I raise an eyebrow, instantly on guard. “Get to the point. What’s the bad news?”
“Nothing about Vincenzo,” he clarifies. “He’s recovering far better than even the most optimistic of estimates.”
“So, then what?”
“You know those mysterious purchases in the west end? Well, what I didn’t mention was that it was a two-pronged purchase. I had assumed that it was all from the same buyer, but I was wrong.”
“This sounds like a bitter chaser to a happy reunion,” I snap. “What aren’t you saying?”
“The larger purchase of the two can’t be traced, as predicted. The culprit is most likely our original attacker of the Stepanov family.”
“And the other? Spit it out.”
He sighs. “It seems as though Gregori Saleri has taken a sudden interest in waterfront development. He bought several of the properties with cash, as well as the rights to several tenant buildings. It was all done rather expertly. I don’t think anyone else would have uncovered his name, at least not this quickly.”
“Son of a bitch!”
“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Fabio says in agreement. “And I don’t believe that now of all times would be the ripe moment for investment. The Saleris have stayed relatively contained to their corner of the world until now. Why decide to branch out at the same moment a threat against you has risen? Especially one concerning another section of the harbor. It doesn’t pass the smell test to me.”
“It sounds like you’ve been keeping tabs,” I admit, unsure if I’m impressed or alarmed. “Aren’t you the one always telling me not to dwell on the past?”
He shrugs. “How does that saying go? Friends close and enemies closer? That’s not all I’m concerned about, though. Think about it from this angle—if Gregori and Mateo made a move to buy up the harbor, even if it’s to expand their local business interests, they didn’t do it on a whim. A fish market. A meatpacking storage facility. Those enterprises don’t exactly scream targets of a sex club owner, do they?”
I frown. “No, they don’t. Unless that sex club owner suddenly needs to store a lot of shit.”
“Exactly,” Fabio says. “Or he’s merely serving as a proxy to secure the property for someone else. Someone with a more vested interest, like our mystery man, for instance. Or even… Mischa Stepanov.”
I whirl to face him. “And here I thought you wanted to be his best fucking friend. I thought you put your suspicions to rest already?”
“I don’t have any evidence he’s involved,” he says quickly. “But it’s a potential theory, and in my line of work, potential theories tend to have a lot more merit where millions of dollars are involved. Mischa’s built his empire on importing and exporting weapons that one may not be able to attain via legal means. If he is behind the sale, he could be working to counteract the other mysterious buyer. Or…”
“Or he’s been working with the bastard all along. In fact, it makes fucking sense if he was.” I laugh at the logic. “He and his partners conspire to frame me for an attack on the Stepanovs, giving Mischa the opening to come after me directly. But why hit Vin and not me? Targeting him over me wouldn’t make sense, unless…”
“Unless Mischa knows you better than we both suspect, and he counted on you cleaning up the loose ends, such as Antonio Salvatore.”
“And with this stupid fucking truce, we’re playing right into his hands.” I spin on my heel, marching toward Vin’s room. If Fabio is right, I brought the daughter of his potential murderer here. Hell, knowing her hatred of me, her aim might be to finish the job.
“Wait,” Fabio warns. “That could be the case, I won’t deny it—”
“You sound very fucking calm considering this was all your fucking idea!”
“Or,” he says over me. “The other possibility is that Mischa Stepanov is an impulsive, though calculating, man prone to reckless violence when those he cares for are threatened. Which means that whoever is behind this, knew both of you well enough to manipulate your worst character flaws. The main question is why. Why go through the trouble?”
“Or why the fuck are we still standing here when Mischa could be setting us up to take the fall?”
“Donatello…” He sighs in exasperation. “This is why I’ve kept these concerns to myself for the time being. I still would if another idea didn’t occur to me.”
“What? That Mischa’s wife was faking her injuries this whole damn time, and we bought it all hook, line, and sinker?”
But if she wasn’t… That alone would prove Mischa’s innocence. No way in hell would any man knowingly put the lives of his wife and children at risk. Never.
“I won’t deny there is a chance,” Fabio admits. “But I also thought of another solution. One that only you are capable of enacting, and one that could turn the tables, so to speak on any plans Mischa might have, nefarious in nature or otherwise.”
“What?” I scoff. “Have me kiss his ass literally? Hand the harbor over to him? The keys to the Kingdom? Go in there and rip out Vincenzo’s oxygen to finish the job he fucking started?”
“Not quite,” Fabio says softly. “If Mischa really intends to play us for the fools and was willing to sacrifice his own family to do so, then I have no qualms in suggesting that you forge another path around our apparent negotiations.”
I feel my eyes narrow at his tone of voice. It’s the sly, cold, calculating one I’ve only heard him utilize a handful of times, proposing I go along with Mischa in the first place among them.
“So, what is it?”
He inclines his head, and I follow his gaze into Vin’s room. A woman stands at the bedside, watching us. She’s so damn beautiful my brain
