Fire Bound (Sea Haven Sisters)(67)

“I know you succeeded because Cosmos’s widow called me, frantic. She said he slipped over the cliff to the sea and rocks below. By the time the authorities came, his body was out to sea. I know they were trying to find it; if they do, what will they find?” Luigi rubbed his hands together, looking gleeful.

“Clearly he had too much to drink and accidentally fell. It will be ruled an accident. If anyone in the Porcelli family investigates, they will come up with the same conclusion,” Lissa said with absolute confidence.



“I wanted this one, Lissa,” Luigi confided, dropping his voice and looking straight into her eyes. “Your father treated him like a son. A boy like that off the streets, and Marcello and Elizabeta treated him like famiglia. He betrayed them in such a vile way.”



Lissa nearly choked on bile. Her uncle was evil personified. She couldn’t sit across from him and look at his face, listen to his rant and keep her face from showing she wanted to kill him. She stood up and paced across the room.



“I told him. Who I was. I told him before he went over. I’ve never done that before.” She made the confession when she had never considered telling him, but he would think she was moody and edgy because of that.

She never deviated from her set scripts. Patrice Lungren killed, not Lissa. Not Giacinta. Patrice didn’t feel personal toward her targets, she brought justice to them when the justice system had failed. It had to be that way. Patrice never talked to the targets. She arranged an accident and made certain it happened.



Lissa went to the tall cabinet with the display of ornate shot glasses. She touched one, traced the etching and turned toward her uncle once she knew she was composed enough to face him. “I couldn’t help myself. I wanted him to know.”



“Good, good, Lissa. He needed to know. I hope he died hard on those rocks, the bastardo.” Luigi pounded his fist on the desktop. “There is only one left, just one. We have gotten every single one of those responsible for that dark day. You should feel proud of yourself.”



“Not until it is over,” Lissa said. “Not until the last man responsible for the deaths of my parents and all those who served them are gone. Then it will be over.”



“Aldo Porcelli. He is now head of the Porcelli family. He won’t be easy to get to. I’ve studied him and he has no set routines. He changes appointments at the last minute. This weekend he will be very vulnerable, but only this weekend. I believe it will be your best chance to take him.”



She frowned and once more crossed the room to drop into the chair across from him at the desk. “No. No, we can’t do that. It’s too soon. We never do two jobs so close together. If his family puts it together, they’ll come after you. Not me. No one knows about me, but they remember you, Tio Luigi. We can’t take that chance.”



“Sometimes, cara, we have to take chances if we want to win. Aldo is difficult. He is surrounded by protection at all times. He is never alone. I’ve spent the last few years studying him, collecting as much information as possible, and believe me when I tell you, if you don’t get to him this weekend, it could be a full year before we have another chance like this one.”



“I don’t like it,” Lissa said. “We’ve taken our time. That’s what has kept you safe. Deviating from that rule is dangerous. We’ve waited this long, what’s another year?” Let him have to convince her. She wasn’t just going to hand a victory to him, he was going to have to earn it.



Luigi sighed and studied her face. “You can be stubborn.”



“I have to be. It’s just as important to me to keep you safe as it is for you to keep me that way.”



She smiled at him. He smiled back. All teeth. Cat and canary. Her uncle planned on killing her. Lissa knew he couldn’t afford to keep her alive. Not after he succeeded in taking out the heads of both families. They’d played chess for years together. Luigi always won. Unbeknownst to him, she’d been letting him win since she was sixteen. They were still playing chess, only the stakes were much higher.



“Lissa, I understand what you’re saying, but I want this over with. I’m willing to take the chance. You go to your hotel meeting and sell your beautiful chandeliers. They’ll want them, of course. Then you come home, take care of Aldo Porcelli and go on with your plans. Go to Germany. Stay in the castle. Go see the hotel in St. Petersburg. I will have an alibi like I always do just in case. No one will suspect an old man getting his revenge after seventeen years. No one. The idea is ludicrous.”