Page 27 of Queen of Misfortune (Shadows of Redemption)
“Got it.”
I focus my time on doing what Niko asked me to do—keep the women safe. I oversee security rotations, double-check locks and surveillance feeds. The screens flicker with silent images of hallways and doors, nothing amiss. But I’ve been around long enough to know that the quiet can hide all sorts of monsters.
As dusk falls, Niko strides into the penthouse with Liam in tow. They head straight for the office, and I'm on their heels.
"Report to me," Niko commands before I even close the door behind us.
"Giovanni's got ears and eyes in the city. They're looking for her.” Liam makes himself comfortable on Niko’s couch.
“Elena?” Niko’s scowl is fierce.
“Lucia.”
A frown creases Niko's brow. "Not Elena?"
What the hell? Why would Giovanni care about Lucy after all this time? Yes, he’d kidnapped her after orchestrating the car accident, but the target had been Elena. Right?
"It appears that Giovanni has accepted that Elena belongs to Niko now,” Liam explains.
"Doesn't make sense," Niko muses, sitting down behind his desk. "Elena's his blood, pregnant with Leone heirs. She's more valuable."
“Giovanni tends to sell his daughters. She’s of no value if she’s not a virgin,” Liam suggests.
“Then why Lucy?” I ask. “She’s married… or was. She’s not a virgin.”
“And the babies make Elena a bigger target. Giovanni knows he can get to me through them,” Niko states. “Lucy isn’t anything to Giovanni.”
I bite the inside of my mouth to keep from blurting out that Lucy is important too. But along with the disrespect is the risk of showing my hand. Of them figuring out what she does to me.
“You’d think the guy would be grateful to me for his not having to pay that debt to Tiberius,” Niko grumbles.
“Maybe not going after Elena is his form of gratitude,” Liam offers. “Or he knows she’ll be harder to get at. All he has to do is bide his time with Lucia. She’ll probably go back to Italy, and he can get her then. Hell, maybe he’s already talked to Luca.”
“No.”
Liam and Niko look at me. Niko with an arched brow. “No?”
Hell. “I mean, Luca is your ally.”
Niko shrugs. “The question is, why Lucia? What makes her so valuable to Giovanni?”
My teeth grind at Niko’s question. He doesn’t see her as anything but a pawn in this ugly game we play.
“He had to have heard about Giuseppe and he knows she’s back. Maybe he thinks he can sell her again,” Liam suggests.
“Over my dead body,” I murmur.
“Did you say something, Donovan?” Niko asks.
“I wish we’d killed him when we had the chance.”
Niko nods. “His time is coming soon. Don’t worry, Donovan. The countdown for Giovanni has started. Before long, you'll be in charge.”
I imagine Lucy at my side looking over Giovanni’s dead body and taking over his business. But no. She doesn’t like this life. All I can do for her is to keep her safe.
“Do you think Lucia knows something?” Niko asks. “Something Giovanni wants to keep her from telling us?”
“That seems unlikely.” Liam gets himself a drink from Niko’s bar, apparently deciding we’ll be here for a while.