170

from the living room.
Luca’s admonishing look almost made me laugh. I had no intention of doing anything stupid except having a quickie with my wife to cheer her up. What was wrong with that?
When I walked out into the lobby, I didn’t see Gianna anywhere. I stopped, listening carefully, but the sounds of the party behind me were drowning out everything else. What if she ran away? I should have told Romero or Sandro to keep an eye on her at all times, but I didn’t want to embarrass her further. People had enough to gossip about as it was.
I headed in the direction where I remembered the bathroom was, hoping to find her there. A deep voice made me hurry up and when I turned the ‘corner I found Gianna alone with old Bardoni. One look at her face and I knew she was on the verge of freaking out.
She did not see me as I approached, her half-closed eyes focused on Bardoni.
“Why don’t you show me what you learned in Europe.
I bet you’re very talented with your lips. That’s why Matteo was so eager to marry you, huh?” said Bardoni and took Gianna’s arm. Before she or I could react, he pulled her against him and fucking kissed her as he groped her breasts.
With my blood boiling, I rushed toward them, pulled out my knife, pulled Bardoni away from Gianna, and plunged my blade into the soft spot under her chin, piercing her damn brain.
Gianna gasped and stumbled against the wall, her eyes darting from my knife to my face.
“Fuck,” I muttered. I ventured a quick glance around, then dragged Bardoni’s body back to his office, sticking the knife in his chin so that no blood would come out.
“You killed him,” Gianna whispered harshly.
“He shouldn’t have touched you.” I nodded toward the door. “Open it for me.” After a moment’s hesitation, she stumbled forward and opened the door for me. I dragged Bardoni inside and Gianna quickly followed me inside before closing the door.
I laid Bardoni on the desk chair, then stepped back. This was bad. Luca was going to kick my ass when he found out.
“What are we going to do?” asked Gianna in an atonal voice from her seat by the door.
“We’re going to make it look like I didn’t kill him.”
“Your knife is in his head.”
I smiled but became serious again when I saw Gianna’s expression.
It reminded me of the look she had had after Sid had been shot. Sometimes I forgot that not everyone was as accustomed to blood and death as I was.
Slowly she approached, her gaze fixed on the body.
“Why did you kill him?”
“Because he was an asshole.”
Gianna stopped beside me and died Bardoni. She looked as if she could not believe what she was seeing. She raised her arm as if she wanted to touch the corpse to convince herself of its existence.
“Don’t touch anything,” I ordered her a little too abruptly, grabbing her wrist to stop her.
She looked at me with huge eyes. After another moment, she nodded almost robotically. She seemed to be going into shock. That was the last thing we needed.
Ideally, I would have gone to find Luca but I couldn’t leave Gianna alone with the body. If someone came in , she would have more trouble than me dealing with that person .
I touched her cheek to bring her attention back to my face. “Go get Luca,” I told her.
She hesitated.
“Go.”
“All right.” She turned sharply, hurried across the room and slipped out. She closed the door quietly. I really hoped he would not reveal everything because he was so out of it.
I lowered my gaze to Bardoni. I really loved the sight of my knife in his skull.
“Matteo?” I heard Luca’s quiet voice a couple of minutes later. I ran to the door and opened it slightly . When I saw Luca standing still in the hallway I let him in.
“What do you want? Gianna didn’t say anything,” he said, but remained silent when his gaze landed on Bardoni behind the desk. “Oh fuck.”
“Bardoni had an accident,” I said with a shrug.
Luca gave me a look. “Shit, Matteo, what did you do ?”
“If you ask me, I think good old Mr. Bardoni committed suicide,” I said.
Luca circled the body, then looked at me grimly. “It’s Gianna’s fault, isn’t it? Bardoni did or said something that bothered you and you lost your temper. I knew the girl would bring nothing but trouble.”
“That asshole has been on your death list for a while now.
He messed up. You’re glad he’s gone, admit it.
We discussed killing him countless times. I finally decided to take action.”
“Of course I wanted him dead, but not in his damn house at the Christmas party. Damn it, Matteo. Can’t you think first and then shoot for once?” Luca was right. I should have picked a better time to kill Bardoni, but he shouldn’t have bullshitted Gianna, and he definitely shouldn’t have touched her. He had dug his own fucking grave.
“I’m going to call Romero. He’s keeping an eye on Aria and Gianna, but we’re going to need him here to deal with this fucking mess.” Luca ran a hand through his hair, gave me another dirty look, then picked up the phone and called Romero.
A couple of minutes later, someone knocked. Luca raised his hand to stop me from opening it. Instead he went to let Romero in. Romero’s eyes scanned the scene before him before focusing on me. “Did you kill him?”
I raised my arms. “Why did it have to be me?” It was a rhetorical question. It was almost always me who killed at improper times.
“Because you’re the crazy one,” Luca muttered, then said to Romero. “Can you make it look like Bardoni killed himself ?”
We all looked toward the dead asshole, hanging inertly in the chair, his lifeless eyes still expressing surprise at his untimely demise.
Romero grimaced. “Few people stab themselves in the brain.”
“There’s always a first time for everything.” I giggled but fell silent at Luca’s look. “Oh, come on,” I said. ” It was fun.”
