A flash of yellow behind the greenhouse made my excitement dim to a wary trickle.
“I’m going to do some work in the greenhouse,” I told Romeo, folding my napkin under my cup.
His eyes flashed with concern, and he darted to my elbow. My chest warmed, even as I shook off his grip.
“I’m barely pregnant, I don’t need help to walk.” I shook my head at him with a rueful sniff. He stuck to my steps, making a low noise in the back of his throat. I pressed my palm to his chest, halting his determined path.
“You need to rest. Give your body a chance to recuperate from the poison.”
He slid in front of me, forehead furrowed with burgeoning overbearance. His hand flattened on the plane of my stomach, and he frowned.
“But Anita, the baby.” The tendons in his neck strained, and I leaned into him, interlocking my fingers around his back. His chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. His hand dragged down my spine as his warmth bled into me. The unknown of our future was making my stomach flip as well, but we were going to discover it together.
“I love you. Everything else we will work out,” I soothed, the words muffled against his hard chest. He brushed his lips over the top of my head, mollified as he let go with a shaky breath.
“I’m going to lie down. My stomach is cramping.” He leaned in to press his lips against mine. I watched him go with a keen eye, waiting until the door was closed before I said.
“You can come out now. He’s gone.”
Rosetta Orazio let out a soft, airy laugh as she stepped out from behind the greenhouse. Two tendrils of golden blonde hair framed her oval face, lined with age and tension. A black turtleneck swallowed her neck, but the trim dark slacks huggedher lithe body. Her heavy boots dug into the grass as she walked toward me.
“How did you know I was here?” She folded her arms over her chest, the corner of her mouth kicking up. Romeo made a similar expression, and seeing it on a stranger’s face unsettled me.
I tucked my arms behind my back. Sliding the clasp of my silver bracelet in readiness.
She might be Romeo’s mom, but that didn’t inspire loyalty in me.
“Don’t play stupid with me. I’m not Matteo. Besides, if you didn’t want to be seen, you would have covered your bottle blonde hair. I saw you flash it about half a dozen times. If Romeo wasn’t so distracted, he would have seen you too. Did you want me to call him back?”
The mirth winked out of her hazel eyes like a leaf curling in fall, her lips taking on a cruel twist. But there was a shade of vulnerability as her hard gaze strayed to the house. I wondered if this was the first time she’d been here or if she’d sifted through the objects of Romeo’s house, trying to find her son amongst them? Had she ever cared for him? I thought of the child making a home inside of me and wondered, would I love them? Fierce rage blazed through my veins. I would.
“It’s not fake, by the way.” Rosetta ran her hand over her head, collecting any wayward strands.
“I guess it’s the only real thing about you. Tell me why you’re here. You didn’t let the Donatos take the fall for your death for nothing.”
I wanted to hear it from her, the complete story, without the pieces diced off and twisted by others. The metal of my bracelet warmed in my fingers. A brand. If she made one wrong move, I would eviscerate her.
“Have you heard of The Unseen?” She tilted her head, cataloging my reaction.
Her lips pursed when I gave her nothing but cool slate. I had no idea what she was talking about, but the name made fear strike sharp as a needle through my thundering heart. Surprises unsettled me. And the way her neck straightened as if she knew I was off balance. My lips pressed together like a seam as the wind cut the silence with a shivering breeze. My skin sprang with goosebumps.
“Romeo runs Greenich Bay, but who keeps him in check? Who keeps all these criminal organizations in check? What happens when two rivals have a shootout in broad daylight, and the police become involved? Shipment becomes harder to move, the entire foundation becomes unsteady. The Unseen are a net. We keep everything neat and contained. And if anything slips through…” she trailed off and raised her eyebrows.
If anyone brings their dirty deeds too far into the light, The Unseen deal with them.I thought about the way Matteo had tried to incite a war with the Donatos and how hard he had tried to destroy them when he thought they’d been responsible for Rosetta’s death. Had The Unseen stepped in to stop that happening?
“You work for them. Was this before or after you left Matteo Orazio?”
I heard the low chatter between the guards stationed at the front. They would start moving this way soon, checking the grounds for signs of intruders. Rosetta’s jaw clenched as she heard them approaching. I motioned her behind the greenhouse.
“They’ll start a sweep soon. Better tell me what I want to know before I scream.”
She didn’t hesitate. The words bubbled out as if she’d been stewing on them for years.
“Long undercover jobs are part of our system. We hide in plain sight, so you’ll never know who could be part of the network.Matteo Orazio, Lanton Vani, and the Donatos were a bubbling time bomb. Matteo was a threat, and he hadn’t responded to more overt methods of control. I was supposed to be the voice of reason, to keep him in line before he acted rashly.”
The two front tendrils of her hair waved in the wind as she stared at me. So, Rosetta had never loved Matteo? It had all been an elaborate game by players I didn’t recognize. My stomach turned with violent nausea, and sweat pricked my upper lip.
“But he wouldn’t listen.”
