said. “And I hope the showing will be private? I know you trust your men, but I don’t.” His eyes darted around the room, spotting each one of the guards. “I could become their target, you know what I mean.”

“We could go somewhere private,” Nico suggested. “You can bring one of your men if you think we’re going to fleece you.”

Luo turned back to his bodyguard. They seemed to pass some unspoken communication between the two of them before turning back to us and nodding.

“Great,” Nico said. “Follow me,” he said.

“Am I staying with them?” Freya asked, practically squeezing my hand.

“You’re coming with us.”

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