Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Sure enough, the two of them are sitting at the same table with untouched sandwiches in front of them.
God damn it. Angelo Barone got to the maid. He must have exploited her vulnerability in order to get her to spy on Valentina.
“I’m going to kill her for betraying Valentina,” I growl beneath my breath.
My remark surprises everyone in the room. Sure, I’ve done my share of hits, but I’m usually the last one to opt for slaughter.
“Easy,” Vincent says with a measured tone. “It’s more than likely that Maria was just used as a pawn in the larger game here. She’s been no trouble at all until now. You know how cruel and heartless the manipulation of the mafia can be. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt and bring her in to talk. We’ll get her to crack, and then we’ll go from there.”
Vincent turns to Alonzo and gives him instructions to bring the maid in for questioning.
“What do the Barones want with Valentina?” Zara asks while we wait for him to return with Maria.
“Nothing,” I say as my anger rises with each passing moment. “It’s Leonardo Conti running the show and calling the shots with this. The Barones are just a temporary alliance that he’s using. “
“Geez,” Zara rolls her eyes. “You guys really know how to piss off all the bad guys at once, don’t you? Leonardo Conti and the Barone family? You’re not trying to get yourselves killed, are you?”
“Trust me,” I say through gritted teeth. “If anyone lays a hand on Valentina, it will be their graves being dug, not ours.”
Vincent paces the room. “We should have seen something like this coming. I can’t believe I missed the connection the maid had with our enemy.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Zara says. “I don’t think anyone initially connected her to the Barones. I think this situation just sort of developed. Leonardo was probably looking for a way in, had the Barone’s scope us out for him, and this poor woman was likely just an innocent victim who got caught up in their game. You know how indifferent those guys are to collateral damage.”
As much as I want to stay furious at the maid for potentially putting Valentina in direct harm, I also agree that what Zara is pointing out is true. Maria was likely completely innocent with a clean past when Vincent first hired her. Men like Angelo Barone can turn anyone against their own morals by using the right threats. The focus now is to find out how he got the maid to turn and what, exactly, she told him.
“Hopefully, she can give us some insight into where Valentina is,” I say as my concern over her and the baby continues to climb.
When Alonzo returns within the hour with Maria Russo in hand, it’s time to get some answers.
Maria does admittedly look completely terrified when she’s brought in and shoved down into a chair to face our questioning. She glances over at Vincent, visibly afraid of what punishment her boss is going to provide, now that she’s aware of who he really is. But it’s me she should fear the most in this moment. Vincent might be the more ruthless of the two of us on a normal day, but not today—not when Valentina is involved.
“Why did you do it?” I ask slowly as I kneel in front of her and put my direct eye contact squarely in her face. “Why did you give information about Valentina to Angelo Barone?”
“Answer carefully,” Vincent warns her from behind me. “You won’t get a second chance if you lie to us, Maria.”
Tears swell in her eyes as her hands shake in her lap.
“I had no choice,” she chokes on her words. “I am so sorry, truly I am. Deep remorse haunts me, and I’ve felt guilty ever since I gave that wicked man information. I like Valentina. She has been nothing but kind to me, but I had no choice—he threatened my family.”
Her face twists with conflicted emotions as she blabbers and rambles as if she’s glad to be getting this off her chest. “I was too afraid to speak out. I had to stay silent. They told me that if I didn’t, there would be consequences.”
“What consequences?”
“Mr. Barone said that he had men in Italy who were watching my family. He showed me photographs of my parents and my sister there and said that if I didn’t report to him every night about Valentina and if I dared to let anyone know about our arrangement, that he would have my entire family killed and he would make me watch.”
At that, Maria bursts into tears and buries her face in her hands. “I never wanted Valentina to get hurt,” she cries, obviously deeply troubled by the conflict between her moral compass and the reality of her position, a position Barone forced her into by threatening her family.