Page 97 of His Kidnapped Queen
Diego stands there, not looking at me.
“You hungry?”
“Always,” I say quietly, and in the background, the sound of Luca’s car driving away makes me raise an eyebrow. “Did Mommy and Daddy get into a fight?”
Diego barks out a laugh. “Something like that. I’ve got some Greek salad left over from last night, I brought it over.”
“An Italian cooking Greek food. Interesting.”
“It’s not exactly cooking, it’s all cold.”
He dips me a bowl from a large container and I hum happily when I eat a bite, the feta cheese and olives popping on my tastebuds.
“Everything you make is good. I can’t believe some woman hasn’t snapped you up yet.”
“Yeah well, your lips to god’s ears.”
“How’s Luca doing?”
“He’s…” He pauses, putting down his fork and leaning over the counter, sounding exasperated. “He’s confused.”
“What do you mean, confused?’
“He accused me of trying to kill him.”
I gape at Diego. “You? What is he thinking?”
Diego shrugs. “Fuck if I know. Nico got in his ear, that’s all I know. He’s just throwing shit at the wall, trying to save his own ass.”
“You really think Nico ordered the hit?”
“Iknowhe did. I just can’t prove it.” Diego sets his lips in a thin line.
“Because the men loyal to Nico protect him?”
He snorts. “As much as they can, being as stupid as they are. I wonder if Nico outsourced the hit. Called someone in the Bratva, maybe even the Cortados.”
“But Oscar is loyal to the Rossis.”
“Hewas,” Diego points out. “But with enough money, one of Oscar’s men could have switched ranks.”
“Does Nico have access to that much money?”
“Not normally. But if he won big at a poker game, he’d just use the money for that. Or promise to pay. The Rossis have deep pockets, or at least they appear to. Even Nico.”
“The guy who came here…came after me. He was a professional,” I muse. “He escaped as soon as Luca showed up. He wasn’t stupid enough to stand off with him.”
“Doesn’t sound like any of Nico’s guys, that’s for sure.”
“So he outsourced it,” I say, thinking. “He’d go to the Bratva over Cortado, wouldn’t he?”
“He sometimes collects from Natasha. She likes him, makes him pierogies, but I don’t even think she’d go against Luca.”
“Maybe she doesn’t know,” I offer. “Maybe the order went to some of her men, not her directly.”
“They don’t do anything without Mama Natasha’s orders.”
“That’s a good point.”
