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Fire Bound (Sea Haven Sisters)(68)

By:Christine Feehan




She sighed, letting him see she was on the verge of capitulation. “I don’t like it, Tio Luigi.”



“No one knows about you, Lissa. And if they did, they would never suspect a young woman, especially a woman who lives in the United States and blows beautiful glass chandeliers she sells worldwide. This is our moment to strike.” He closed his fist, hit his desktop again. “Smash him. Crush Aldo Porcelli. It will be the end. We’ll both be free of this thing we’ve vowed. You will have your life back. You can marry. Have babies. Bring them to see your Tio Luigi. I have never been to the States. I would like to see this place where you live. This farm. I could meet the women you love as famiglia.”



“I would like that,” she murmured, and pushed at her hair, hoping the gesture covered the expression on her face. He was an excellent actor. He’d fooled her father and mother. They’d both loved him with everything in them. He’d fooled her. She’d loved him. She could almost believe it wasn’t true, that he was passionate about bringing those responsible for his brother’s death to justice.



“It isn’t too late for you to find someone, Tio,” she ventured, wondering what he would say. “You aren’t so old that you couldn’t marry, have children of your own. I always wondered why you didn’t.”



“No. No. Not with this disease. So terrible. I would not want to put this on any woman. No. I will stay alone, and you will give me babies to dote on in my old age. I will be their favorite tio.”



Lissa pressed a hand tight against her churning stomach. She couldn’t take the game they were playing much longer. “Why this weekend?”



She watched the tension drain out of him. She hadn’t realized just how tense he’d gotten until he relaxed. She twisted her fingers into a fist and massaged the hard knot at the nape of her neck threatening to destroy her composure.



“Aldo has a mistress.” Luigi leaned forward, hissing the accusation. “He cannot even be faithful to his wife.”



He delivered the condemnation in a voice of utter contempt. Evidently, now that she appeared to capitulate, he was back in his element. She was fairly certain if he’d taken to the entertainment industry, he would have gotten far.



“He sees her regularly, but never at the same time or day. He doesn’t like routine and neither does his protection squad. He always has four bodyguards with him. They’re good and very thorough. You’ll have to find a way past them.”



She nodded. Waiting. Making him give her the details without encouraging him in the least. She wanted to yawn. Luigi was so predictable.



“This Saturday is the anniversary of his finding his mistress. He never misses it. Never. She’s been his mistress for the last eight years. When he isn’t banging his wife, he’s with her. All the time.”



She couldn’t resist. “So he’s faithful to his wife and mistress. It’s just the two women?”



Luigi made a sound, a snort of derision, and crossed himself. “I wouldn’t call it faithful to break the holy vows of matrimony, Lissa. Aldo cheats on his wife, and she is very devoted to him. This is your chance. He will go to his mistress this Saturday.”



She shook her head. “You know it’s risky trying to plan something so quickly, especially when he has experienced bodyguards with him.”



“He doesn’t ever allow them into her apartment. I have gathered all the details you’ll need to plan this. Aldo might not stick to a routine, but his bodyguards do. I have provided each of their locations when their boss visits his woman.” He leaned even farther across his desk. “You can do this, Lissa. For your father and mother. My beloved Marcello and Elizabeta. You have an opportunity to end this thing once and for all. He is the last and the guiltiest.”



“Don’t you think it strange that he killed an entire family because my mother refused to sleep with him, yet he’s faithful to his wife and mistress?”



Her question was met with absolute silence. She knew immediately she’d made a terrible mistake. Luigi’s face turned expressionless, his dark eyes searching her face for something she feared she couldn’t hide. He looked sharp, piercing, very cunning. In the lines of his face she read evil. She knew she looked at the real man, not the mask.

That was the strangest thing of all. They all wore masks. Luigi had from the moment she’d entered his home. She did. When she went after those responsible for killing her parents. When she was on the farm with the women she loved as family. Casimir went through his entire life with a mask. No one saw them. They were hidden away, players on a stage – and she wanted off.