Page 17 of Saint Of Envy (Tangled Hearts, Sinful Hands #2)
For a second, Maria stops and looks around at all of us in the room.
She wipes the tears from her eyes and straightens her posture a little in her chair.
“I regret what I have done—truly. I have not slept a night since all of this started. I never meant to betray Valentina. In fact, I wanted to be her friend. I don’t have very many friends here, and I hoped that once this was all over, she and I could remain friends.
I didn’t know that confirming her pregnancy to the Barone or telling him when she had her appointment would cause such consequences as her being kidnapped.
I will never forgive myself for having done this. ”
Alonzo interjects to fill us in on the “talk” he had with Maria on their ride here.
He told her how Valentina went missing from her doctor’s appointment and how she is now in danger with our mortal enemies.
It’s clear that Maria didn’t realize the level of impact her betrayal would have until she understood what happened.
And as furious as I still am with her, I can’t help but think that Valentina would want me to spare her.
“Do you know where they took Valentina?” I ask.
Now that we know how Leonardo and Angelo found out when Valentina would be at the clinic, the important thing is to figure out where they are keeping her.
“I’m not sure,” she says. “But I heard them talking about a few strange things.”
“What kind of strange things?” Vincent asks.
“Well, Angelo received a call from a man named Leo while we were at the cafe. He hadn’t finished speaking with me, so I had to sit and wait while he took the call.
I only heard his side of the conversation, and it sounded like he was speaking in code sometimes, but I could hear mention of a few things,” she continues.
“He said that he would bring Valentina to him—this Leo man — and that they could figure out whose baby it was quickly.”
She pauses and looks worriedly at me. “Leo wanted the baby to belong to him, and if it didn’t, he would discard Valentina and the baby.
”Fury and fear rush through me. If he harms Valentina or our child, I will dismember Leonardo Conti and everyone who has aided him, limb by limb—slowly and painfully.
“But there was also mention of something else,” she says, interrupting my momentary violent fantasy. “Something about how her father still owes him a lot of money and how he is going to make sure he gets paid.”
“What could that mean?” I ask, turning to Vincent to get his thoughts on that threat.
“If he thinks the child is his, then I’m guessing he will reclaim Valentina through the arranged, forced marriage promised to him and claim the child as his offspring,” Vincent says. “A wife and a child would be repayment of any debt that Giovanni Ricci has outstanding with the bastard.”
“And what about when he finds out that the child is mine?”
“That complicates things,” Vincent says.
“He won’t want her then, and he definitely won’t want your child.
He’ll likely try to get rid of her for a price, maybe sell her off to the highest bidder in order to recoup his funds.
He’ll dispose of the baby, turn a profit off Valentina, and likely murder Giovanni so that the man doesn’t cause him any trouble over it. Time is of the essence here, Luciano.”
I have to find her before it’s too late.
“What do you want to do with her?” Alonzo asks, tipping his head toward Maria, who is still trembling in the chair.
She told us everything she knew and cooperated willingly once we confronted her.
The details of the phone call she overheard between Leonardo and Angelo have provided at least enough critical information to give us a starting place for Valentina’s rescue, now that we know what Leonardo intends to do.
I tap my fingers at the side of my hip where my gun is, knowing that I could pull it and kill Maria with a clean, quick shot to the head within seconds.
But I also know that I could be merciful, and that it’s likely what Valentina would want me to do—if not just to spare Maria, but also to spare my soul from being stained with another sin.
I turn my attention back to Maria, who is clearly still terrified of me.
“I’m going to spare your life,” I say to her quietly and with carefully controlled restraint over my emotions.
“Valentina would want me to, and you were forced into this against your will. But I never want to see you here in Vegas again. If I do, I will have you killed on the spot, do you understand?”
“Yes, yes, thank you! Thank you for showing me mercy!” she sobs. “God bless you. I swear to God that I will do nothing like this again—I will never allow myself to stray from what I know is right again, and I will never let anyone manipulate me.”
I motion for Alonzo to get her out of here without saying another word to the maid. After she leaves, Vincent puts his hand on my shoulder.
“That was big of you, cousin,” he says with a nod of respect. “I can’t say that I would have done the same. If it were Isla, I probably would have put a bullet in the maid’s head.”
“Consider it a weakness,” I groan, wondering whether I should have just killed her instead of sparing her life.
“Not at all, Luciano. That was true strength. Your ability to show genuine mercy and humanity during your own personal suffering—well, that’s what makes you a good and saintly man. Valentina would be proud of you for that decision, as am I.”
“Thanks,” I say with a quick moment of gratitude for his kind words. “But none of that is going to matter if harm comes to Valentina. We need to get her back now.”
Vincent nods, and we both turn back to Zara, who has been sitting quietly in the corner of the room this entire time, pretending to work on her laptop but listening and watching the entire interrogation with the maid play out.
“Tell me you can find her,” I say with sheer desperation.
“I can find anyone,” Zara nods as she gets back to work.
Vincent and I stand behind her, watching over Zara’s shoulder as she pulls up more camera feeds of the city streets. Alonzo returns to join us after a little while, informing us that Maria Russo is now on a direct flight back to Italy to be with her family.
Even though it’s only been a few hours, it feels like days are passing while we wait for Zara to monitor the Barone’s actions and find Valentina.
I try to be patient, but it’s exceedingly difficult.
“You know, the more you guys keep looking over my shoulder, the longer this is going to take me,” Zara complains.
“I’ve found the car, verified that Leonardo is with the men who took Valentina, and tracked their route halfway through the city before losing sight of the vehicle.
But I could be a lot faster if your constant pacing and sighing didn’t keep interrupting my concentration. ”
“Sorry,” I say. “I can’t help it.”
“Come on,” Vincent says as he puts an arm over my shoulder and walks me toward the door. “Let’s get a drink downstairs and talk about what we’re going to do when we find Angelo and Leonardo while Zara works.”
As much as I want to stay right here staring at the screen until we find them, I know that he’s right. The best thing that I can do right now is let Zara do what she does best.
“I’ll come and get you right away if she finds anything,” Alonzo says from his seat on the couch.
When we reach the casino, Gabriel pours us both drinks immediately and tries to start up a conversation to take my mind off the current situation.
But I feel a rift with him now, and the last thing that I want to do is let the bartender, whose loyalties I’ve questioned, overhear my plans for what I intend to do to Leonardo Conti once I get my hands on him.
Vincent and I sit at his private corner table and talk about all the places that the Barone and Conti family have mutual access to in the city, and whether any of those places would make good, secure, hiding spots for them to tuck Valentina away in.
“You know he’s going to find out that the child she’s carrying is mine,” I say with a heavy heart when I think about what Leonardo might do before we reach them.
“I know,” Vincent replies solemnly. “And I’m going to loop Isla in on what’s going on so that she can help as moral support once we get Valentina back. Trust me, cousin, we will get her back.”
I swallow my drink in one gulp and let the burn slide down my throat.
“Where do you think a man like Leonardo Conti would take a beautiful woman to sell her off?” I ask, thinking aloud.
“I mean, if he wants to get top dollar for her, it would need to be somewhere inside his elitist circles, not just any random place on the street.”
“Agreed, and knowing Leonardo’s affinity for luxury, he has connections to the city’s highest bidders."
“That’s it!” I say as it suddenly clicks in my head.
“What is?” Vincent asks.
“That’s the way he can assure he’ll get the most money for Valentina—an auction.”