Chapter 109: Nonnina Is Headed Back

“I’m sorry,” he said evenly. “I have to go. Nonnina is headed back.”

He glanced over his shoulder, listening for the echo of approaching footsteps.

“And just so you know,” Bianca added, “I will have your aunt’s head.”

The call ended abruptly.

Riccardo stared at the black screen for a long moment before lowering the phone. His reflection looked back at him in the dark glass of the window. Handsome. Composed.

He exhaled slowly.

Never ask a crazy woman for favors. Never.

He pushed off the window and ran a hand through his hair. He had thought this would be simple. Step into Marco’s position. Earn Luciano’s trust. Establish himself in America. Instead, he had walked into an explosive triangle.

Riccardo closed his eyes briefly.

Bianca was a woman who burned when crossed. Luca was a storm of his own. And now he stood at the center of both.

His new life policy formed quietly in his mind, edged with bitter amusement.

Never ask a crazy woman for favors.

Especially not when she carries a surname that can have you buried beneath the ocean.

*****

Detective Voss arrived at Scalese Pizza Parlour late that morning.

As Valentina had expected, there were no walk in customers. Still, the phones rang intermittently with delivery requests. Hunger did not pause for fear.

Valentina had asked for the day off. She said she wanted to check on a friend. That was the story she offered Veronica. Veronica had not pressed.

So it was just Rosa and Toni at the counter.

Veronica stood behind the counter.

“Detective Voss… how may I help you today?”

“Miss Scalese. Hello to you.” His mouth curved faintly.

“Cut the crap. Why are you here?” she snapped.

“Well,” he said, stepping closer to the counter, lowering his voice but not enough to shield it from the room, “I got a report that the thug who runs your block is missing. Inferi.”

“And how is that my problem?” she asked.

“It shouldn’t be,” Voss replied honestly. “Inferi is a human stain, in my point of view.”

“Wow,” Veronica shot back, leaning her palms against the counter. “Way to be professional, detective.”

He exhaled slowly through his nose. “Usually, I don’t handle missing persons cases. Especially when it’s one less asshole tormenting the community.” His gaze locked onto hers, probing. “But see… every report that concerns Luciano Genovese ends up on my desk.”

“And seeing as recently,” Voss continued, “I added you to the list of his acquaintances, Inferi’s case was referred to me.”

Veronica felt heat rise under her skin.

“Would you like to know why?” Voss asked.

Of course, Veronica knew exactly why Inferi had disappeared.

But Detective Voss seemed to enjoy the sound of his own deductions, so she folded her arms across her chest and let him perform.

“The last trouble Inferi caused was right here,” Voss said, glancing around the pizza parlour. “In this shop. What did he want?”

“He wanted me to push his poison,” Veronica replied evenly. “He assaulted my customers. Assaulted me.”

She lifted her chin and brushed her fingers against the faint, healing mark at the side of her neck. The wound had closed but the skin was still slightly darker there.

“And then he disappears that night,” Voss continued. “Hasn’t been heard from since.”

“What’s your point, detective?” Veronica asked.

“I think your shiny new boyfriend offed him.”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” she said calmly. “All I remember is Luca paying him off and begging him to leave in peace.”

Voss barked out a short laugh. “And you thought it was over?”

He leaned closer across the counter, his shadow falling over her.

“I know you know that Luca had him killed,” he said quietly. “And I wonder… were you always this way? Or did Luca turn you?”

Was she always this way?

Before Luca, she had been angry but contained. Protective of her family, yes, but naive enough to think the law could be leaned on when things went wrong. Before Luca, she had believed in boundaries.

Then Luca had stepped into her life.

He had protected her. He had fucked her.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, her moral lines had blurred.

“You can keep wondering,” she replied. “But if the police department would do their jobs and protect us better, we would be safe from the likes of Inferi, wouldn’t we?”

“You would be safe from the likes of your boyfriend too,” Voss continued. “Just because your human stain wears a suit, attended fancy schools and fronts a legitimate business doesn’t make him any different from Inferi.”

