Chapter 48 Amelia
Amelia
I wait until I hear the heavy click of the front door. I count to sixty, listening to the silence of the penthouse. Luca is finally gone. He thinks I am asleep or too broken and disappointed to move, but how utterly wrong he is. I don't stay down for long. I get off the bed and strip out of the tactical gear he gave me. I pull on a pair of dark jeans and a plain grey hoodie that hides my silhouette. I grab my burner phone and the small toolkit I have been hiding under the mattress.
I don't bother using the private elevator. I know the security cameras are linked to his phone. Instead, I head for the service stairs. I move quickly and quietly, ignoring the sharp pull in my side. I reach the ground floor and slip out through the loading bay where the trash is collected. The cool morning air hits my face and I feel a sudden rush of freedom. My life does not revolve around a billionaire and his complicated secrets. I have a family to find and a name to clear.
I take a taxi three blocks away from the estate. I tell the driver to drop me at a crowded piazza and then I walk the rest of the way. I am heading to Valentino’s private house off the military base. It is a sleek, modern fortress tucked away in a quiet residential district. My brother has always liked his privacy. He likes to have a place where he can work without the brass breathing down his neck.
I reach the perimeter of the property. The security is tight, with infrared sensors and motion-activated cameras. I know exactly where the blind spots are because I helped him pick the system. I move through the garden, staying low to the ground. I reach the back glass door and use a small suction device to bypass the vibration sensor. I am inside in less than three minutes, not that I was counting or anything.
The house smells like expensive cologne and gun oil. I move through the living room toward his private office. I don't turn on any lights. I use the glow from my phone to find his desk. I sit in his leather chair and pull his laptop toward me. It is password protected, but I know Valentino. He is arrogant enough to use a date that only he finds significant. I try our mother’s birthday and the screen flickers to life. For someone so emotionally retarded, he does love our mother.
I start scrolling through his recent files. I am looking for anything related to Ren Moretti. I find a folder labeled Northern Logistics and my heart skips a beat. I open it and find photos of the same warehouse I raided this morning. There are notes in the margins in his handwriting. He knew about the shipment too. But as I read further, the notes don't make sense. He is tracking the movements, but he isn't calling for a strike. He is watching and waiting. But waiting for what exactly?
I hear the sound of a door opening down the hall and I freeze. The bathroom door at the back of the bedroom creaks open and a sliver of light spills into the room. I don't have time to close the laptop. Valentino steps into the room wearing a black robe. He is drying his hair with a towel, but he stops the second he sees the glow from the desk.
"What the fuck are you doing in my house, Amelia?" he asks. His voice is cold and dangerous. But he doesn't sound so surprised. "And what the fuck are you doing in my room?"
I stand up slowly and move away from the desk. I keep my hands visible. "I needed to see what you were hiding, Val."
Valentino walks closer and stares at the open laptop. He looks at the window and then back at me. He shakes his head and a mean smirk touches his lips.
"How did you bypass the security?" he asks. He doesn't wait for me to answer. He laughs under his breath. "Oh, I forgot. It is you. The great Captain Russo who can slip through any crack. I should have upgraded the sensors the day you graduated from the academy."
"I am not here for compliments, brother," I say. I cross my arms and match his stare. "I was at the Northern docks this morning. I took a drive full of fake data. Moretti knew I was coming. I want to know why your files show that you were watching the same location and didn't tell me and didn't bother to do anything. You could have intercepted him before he had the chance to move the shipment."
Valentino walks to the desk and slams the laptop shut. He looks at me with pure contempt. "I didn't tell you because it is none of your business. You are no longer in charge of this investigation. You are a disgraced officer on administrative leave. You shouldn't even be in this city."
"I am still a Russo," I snap. "And I am still a better investigator than you. Tell me your progress on tracking down Ren Moretti. I know you have more than what is on that computer."
Valentino laughs again, but there is no humor in it. He steps into my personal space and looms over me. He has always used his size to intimidate people, but I don't budge.
"You really don't get it, do you?" he asks. "You are a mess, Amelia. You are a liability. You failed your unit and you failed your family. And now you are breaking into my home to play detective? Get out. Before I call the real MPs to drag you away in cuffs."
"I am not leaving until I get an answer," I say firmly. "Why are you sitting on this information? If you know where Moretti is, why haven't you moved in?"
"Because unlike you, I know how to play the long game," Valentino says. He leans down until his face is inches from mine. "You are impulsive and you are emotional. That is why you got shot and that is why you are currently in hiding. You want Moretti because you want to save your career. I want him for reasons you couldn't possibly understand."
"He is a criminal, Val! He is destroying this country!"
"I don't fucking care, Amelia," Valentino snaps at me. "And you are a nuisance. Now, get the hell out of my sight. Go back to whatever hole you are hiding in. You are an insult to the name on your badge."
I feel the sting of his words, but I don't let him see it. I have dealt with his arrogance my entire life. I take a step back and head for the door. I stop at the threshold and look back at him. He is already reopening his laptop, dismissing me as if I am nothing.
"You're hiding something," I say quietly. "I can see it in your eyes. You aren't just tracking him. You're waiting for something else. I am going to find out what it is, Val. With or without your help."
"Get out, Amelia," he says without looking up.
