“What about Chris running in the same circles as Neuville?”
“There’s nothing there that looks like a problem to me,” he says. “And I dug deeply. I’ve sent a detailed file you can review to Kayden’s email.”
The buzzer at the front door goes off and we all frown. Matteo pulls his phone from his pocket and eyes the screen. “It’s a man with a trench coat and a hood on.” He walks around the desk. “I need to see the larger view.” He reaches over Sasha and types, then clicks.
“What the—” Sasha starts. “That’s Gallo. He couldn’t have followed me. That’s not possible.” She grimaces. “I should have put a man on him.”
Matteo hits the volume, and we hear Gallo shouting through the rain in Italian, but I catch the word Kayden several times. “He’s obviously not here for Sasha,” Matteo says. “But we need to know what’s wrong. I’ll go talk to him.” He eyes Sasha. “Get someone on him now.”
“Let me go talk to him,” I say, standing up. “I’m still an outsider like him, someone he wants to save. I have the best chance of finding out what’s wrong with him.”
“I’m not letting you open that door,” Matteo says. “Kayden trusts me to protect you. We do this together or not at all.”
“He trusts us to be a team,” Sasha says. “And I know Gallo. He’s not dangerous.”
“And yet he’s going to join The Jackals?” Matteo counters.
“Which will end with him dead—not someone else,” Sasha says.
“The poor man is getting drenched,” I remind them. “You’re both right here in the office.”
Sasha punches buttons on the computer. “There is no one else dumb enough to be outside, Matteo. It’s a ghost town. We’re right here with her; she’ll be safe.”
He grimaces. “I’m going to be squatting behind the counter. Sasha will be in the office with the lights out.”
That’s all I need to hear. Matteo takes his position behind the counter. Sasha flips the light out behind me, and I head toward the door. Flipping the locks, I open the door and step back, bringing a drenched Gallo into view. He scowls at the sight of me, or maybe he was already scowling. Whatever the case, he charges through the door, water pouring off of him, and shuts it behind him.
“Where’s Kayden?” he demands, tugging down the hood on his tan trench coat, his hair a rumpled mess, but then it always is, his gray eyes etched with anger. His impatience wins over and he repeats himself a bit more gruffly. “Where the fuck is Kayden?”
“He’s not in,” I say. “What’s got you so riled up?”
“Kayden fucking happened,” he proclaims, the puddle at his feet becoming wider. “If he’s not here, why are you in the store?”
“Is there some rule in Italy that I don’t know about women and stores? Since when do I need Kayden to be in here? And while it’s none of your business, I’m taking over the store. It’s mine now, and I’m working late to put my personal touches on it.”
“You’re staying with him, then, Eleana—is that it?”
“Yes, Detective Gallo, I’m staying with him. And call me Ella. I know you’ve heard people call me that. Hell, you’ve done it a few times before. I prefer it.”
He reaches in his pocket and holds up a picture of a young woman with an X over her face and some Italian words written across it. “Do you know about this? Is this the kind of action you condone?”
“What is that?” I ask, already knowing I’m not going to like the answer.
“A photo of my sister who lives in Milan, with a threat against her life. This is the kind of man you’re with. Is this the kind of person you are?”
“Kayden didn’t do this,” I say quickly, certain this is Niccolo and Alessandro’s handiwork. “He would never do such a thing, and I just talked to him about you—”
“I don’t want to hear your ridiculous efforts to defend him.” He shoves the photo into his pocket. “You know what is sad? You’re going to wake up to a brutal reconciling of the real man and whoever he’s pretending to be for you. You don’t know him.” He shakes his head. “Tell Kayden his methods backfired. This is war.” He turns and walks toward the exit, and he’s wrong about Kayden. Without question, I know him, but I also know how Gallo is right now, and that’s angry and desperate, two dangerous things. He yanks open the door, pulls up his hood, and disappears into the rain, slamming the door behind him.
“I need to go after him,” Sasha says, stepping out of the office, and Matteo stands up behind the counter. “Before he ends up in Alessandro’s web,” she adds.
“He could be baiting you, and waiting for you to leave,” I warn. “You need to exit the castle in a car, and without visibility.”
“She’s right,” Matteo says. “Did you get someone to follow him?”