Undressed By The Mafia God

"A confession?" Voss almost laughed. "From Luca?" He shook his head. "No one can break the man, boss."

Before Harrington could reply, a knock came on the door.

An officer stuck his head in. "Detective?"

Voss turned around. "Yes?"

"Your suspect demands his phone call."

"I’ll be right out. Later, boss," Voss said. He left Harrington and walked towards the holding area, his shoes striking the floor.

Luciano Genovese had been arrested. That alone should have made the precinct feel victorious.

Instead, there was tension in the walls. Officers kept looking towards the cells as if the bars were decorative and Luca might simply decide to walk through them when boredom set in. Which, in fairness, was not the most foolish fear anyone had ever had about him.

Voss reached the cell and found Luca lying on the narrow bench. His jacket was folded beneath his head, one leg bent, the other stretched out. "Comfortable, Luciano?" Voss asked.

Luca opened his eyes slowly. "My phone call?"

Voss took out his notepad, though he already assumed he knew where this was going. Some polished criminal attorney.

"Yes. The number."

"I believe you have the number," Luca said. "My sister-in-law."

"Your sister-in-law," Voss repeated. "You want to use your phone call to call your sister-in-law? Is she a lawyer?"

Luca sat up slowly. "I need to know if my wife is out of surgery and if she is fine."

That should not have struck Voss the way it did. It was a simple statement. A husband asking after his wife. Any man would have asked the same. Any decent man, anyway.

But coming from Luca, it unsettled him. Voss studied him skeptically. Luca’s face gave nothing away.

"I’ll find out for you," Voss said. He turned, but Luca’s voice stopped him.

"Detective?"

Voss looked back. "What?"

Luca’s gaze held his, steady and disturbingly serious. "I hope you got your source the tightest protection you have."

Voss’s shoulders stiffened. "Is that a threat?"

Luca smiled faintly. "I would never hurt her. I just hope you do protect her with all you’ve got."

Voss pulled out his phone. "If you really cared about her, you would confess and spare her name from coming up at all."

"Nice try." Luca smiled then he lay back down on the bench.

Voss placed the call, turning slightly from the cell but he didn’t call Valentina. He called the hospital line. The hospital line transferred him twice, then a nurse confirmed what he needed. Veronica Genovese was out of surgery. The procedure had gone well. She was in recovery.

He ended the call and returned to the cell. Luca was still lying down, but his eyes were open. "Your wife is fine...She is currently in the recovery room."

"Thank you," Luca said.

Voss shoved his phone back into his pocket and walked away. The further he got from the cell, the more the warning followed him.

I hope you got your source the tightest protection you have.

He thought of Valentina. Her conviction that Luca had to be removed before everyone she loved became collateral damage.

Would Valentina accept hiding? Probably not. Voss rubbed a hand over his face as he walked back towards the squad room.

He understood she would not want to leave her husband. But how else would he be able to protect her.

*****

"Where is Luca?" Veronica asked again.

It was not the first time. It was not even the fifth. Since she had come out of surgery, drifting in and out of the heavy fog of medication, the question had returned to her mouth like instinct. Her voice had been weaker at first, thick with anaesthesia and irritation, but the more the drugs loosened their hold, the sharper she became.

Valentina sat beside the hospital bed. Her sister had been smiling at her, adjusting her blanket, giving her water, telling her to rest. All very sweet and all very suspicious.

Because Luca was not there. There was no version of the world where Veronica Genovese opened her eyes after surgery and Luca’s face was not the first thing she saw. The man would fight a surgeon, bribe an entire hospital board to be at her bedside before she woke.

So no.

Something was wrong. Even unconscious, she had known it. Somewhere beneath the drugs and the numbness in her hand, beneath the strange heaviness in her limbs, her body had understood that the room was missing him. Missing his heat. His hand hovering near her like he could personally intimidate pain into leaving.

She had been shocked to see Valentina instead. Not because she did not appreciate her sister’s presence. She did. God knew she did.

But she wanted her husband. And this time, she was not taking some flimsy excuse.

"Val?" Vee turned her head on the pillow, watching her sister carefully. "Where is Luca?"

"He stepped out for a bit."

"Be very careful about lying to me again. Where is my husband?"

Val sighed, giving up. She had wanted to wait until later. "The police came, Vee," Val said quietly. "They took him."

Vee’s eyebrows rose. That was all. The drugs may have slowed her body, but her mind cleared with terrifying speed. "Any idea why?" she asked.

"Something about Paul Marino’s death," Val said.

"Isn’t that the owner of the shop David bought opposite ours?" Val asked.

Vee nodded slowly and sat up. She looked down at her wrapped hand, flexing her fingers carefully. It was still numb.

"You should lie down," Val said immediately, standing. "The doctors said you need to rest."

"Hmm... hmmm..." Vee was already moving.

"Vee!"

Veronica ignored her. She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"You cannot just get up," Val insisted. "Please, Vee."

"Was it Voss?" Vee asked.

"Yes."

Vee nodded again, already knowing exactly where Luca was being held. "Help me out of this contraption."

Val stared at her. "You cannot possibly be thinking of leaving the hospital right now. You have to be monitored." She stepped closer, lowering her voice as though softness could still reach sense in her sister. "If you are not worried about yourself, worry about your baby."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!