Veronica felt the insult land. Voss had just reduced her Luca to the same gutter level as Inferi.

“Look,” Voss went on, “I am on to Luca. I am going to take him down on anything I can get my hands on, even if it is for the disappearance of a son of a bitch like Inferi.”

“What did he ever do to you?” Veronica demanded. “What’s this obsession with him?”

She needed to know whether this was professional or personal. Whether Luca was simply a target or a wound.

Voss turned and looked through the front window.

Across the street, directly facing Scalese, stood another pizza shop. The sign above it read Heritage Slices in peeling paint.

“You see the pizza shop right in front of yours?” Voss asked quietly.

“What’s that have to do with anything?”

“My father,” he said. He corrected himself immediately. “Well… stepfather owned it.”

“He was a good man,” Voss continued, his jaw clenching. “And your boyfriend had him killed.”

Paul Marino.

Veronica knew him. Everyone on the block did. He had never seemed dangerous.

“Good luck on your investigation, Detective Voss,” Veronica said, forcing her voice back into composure. “Have a nice day.”

“I have my eyes on you, Miss Scalese,” Voss replied, turning back toward her. “I hope you rethink your stance. I’d hate to put you down along with Luca.”

Veronica turned away from him deliberately, stepping toward the kitchen.

The bell chimed again as Voss left.

Veronica’s chest felt tight. She lifted her gaze slowly toward the window, toward Marino’s shop across the street.

Had Luca really killed Mr. Marino?

Why?

Marino had been calm. A shark in business, yes. But he had never seemed reckless.

Unless he had crossed a line.

If Luca had killed Marino, then Voss’s hatred made sense.

She had to tell Luca. The detective’s grief had teeth.

*****

Luciano was already bouncing on his feet restlessly by noon.

He checked his watch again.

He was waiting for Valentina, yes. But once she finished, he would get the fuck out of here.

Because he couldn’t get Vee out of his mind.

It was irrational. He knew it.

He was going to pick her up. Take her back home. Lock the doors behind them and fuck her until his madness went quiet.

Or maybe he would pull her into the back seat of his car the moment she stepped out of the shop. And fuck her in there. Anything…just anything.

He needed a fix of her.

That was the word that fit too well.

A fix.

He opened the drawer slowly and pulled out his phone.

Then he placed a call to Scalese Pizza Parlour.

Rosa answered.

“Hello…” Luciano said smoothly. “I’d like to make a special order to be delivered. Can I speak to the owner?”

There was a pause. He could imagine Rosa’s eyes widening slightly.

“This is Luciano Genovese,” he added.

Another pause. Longer this time.

He leaned back in his chair, one ankle crossing over his knee.

A faint click.

Then her breath on the other end of the line.

“I would like to order a box of pizza,” he began. “Pepperoni, beef, extra cheese.”

“Yup,” he continued. “It’s a special order.”

A beat.

“Well… because you will send it along with the underwear you are putting on right now.”

On the other end, there was silence.

He could almost see her face flush.

He ended the call before she could respond.

Luciano leaned back fully in his chair, letting his head rest against the leather. A slow smile curved his mouth.

About fifteen minutes later, Valentina arrived accompanied by Marco.

Marco stepped in first.

Valentina stepped past him.

She wore a fitted navy dress. Her eyes were Vee’s eyes. Same depth. Same stubborn spark.

Marco remained at the door, hands clasped in front of him, silent as a sentry.

“Miss Scalese,” Luca said.

“Please call me Valentina.”

“Valentina it is,” he replied. He gestured toward the chair opposite him. “Have a seat.”

She crossed the room and lowered herself into the leather chair. It swallowed her slightly, emphasizing her age. She folded her hands neatly in her lap.

“I must admit,” he continued, eyes flicking briefly to Marco before returning to Valentina, “when Marco told me you wanted to see me, it rattled me. Is everything okay?”

“First,” Valentina said, straightening slightly, “I want to thank you for saving me from Bastardi.”

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