Guest
Returning to the villa, Zorah couldn’t stop the smile which was making her cheeks hurt. They’d spent an incredible morning and afternoon, and she really felt they’d made huge gains in their relationship.
“Well, if it isn’t Mr. and Mrs. Lucchesi,” a voice called from the end of the pathway.
“Walrus, what the hell are you doing here?” Icaro growled furiously at the sight of the large man trespassing. “Fuck off.”
“Not until I say what I came to say.”
Zorah tugged Icaro’s arm, “do I need to be here for this?”
“Zorah, do you fear me now? I wish you wouldn’t.”
“I don’t trust you, Mr. Giarre. You keep showing up in places unexpectedly and uninvited. It’s upsetting.”
“I was not behind the woman you captured today, Icaro. I swear I was not.”
Icaro folded his arms over his chest and glared at the man, “Vodingo will find out.”
“Can we take this conversation somewhere more private?”
“You are not coming into my house.” Icaro refused him and waved to a group of men who came out of the shadows. “Leave, Giarre. I’m done with your bullshit.”
“It wasn’t me,” he insisted. “I wouldn’t –”
“Icaro,” Zorah looked at her husband, “bring him in out of the street and let him say what he wants to say but I have something I want to say to him as well. Better nobody else with long lenses or recording equipment.”
“Fine. The patio in the back. This way if I need to shoot him, I can get you upstairs to the room before it happens.”
“No shooting anyone,” she squeezed his fingers warningly.
His grunt made her shake her head with annoyance. As The Walrus grew closer, she scowled at him, “Mr. Giarre, you’re intruding on our date and ruining the vibe we have going. I don’t appreciate you being here. Take the warning my husband is giving you carefully.”
She led the way into the house and noted Vodingo was coming in from a side door, his face stonily set and a handful of men at his heels.
“All of this for little old me?” the larger man asked as he was led to an outdoor patio garden.
“Nothing little about you. Ego included,” Vodingo waved at him. “Move. Icaro might be reluctant to shoot you in front of his wife but I’m not. She can hate me all she wants so long as she’s alive to keep my boss happy. Now move.”
Vodingo stood towering and glowering as the biggest man in the room sat on a loveseat and leaned backwards.
“Relax, Vod. We’ve been friends since we were small boys. You should know by now I wouldn’t cause any of your physical harm. I don’t even want to cause you emotional harm,” his eyes flicked to Zorah. “I cannot help how my heart feels but I do not want to hurt anyone.”
“Do you expect any of us to believe this?”
“Yes. I do. You know me.” He turned his attention to Icaro who sat on a wide seat and pulled Zorah to squeeze onto it with him. “I am not one to lurk in the shadows, Icaro. Have you ever known me to be the kind to hide behind the skirts of a woman?”
Icaro shrugged and adjusted Zorah’s legs to be over his lap. “You have something up your sleeve.”
“I don’t want your wife to run away from home and into danger, Icaro. I might be the one who put the bug in Sveva’s ear about you being back in Catania, but I am not behind the woman taking photos of your wife.”
“How do you know about her, Mr. Giarre?” Zorah asked him curiously.
“Zorah, please call me Caiu or Walrus. Either works.”
“No. I don’t trust you and I don’t know you well enough to call you a nickname you’ve been given by friends or by your first name.”
“I wish this was not the case.”
“It is what it is,” she felt Icaro’s hands tightening on her waist and knew he was getting annoyed with the man. “Why are you here and how do you know about the woman who took my photo?”
He waved impatient fingers at Vodingo, “when someone does interrogations and brings my name up in the middle of it, it’s bound to get back to me, Zorah. Vodingo took three of my security staff from a job I put them on and one of them came back to me with bumps and bruises and reported.” He didn’t look away from Vodingo, “though I believe you wanted him to report back, am I right?”
“You are right.”
“Well, I am here because it’s what you wanted. You wanted me to come tell you what I know but, in this instance, I do not know anything. Did you find the woman?”
“I did.” Vodingo nodded. “Unfortunately, she is not talking.”
“Did you kill her?” The Walrus asked bluntly.
“No. She stupidly tried to evade the guards who boarded her vessel by jumping into the water. She smacked her head on the side of the boat jumping overboard. She wasn’t in the water a few moments. She is currently unconscious because of the strike to her head. The doctors tell us it is a matter of time for her to wake up. When she does, we’ll find the truth. I’ve been through her boat personally and was able to collect her camera, her luggage and identification.”
“Phone?” The Walrus asked.
“She had it on her person when she jumped into the water. I have it but it’s waterlogged.”
“Shit,” The Walrus grunted, “I can offer you some assistant from my IT team.”
“As if,” Icaro snorted.
“Icaro, look, I’m not going to lie. I want Zorah for myself. I would love nothing more than for her to leave you so I can give her the chance to live a life of luxury without all the violence which comes with being a Lucchesi. However,” at Zorah’s gaping mouth ready to protest he held up a finger, “I am not going to sneak around to do it. If I convinced her to run away and start over somewhere else, how does this benefit me? I want her on my arm. I want to show her off and make the world understand I revere her. I don’t want to hide her away like a dirty secret I’m ashamed of. I’m not behind this woman trying to convince Zorah to run away, Icaro. You’re chasing the wrong lead.”
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