I walk out of the house and back into the morning sun. My heart is racing and my blood is boiling. My brother is hiding something big and he is being just as secretive as Luca. I feel like I am surrounded by men who think they can manipulate me or hide things from me. They think they can keep me in the dark while they play their stupid games.
How wrong they all are.
I walk toward the main road to find another taxi. I have a new lead now. I don't need the fake files from the warehouse. I need to know why Valentino Russo is protecting Ren Moretti’s movements. I am going to find the connection. And when I do, I am going to burn the whole thing down.
I walk down the sidewalk away from Valentino’s house and my mind is spinning. My brother is a wall of arrogance and secrets. He is hiding something about Ren Moretti and he is doing it right under the nose of the military. I feel a cold knot of dread in my stomach as I try to piece it together. If Valentino is compromised then I am truly on my own in this city. I am so deep in my own thoughts that I barely hear the sounds of the morning traffic around me.
I reach the intersection and step off the curb without looking. I am thinking about the files on that laptop and the way Valentino looked at me with such pure contempt. I am halfway across the blacktop when a sharp, deafening screech of tires rips through the air. The sound is so sudden that my heart stops in my chest. I look to my left and see a black sedan skidding toward me. The front bumper stops inches from my knees and the smell of burning rubber fills my lungs.
I stand frozen in the middle of the road. My hands are shaking and the adrenaline is surging through my system like an electric current. The driver's side door of the sedan flies open and a man steps out. I expect a frustrated commuter or a delivery driver. Instead I see Luca. He is moving toward me with a speed that is terrifying. He looks absolutely furious. His face is pale and his jaw is set so tight I can see the muscles jumping in his neck.
"What the hell are you doing out here all by yourself?" Luca screams.
He reaches me in three long strides and grabs my shoulders. He is shaking slightly and his eyes are wild with a mix of rage and something else I cannot name. He looks like a man who just watched his world almost end.
"And how the hell did you bypass my men and my security?" he demands. He is shouting over the noise of the city and he doesn't seem to care who is watching.
I blink in shock. I honestly did not expect to bump into him of all people in a city as big as Verona. My brain is scrambling for an excuse but I am still reeling from the near death experience and the confrontation with my brother. I look like a mess and I know it.
"Amelia!" Luca snaps when I don't answer him immediately.
"Nothing," I say. I try to pull my shoulders out of his grip but he is holding on too tight. "I just needed to take a walk. I needed some fresh air. The penthouse was feeling like a cage."
"You could have waited for me to return!" he shouts. He is gesturing wildly at the car and the road. "You are a target! There are people looking for you right now and you are wandering the streets like a tourist!"
"I wasn't sure how long you were going to stay out for," I shoot back. My own temper is starting to flare up. "I am not a prisoner, Luca. I am a grown woman and I can take care of myself."
"Clearly you can't!" he says. He points at the front of his car. "You almost ended up as a hood ornament because you weren't even looking at the road!"
Other cars behind his sedan begin to honk their horns. The drivers are leaning out of their windows and shouting in Italian. The noise is chaotic and it only adds to the pressure building in my head. Luca looks around at the growing traffic jam and lets out a frustrated hiss between his teeth. He doesn't let go of me. He reaches down and grabs my hand, dragging me toward the passenger side of the car.
"You know what, just get in," he says. It is not a request.
He pulls the door open and practically shoves me into the leather seat. I don't fight him because the last thing I need is a scene in the middle of a busy intersection. He slams my door shut and storms around to the driver's side. He climbs in and grips the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white. He shifts the car into gear and peels away from the curb with another screech of tires.
He drives in total silence and the anger coming off him is almost physical. He is weaving through traffic with a reckless precision that makes me grip the armrest. I watch his profile as he stares at the road. He doesn't look like a polite billionaire right now. He looks like a man who is barely holding onto his self control.
"How did you get out?" he asks after a few minutes. His voice is lower now but it is still sharp. "I had four men on the perimeter and the service entrance was locked."
"I am a Military personnel, Luca," I say. I lean my head against the window and watch the buildings blur past. "If I want to leave a building I am going to leave it. Your security is good but it isn't Russo proof."
"You are going to be the death of me," he mutters.
He takes a sharp turn that sends me sliding against the door. I want to tell him about Valentino. I want to tell him that my brother is acting strange and that the mission is falling apart. But then I remember the kiss in the hallway and the way he pushed me away like I was a mistake. I keep my mouth shut. I don't trust him and I don't trust my brother.
We reach the estate and the gates swing open for us. Luca drives straight into the garage and kills the engine. He doesn't get out right away. He just sits there in the dark with his hands on the wheel. I can hear the ticking of the cooling engine and the sound of my own heavy breathing.
"Don't ever do that again," he says quietly. He finally turns to look at me and the anger in his eyes has been replaced by a deep exhaustion. "If anything happens to you while you are under my roof I will never forgive myself."
"I told you I'm fine," I say.
"You're not fine," he says. "You're a mess. And so am I."
He gets out of the car and slams his door. I sit there for a second and try to process the look on his face. He is terrified for me and it makes no sense. I am just a guest. I am just a soldier. But as I step out of the car and follow him into the elevator I realize that the game has changed again.