She nodded. “I’ve done this countless times on my own, Casimir. I’ll be fine. I won’t pretend I wasn’t holding out a little hope, but I knew. I was trained as a professional. He trained me. I learned a lot more on my own. He’s very old-school. He got lazy. Once I was working and he trusted that I knew what I was doing, he lost interest. I kept educating myself. He’s a very arrogant man and that can kill a man very easily.”
He found himself smiling. Even his gut settled. His hand came up from the nape of her neck to sift through the strands of the very expensive wig she wore. He gave a little tug. “I get what you’re saying. I won’t let arrogance be my downfall.”
“Have no worries, Casimir,” she said. “If you do, I’ll be right there to remind you.”
Lissa left him, walking away from him as Patrice Lungren. She took the picture of his beautiful, masculine face with her as she rounded the corner of the garden and emerged from between two tall elegantly rounded bushes to step through a low, unlocked gate back onto the sidewalk. She ambled down the street, looking around her in the way an awed tourist would, occasionally stopping to snap another picture before moving at a little more brisk pace toward the bus stop.
She stood at the little stop, trying not to feel restless. Patrice wouldn’t be restless. She was always calm and cool. Friendly. Easygoing. Lissa didn’t want to have time to think about having to face her uncle. She would do it, because she had to, but it wouldn’t be easy. She also didn’t want to dwell too much on the look on Casimir’s face. She had to walk a very fine line. If she allowed herself to be too upset and he knew it, he would definitely not wait to kill Luigi and Arturo.
Casimir had learned to push down the fire roaring in him, just as she had done. But it was there, smoldering just beneath the surface, and it would come blazing to life if she did anything at all to fan those embers. She knew, with absolute certainty, that she was the only one who could make Casimir lose control. He wouldn’t wait to rid the world of Luigi and Arturo if he thought it would make her feel better.
Life didn’t work that way. She had avenged her parents’ death going through the Porcelli soldiers who had carried out the attack. They’d died, one by one, over the years. Their dying hadn’t lessened her grief even a little.
The bus arrived and she climbed aboard, flashing Patrice’s friendly smile to everyone as she sank into a seat. She made a show of looking at all the pictures on her camera before putting it away and turning to make small talk with the older woman sitting in the seat next to her.
She walked the three blocks to retrieve her car, changing directions several times to ensure she didn’t have a tail. She saw the moment Casimir believed she was safe and he turned down a narrow street to return the rental car and get back to being Tomasso. She kept walking until she came to the small storage facility. Patrice Lungren put in her code, stepped inside and immediately became Lissa Piner.
Lissa was thorough, scrubbing off Patrice’s makeup and carefully applying Lissa’s. Everything Patrice went into a duffel bag with her papers, ID, passport, cell phone and charger. Lissa braided her own hair and donned a long skirt and elegant blouse. Her boots were soft leather and matched her wide belt. Her jacket was short and fit snugly, emphasizing her lush curves.
Lissa tossed her purse onto the passenger seat of the little car Luigi always had available to her and drove out of the private storage garage. Luigi owned the facility, so there were no cameras set up anywhere near the building reserved for her. She even had her own private entrance, kept for Luigi or someone from his estate.
She drove all the way to the road leading to the Abbracciabene property and then she had to pull over, fighting for air. It wasn’t a panic attack, but her chest hurt so much she thought her heart would shatter.
She dragged her cell phone out of her purse and dialed a familiar number before she could stop herself.
“Lissa!”
Lexi’s delighted voice nearly brought her to tears. She hadn’t considered that she would turn into an emotional storm. The burning in her eyes and the lump in her throat were evidence that she shouldn’t have reached out. Not now. Not when she needed to be strong. She was going to face Luigi, and she couldn’t go with red eyes and a face swollen from crying.
“Hey, girl.”
There was an instant silence. Then Lexi’s voice came again. Soft. Loving. So Lexi. “What’s wrong? Do you need me? I can get a flight out tonight.”
There it was. Exactly what Casimir had told her not even an hour earlier. She had family. They were chosen, not blood, but they were family all the same. She heard the love in Lexi’s voice and knew it was genuine. For her. For a moment she had to bite down hard on her lower lip to keep from bursting into tears.