Page 297 of Marcello

Niccolo jumped in again. “Why the hell is she hiding in a secret passageway?”

“Because that’s where she hid the night we went to kill her father. Her name’s Giulietta – well, I call her Giulietta, but her real name’s Laura Amato.”

Everyone looked shocked – Niccolo most of all. “Don Amato’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“How the hell did you come to fall in love with his daughter?!”

“It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time.”

“No, we don’t,” Dario said. “He’s proved enough for us to trust him.”

Niccolo scoffed. “Have we?”

Dario looked at him. “I can tell.”

Niccolo went quiet. I guess that was enough for him.

Suddenly, Adriano spoke up. “He’s getting another call.”

“I told you to ignore it,” Niccolo snapped.

“It’s not his mother,” Adriano said grimly. “It’s Lucrezia Caproni.”

Every single person tensed up. Dario, Niccolo, the Swede – everybody.

“Give me the phone,” I said. “I know what to say.”

Dario looked at me as though he was reading my soul.

“Dario!” Niccolo cautioned. “He could tell her everything!”

“He won’t,” Dario said decisively. “Give him the phone.”

Adriano handed me my cell.

Before I could answer, Niccolo hissed, “Speakerphone!”

I nodded.

Adriano’s gun touched the back of my skull.

No need for that, you asshole.

I want them dead even more than YOU do.

“Hello?”

“Where the fuck ARE you, Romeo?!” Lucrezia snarled.

Niccolo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

I ignored him as I faked a yawn. “I’m sorry… I nearly fell asleep at the wheel, so I parked just long enough to take a five-minute nap. I, uh… guess it was longer than that.”

“You IDIOT! The Rosolinis could already be in Naples! They could’ve grabbed you!”