Giovanni smiled at the waitress. He’d heard about her from his brother. Rita and Maso’s parents had been killed in a car accident. Mariko identified with Rita because she’d been an orphan with a younger brother and she’d tried to support and take care of him. He knew Sasha would identify the moment he told her Rita and Maso had lost their parents. The Biagis had taken both children in. Rita and Maso preferred to work in the café to help pay expenses. Ricco was paying for Rita’s college. She was a good student and could have gone anywhere, but she preferred to stay close to her brother, who was still in high school.
When the waitress walked away, Stefano pulled out a packet of papers and handed them to Taviano, who was sitting beside him. He indicated with his chin to give them to Giovanni. “The report on many of the components from the bomb. Where each item was purchased.”
Giovanni didn’t like the heaviness in his brother’s voice. He took the papers from Taviano and flipped them open, scanning the report. His cousins, Rigina and Rosina Greco, were amazing and invaluable on a computer. They did most of the work for the investigators that wasn’t legwork or actually talking with real people. Once on a task, neither stopped until it was done. He knew they had to have worked with very little sleep.
“Who?” Sasha asked, looking up at the lines set deep in his face.
“Some of the items were purchased with a credit card that Aaron later reported stolen.”
“How much later?” Vittorio asked.
His voice was strictly neutral, but it pissed Giovanni off anyway. Aaron had been his friend. “He might betray me for a chance at a woman, but he wouldn’t try to kill me.”
“The bomb wasn’t actually set,” Ricco reminded. “It was just put on your seat as a warning. Aaron served in the Army, didn’t he?”
Giovanni cursed under his breath. “He wouldn’t be so stupid as to use his own damn credit card. I know a lot of people think fighters don’t have brains, but they’re wrong. Aaron’s intelligent.”
“Which means he might know how to put a bomb together and take one apart,” Stefano said. “You know we’re going to have to pay him a visit.”
When one got a “visit” from any Ferraro, it didn’t end well. He glanced at his brother and handed the report back to Taviano. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Giovanni”—Stefano’s voice was the one that no one argued with—“I know he’s your friend, but it isn’t wise to go visit someone who may be trying to kill you. I’ll handle it.”
Giovanni shook his head but refrained from arguing. What would be the point? He couldn’t tell Stefano not to kill his friend, not with Sasha sitting there and others in the restaurant perhaps overhearing. He would have to plead his case later. Aaron might have betrayed him, but Giovanni didn’t believe for one moment that the fighter would want him dead.
“There’s more,” Stefano said. “I’m sorry, Sasha, but both of you need to know. The picture sold to the tabloids came from Aaron’s phone. It was sent directly from his phone. The money, however, was not put in his account.”
Giovanni’s gut tightened. “No way would Aaron be that stupid.” But he’d taken the picture. He had to have been the one to snap the picture of Sasha in such a compromising situation. Damn the man to hell. Maybe he deserved to have Stefano unleashed on him.
Sasha’s face burned but she kept her head up. Giovanni leaned down to brush a kiss over her temple. “We live in a fishbowl, baby, and what they can’t get, they manufacture. All of us have had really terrible press.”
“It’s true,” Emmanuelle said.
Of course, they’d been born to it and had learned to use the paparazzi. They’d also learned to live with the publicity their name and lifestyle generated. Sasha had no idea of the firestorms that could happen.
“I’ve got to go with Giovanni on this one,” Vittorio said. “Aaron couldn’t be that dumb. And he’d know our family would go looking for evidence. He’s been around Giovanni. He knows we don’t stop.”
“Are Rigina and Rosina tracing the money?” Giovanni asked.
“They’re trying. They’ll do it. You know the two of them,” Stefano assured. “It seems to be a very convoluted trail.”
“No one is going to pass on that kind of money. Whoever is doing this is going to find a way for the money to ultimately get back to him,” Ricco said. “The girls will find it.”
Giovanni nodded. “I think Aaron needs to know all this. It isn’t that hard to determine whether he’s lying or not.”
“That’s right,” Stefano said. “Ricco and I will be talking to him, not you.”
“I want to be there,” Giovanni insisted.
Stefano shook his head but then seemed to change his mind. “I’ll give it some thought.”
Giovanni knew that was the best he was going to get. If Aaron was Sasha’s stalker, and he’d tried to have Giovanni killed, there was no saving him from Stefano’s wrath. It was personal, and technically, Salvatore, Lucca and Geno should be handling it, and maybe that was what would happen in the end, but Giovanni doubted it.
“What have you decided to do about Eloisa?” Emmanuelle asked Stefano.
Giovanni shot her a quick smile of thanks. Sasha started to say something, but he stopped her by biting the end of her finger and shaking his head when she looked at him. She took the cue and remained silent, but he knew he would have to have that discussion with her.
Francesca’s head snapped up. “What do you mean, do about her? What’s Eloisa done now?” There was a distinct sigh in her voice.
“She’s wreaking Eloisa-havoc on everyone,” Stefano said. “Nothing to worry about, baby. We’re used to it.”
“It’s fine if she comes down on us,” Taviano corrected, “but Nicoletta’s off-limits. She’s a kid, and she’s been through enough. I’m not going to put up with it.”
“I’ll talk to Nicoletta about her,” Francesca offered.
“That’s not the point. She talks to Lucia and Amo, trying to get them to kick Nicoletta out. That’s bullshit. What if they listen to her?”
“Lucia is incapable of kicking anyone out, let alone a young girl. She’ll gently tell Eloisa to mind her own business,” Stefano reminded.
“That’s true, but Eloisa doesn’t hear or understand gentle reminders. She’s going to continue, and sooner or later, Nicoletta will leave just so Lucia and Amo will have peace.”
“She’s going to want to leave soon anyway. She missed all that schooling, so she’s being tutored, but Agnese Moretti said she’s nearly finished high school and can graduate. The moment she does, she’s going to want to get out of here,” Giovanni pointed out. He hated upsetting Taviano further, but it had to be said. They needed to plan for it.
“That’s not going to happen,” Taviano said, his voice tight.
Sasha’s fingers dug into Giovanni’s thigh. She didn’t like the idea of the powerful Ferraro family pitting themselves against a young girl and her desire to leave their territory.
“It’s too dangerous for her to leave,” he said. “Benito Valdez is still searching for her. He’s called in favors and offered them to other gangs, to try to find her whereabouts.” Giovanni wanted Sasha to know they were protecting Nicoletta, not making her a prisoner. “Valdez is president of the Demons gang out of New York. He ran the gang from a prison cell for a few years and is known for his brutality. He wants Nicoletta. He saw her and claimed her for his own. He knows she’s alive and he wants her back. She’s safe as long as she’s here. There’s no connection to us so no reason for him to look here, but if she goes outside our territory and someone sees and identifies her, he’ll go after her.”
“That’s awful,” Sasha said. “Clearly I’ve led a very sheltered life.”
Giovanni was happy she’d led a sheltered life. On the other hand, she knew what heartache was. Sasha had confidence in herself that Nicoletta was never going to have, thanks to the brutality her step-uncles had put the young girl through.
“What are we going to do?” Mariko asked. She had a special bond with Nicoletta. “I’ve heard her talk about making a new start, but I didn’t think she meant away from all of us.”
“Don’t worry.” Ricco immediately ran his hand down the back of her head, his touch clearly reassuring. “She’s not going to leave us.”
Giovanni knew Ricco was right, but he wasn’t going to do any explaining, not to Sasha. He noticed none of his brothers volunteered any information, either. It was one thing to ask the women to live with them, another for them to realize just how ruthless they could be if it was needed.