Luca’s lips twitched but he was too stubborn to admit I was right. I knew he was more than happy that I had gotten rid of Bardoni for him. “Search the room for a gun that might have blown his head off. I don’t need the Bandoni on my back right now. I want this matter to be handled discreetly.”
“No matter how we make it look, the Bandons will suspect something. They will not believe it was suicide.
Bardoni was too narcissistic to end his own life,” I said.
“Maybe I should put a fucking ankle monitor on you too,” Luca growled. “You’re a time bomb.”
Romero stopped rummaging through his desk drawers.
“Even if the Bardoni suspected something, they wouldn’t say it out loud. If they have no evidence, they won’t seek retaliation.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” I said. “But we’ll make sure they have no chance for revenge.”
“Maybe you should remove the knife from Bardoni’s head. No one will believe it was suicide with your blade stuck in his chin,” Luca said.
I approached the body and slowly pulled the knife out, then quickly stepped back before blood could stain my clothes. I checked my white shirt for stains. The black pants and jacket would have hidden the blood better, but fortunately I was clean. The same could not be said for Bardoni’s clothes. Blood was rapidly soaking his shirt and pants.
Romero pulled a large-caliber Smith & Wesson from a drawer in the closet behind the desk. “This might fit.”
“Good,” Luca said, nodding. “Matteo and I will go back to the party. Wait about five minutes before you blow his head off, then get the fuck out of here. If all goes well, Matteo and I will be here first, and in the confusion no one will even know you’re gone.
Romero was already busy finding the best angle to shoot Bardoni and barely reacted as Luca and I slipped silently out of the room and closed the door. The hallway was deserted except for Gianna who lingered at the back, looking anxious.
“Be careful she doesn’t let anything slip out,” Luca ordered. “And we’ll talk about this damn thing later.”
“Don’t worry. Gianna can lie if necessary.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that she can lie very well if she wants to.
But she’s not exactly the most trustworthy person.”
“She’s my wife,” I reminded my brother a little too forcefully.
“That’s the problem.” He returned to the party before I could respond, and I headed toward Gianna.
Gianna could not believe that Matteo had plunged the knife into the man’s chin. It had been a horrible sight, seeing Bardoni with his eyes wide and dead. He had been an asshole and I certainly didn’t mind seeing him disappear, but to see my husband kill him without a second thought had been horrible. Matthew had acted so quickly, without hesitation, without preparation. Every move had spoken of experience.
Of course I knew he was good with a knife . Even in Chicago people talked about his skills, but that had not prepared me for seeing him use a knife on someone like that.
After telling Luca to find Matteo, I waited in the hallway. Aria was back in the living room; it would have looked suspicious if we had all suddenly disappeared. And people were very anxious to talk to Aria, so her disappearance would surely attract attention. No one would mind my absence, however.
I had waited barely a minute when Romero rushed past me toward the office. People always said I was unpredictable. I had nothing on Matteo.
I hugged myself. My heart was still beating in my chest and I couldn’t stop nervously checking my surroundings.
I was still trying to come to terms with my feelings about what had happened when the office door opened and Luca and Matteo walked out without Romero. Luca walked past me without a glance. He probably blamed me for the disaster his brother had caused. I did not think Matteo needed much incentive to kill, but of course I realized that I had been the reason for Bardoni’s death.
Matteo had acted out of jealousy and possessiveness.
Seeing another man touch me had angered him.
Matteo scrutinized my face as he approached me. I probably looked quite upset. The problem was that I did not feel as upset as I should have. I could not be sad about Bardoni’s death, no matter how hard I tried.
Matteo’s movements were so agile, so confident.
And somehow, despite everything, I felt drawn to him, even to that dangerous side he had shown me today.
Matteo passed an arm around my waist and led me toward the entrance. Instead of returning to the living room, he led me to a small guest bathroom near the front door.
“What the hell are you doing?” he exploded at me. ” I’m not making out with you after you kill someone.”
Matthew grabbed the back of my head and pulled our bodies closer to each other before pressing his mouth to mine, kissing me hard. I was gasping for air when he withdrew.
His lips brushed my ear. “You are so damn sexy. I could fuck you in a room with a dead body and I wouldn’t care.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I murmured, but I made no attempt to pull back. His warmth and strong body stabilized my trembling limbs. Perhaps events were affecting me more than I thought.
“But that’s not why we’re here,” he murmured.
A loud shot went through the house. I jumped.
“What…”
“That’s why,” Matteo said calmly. “We’re going to pretend we had a quickie. We don’t want people to think we had anything to do with Bardoni’s unfortunate end, right?”
He ruffled my hair, then his own before unbuttoning the first two buttons. He raised his dark eyebrows. “Hello?”
I nodded.
“Remember, we don’t know anything. We are shocked and surprised.”
Matteo opened the door and stepped out, drawing his gun. The lobby was filled with other guests, most of them men with guns drawn. They exchanged confused glances.
Luca and Bardoni’s son ran toward where the gunshot had come from. Several people gave Matteo and me disgusted looks. They seemed to believe the lie Matteo was after. It probably helped that they all thought I was a whore.
“Stay here,” Matteo said. “I have to see what’s going on .” He looked so genuinely concerned and alert, as if he really didn’t know why a gunshot had sounded. No one would doubt him. If I hadn’t known better, I too would have believed in his innocence after that spectacle.
He hurried toward the scene of the crime. I could only watch in stunned silence. Matthew was a master manipulator.