Page 18 of The Bonventi Hitman

I reach for my menu, but Luca snatches it away. "No need. I'll order for us."

He signals the waiter and orders in Italian.

Think, Anna. Think. How do I get him to open up?

"Please, Luca," I say, voice soft. "Tell me what's bothering you."

He smirks at me and pats my hand. “Nothing is.”

"You know, when I was with the man before you, he'd talk to me. Said it helped."

"Yeah, well that son of a bitch is dead, isn't he?"

My chest tightens, and I fight the urge to drive my fork through his eye. His casual disrespect of Bill makes me see red. But I can't react. I need to stay calm.

I can crack this idiot.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," I say, as I think of my next move.

He waves dismissively. "Forget it. How's the wine?"

"Does this have anything to do with the Russians?" I ask boldly.

Luca chokes on his wine.

"The Russians? What, what makes," he says and leans forward, "What do you know about the Russians?"

Shit, what DO I know about the Russians?

"I know the Irish didn't like them. I know Enzo Bonventi doesn't like them, which means you don't either."

"Did your dead Irish friend tell you that?" he snarls.

I breathe through another wave of murderous rage.

"Maybe. He mentioned things sometimes."

"Like what?"

I search my memory for anything from FBI files or Bill's briefings of this operation.

"I know they want to take over. The Siberian is determined."

Luca's eyes widen.

Got him.

"Shit, maybe you do know something after all. For a mistress," he says between bites of bread. "Well, your dead friend lied. The Irish don't hate the Russians – or didn't. They were working together."

The Irish and Russians together? Bill never mentioned that.

I raise an eyebrow. "So you're going to war with two families?"

Luca slams his fist down. "The Bonventis don’t go to war, we finish them."

"How will you defend against both?" I ask, leaning back with my wine. "The Siberian is powerful. He won't back down easily."

I notice Luca's breathing growing heavy and his anger rising. Time to dial things back and return to playing mistress.