“It doesn’t matter, does it?” Not a chance I’m telling him that.
“No,” he concedes as he returns his gaze to Juliet. “I guess it doesn’t.”
I’m not convinced he won’t torture someone for the information, but I hope it won’t be me.
“Let’s sit,” he suggests, and his arm sweeps to indicate a bench in a church pew.
We take up three rows, the three of us in one and our men both in front and behind us.
“Juliet, tell me, how was your life growing up?”
“Fine, good life, couldn’t ask for better parents.”
“Where do you live now?”
I decide to break this off. “Enough with the twenty-one questions, Gio. I followed up on our deal and now, I expect you to uphold your end.”
“What’s a few questions going to hurt, eh?” The way he’s holding Juliet’s hand in his is creeping me out. It’s bordering on a sexual predator vibe and I want this to be over quickly.
He catches my warning look and turns his attention from Juliet to one of his goons. “Raphael,” he says, snapping his fingers, and a man behind him delivers an envelope.
“Here’s my offer. I’m taking a little more of a cut, but you won’t be disappointed. You’ll have the use of our services getting out of the port as well as the personnel we’ve got on the payroll.”
I take the envelope from him and look over the agreement. I can live with it. Now, I just want to get out of here before he tries to rope me or Juliet into something else.
“You must come visit me at my estate, dear.” His oily voice is testing my limits.
My skin is crawling, and Juliet looks absolutely traumatized.
“I think we need to be going. Juliet has other plans today and we just wanted to make good on our promise to give you a chance to meet your daughter.”
“So fast?” He complains, “I’ve only gotten a few minutes.” But he knows in our world the meets are never long, especially in tense situations like ours. No need to fan the flames between old enemies.
Nevertheless, he tries one more time. “Juliet, come with me. I can take care of you, and you’ll have a good life. I can give you everything you desire.”
“I’m fine, really. It was so nice to meet you.” Even I can tell she’s lying.
“I don’t think you understand, you’re my daughter and I’m taking you home. There aren’t many people I take ‘no’ from.” He looks her in the eyes before glancing up to me.
“She’s taken. We’re engaged,” I suddenly pipe up. It’s the only thing I think he might accept in order to save face. He’s older, so it might fly for the moment.
He sizes me up in a new light. “I thought I felt a vibe between you both, but . . . well, well . . . the Contis and the Michelis at long last.”
I can’t place his grin. Is it real? Or is it a ruse to buy himself time?
Conti stands and gives Juliet a hug that lasts way too long for my liking. It seems to take an eternity before he finally turns to go. We make our way out of the pew and head to a side entrance as planned. Our cars pull up immediately in response to Riccardo’s text to our drivers.
“Go.” I pull open the heavy door on the vehicle and hurry Juliet inside. I slide in after her as Riccardo gets in the front even as the others are returning to their SUVs. Once we are all safely locked inside, I allow myself a sigh of relief.
“Are you okay?” I ask Juliet, who’s clipping her seatbelt.
“Yes,” she says, trying to shake it off, but I know her better and can tell she’s still rattled.
“Well, that’s over.” I sit back and straighten my jacket as the air conditioning kicks up to cool me.
“But is it?” Juliet whispers. “Will we have to see him again?”
“Probably not. He liked what he saw, but time will tell.” Then I turn my attention to Riccardo. “We need to be careful when we start up at the port. All eyes and ears open extra wide. Any sign of trouble, we get out of there.”