Page 84 of Urgent Vows
I don't know if Severu wants him to know about my research, so I don't mention it. I just say, "It was in the news. Anyone could have noticed the similarities."
The fact that none of my husband's men in charge of gathering intel did feels like a victory though.
"She's not the rat, Sal. If she were do you think she would have pointed to her co-conspirators?" Severu asks his new consigliere.
"If the cartel are the ones behind what has been happening, no." Which means he thinks it could be someone else.
Who?
"Domenico's team will have to do some more digging to confirm the connections," my husband says. "But now that we have a place to start, Domenico should have no trouble finding what we need."
"Someone in this house could be the leak," Big Sal says, his face set in stubborn lines. "Francesco's files are too accessible. We swept the office for bugs, but it's clean. His phone is in the safe until our guys can look at it and see if it was compromised."
"You think the rat is a member of my family?" I ask, feeling lightheaded.
It can't be.
"Or one of your father's men, or even one of the staff," Big Sal says. "Your father's security measures were shit."
So, he's not assuming it's me, but he's not assuming it's not either.
What about Carlotta? Her running is going to make her look guilty. Or will it? If she was leaking information, she would have jumped at the chance to gain access to the De Lucas, not run from it. I just hope Severu and his men see the logic in that.
~ ~ ~
Severu is busy on his phone while we drive back into the City. I'm tired and despite all my whirling thoughts, I fall asleep. I wake up when the Cayenne stops moving.
My eyes open and I blink, taking in my surroundings. We are home. Well, the parking garage anyway. I can't help noticing how differently I respond to arriving here than the mansion I was raised in. Peace settles over me, a feeling of safety.
Severu is still on his phone, but now he is talking.
I don't try to interrupt him to say goodbye when Aldo opens my door. My husband makes no move to unbuckle his seatbelt and I assume he's not coming up to the apartment.
Aldo and three other bodyguards surround me as we walk to the elevator. Aldo in front, one on each side of me and one behind me. We step onto the elevator, and the guard behind me shifts to my left while that man moves to stand with Aldo in front of me. It's all very precise and practiced.
Like they've done this a hundred times before.
"Do you all guard Aria as well?" I ask.
Aldo replies, "No. You are our primary."
"Oh, you're all so organized, like you've been doing this for years."
"The don would never allow you to be guarded by untrained men," Aldo says.
"I don't think any of my father's men are as well trained as you all."
"They're Big Sal's men now," the man to my right says.
I nod. "Of course." I ask him his name and he tells me. Then I ask all their names and when we arrive at the foyer to the main floor of the De Luca home, they are still answering my questions.
I want to know if they are married, or have other family. How long they've been working for Severu. Aldo has been with him the longest. He and another man had specialized training with Niccolo's team. I learn that I have ten guards assigned to me, though.
"I thought I only needed ten guards when we are on high alert."
"That is true. The extra men allow for rotation so your security detail is always fresh. Two will cycle into rotation for security here in the house or with other family members, when needed."
I find it odd that they refer to the two levels of the apartment building as a house, but the family does as well. No wonder Carlotta gave the impression they lived in a mansion.
