Page 313 of Marcello

“Yeah… sorry about that,” I muttered. Not because I was sorry, but because I knew she expected gratitude.

“I want you to know that I value you highly,” she said.

“Thanks.” Again, I didn’t give a shit, but I knew she expected me to.

“This will all be over soon,” she whispered, “and you and I will take over.”

Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the mouth.

WHAT THE FUCK?!

I stepped away from her in shock.

Though her eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses, I knew she was staring at me angrily – probably prompted by the sting of rejection.

“What?” she demanded.

There were a dozen things I could have said –

Like, You’re a murdering bitch who’s fucking your brother –

But I kept it to the least objectionable.

“If Cesare knew you just did that, he’d kill me,” I said quietly.

She smiled evilly. “Then let’s make sure he doesn’t find out, hm?”

She walked past me and headed for the mansion’s foyer.

I waited until she was gone…

And then I got out of the mansion as fast as I possibly could.

103

Giorgio

Once the mole left, the old guy moved us somewhere the tours never went.

I thought the tunnels would be small and cramped, but he took us to a huge stone room where the ceiling towered 15 feet over our heads. The air was chilly, and the rock walls were cool to the touch.

The only reason we could see anything was because of a bunch of work lights on extension cords. They sat on the ground and lit everybody from below, which made us all look like we were in a horror movie.

Their brightness also didn’t reach very far. The stone room led to a smaller tunnel, which turned pitch black after about ten feet.

Creepy as hell.

While the bosses and the old man planned, me and the other foot soldiers carried in supplies from our cars parked outside. Lots of tactical cases full of guns and ammo, plus canvas bags stuffed with black clothing.

Once we were finished, the old guy said we would need a ladder, thirty feet of rope, a grappling hook, high-powered headlamps, spare batteries, and bottles of water.

It fell to me and Vincenzo to go buy the stuff. We drove one of the Mercedes to a sporting goods store to get the grappling hook, then to a hardware store to buy the ladder, rope, headlamps, and batteries.

As we went about gathering the supplies, I felt incredibly heartsick about Emilia.

I wanted to talk to her so badly…

But what was I going to say?