Sold to the Capo-Chapter 43: A HUNCH

VINCENZO’S POV

It was late afternoon as I got back home, Adriana was out somewhere on the lands so I was alone in the house.

I shut my eyes tightly trying not to bash something to the ground in my anger.

"Bruno" I bellowed and a man standing at the door on the outside sauntered in, bowing slightly.

"Tell Val to meet me in my study" I growled before walking to the opposite hallway.

The man nodded and left the house while I went over to my study, sat down in my chair, and brought out a notepad.

I twirled a pen in my hand while I mulled over everything that had happened over the last few months. Everything was strangely interconnected and I was still trying to piece the puzzle to know what was happening.

After about 5 minutes, I heard the front door open and I sat up In my chair, listening to the approaching footsteps down the hallway.

Wait.

Not one. Two.

I frowned at that. Who was with Val? I knew Adriana would have been with Val but why was she following her when I wanted to have a private conversation with her?

Before I could mull over that better, the door pushed open and Val and Adriana walked in, Adriana looked a bit tense and curious as she surveyed the surroundings and looked at me.

"What are you doing here?" I raised a questioning brow, looking from Val to Adriana who shrugged.

"Am I not invited?"

"No, you are not" I frowned at her, sending a glance at Val who seemed unbothered as she sat on the chair directly in front of my desk.

"Well, I want to be here. You can’t just drop an order on me and not let me in on what’s happening. I want to keep myself updated on it" Adriana frowned at me also.

"Why don’t you update me on the money missing from my account?" I leaned back in my chair, smirking as her face paled slightly.

"What do you want to know about it?" She challenged, sinking into the seat next to Val.

"I don’t know..." I drawled, my tone turning hard. "Maybe let’s start with why I saw a debit of a grand"

"I bought stuff" she stated simply.

"You spent a grand at a bookstore?" I asked incredulously.

I wasn’t even mad about the money, that wasn’t my main card but the incredulous fact was that she spent it at a fucking bookstore.

"What’s bad about that?" Val chimed in even as she pulled the notepad to herself and collected the ballpoint pen from me, writing down the stuff I wanted to talk to her about.

"Why books?" I cringed at the thought of Adriana hunched over reading a book.

That seemed out of place.

"I needed information from The bookstore"

"I did say you couldn’t use my help" I reminded her.

"Yeah but I didn’t" she countered.

"It was my money" I replied dryly.

"And you gave the card to me willingly" She huffed, peeping at what Val was jotting down.

"Fair point, Tesoro. Fair point" I sighed.

"So what are we doing here?" Adriana chirped, her tone surprisingly giddy.

If there was another thing I had learned from her, it was that she liked to be in control and I wasn’t opposed to that. She didn’t seem to like it when someone was trying to control her every movement, she liked to be Informed, and she tried to know too much, to assert control.

That was why she asked to take a shot the other day. It made her feel strong, just like sitting with us in a private conversation made her feel like she was part of the crowd and she knew more than others outside.

"Here" Val pushed the note back to me and I leaned back in my chair, going through the names.

Val folded her arms waiting for my reaction which came a few moments later.

"Blake?" I raised a brow, looking at her.

She nodded and leaned forward on the table. "I’m not ruling anyone out and so far I don’t like the energy he gives out. He’s becoming more secretive and he’s withdrawn from the others."

"Val, he’s in the Cavalieri..." I frowned.

"And he is still a suspect" Val cut me off.

I frowned at her. "Fair enough. And what’s this...?" I paused, pointing a finger at a name on the notepad.

She leaned forward and stared at the name before she leaned back in her seat. "Sarah"

"She’s a Garot. It would make no sense. She lost her brother" I immediately dropped the notepad to the table.

Val shrugged. "You asked for my opinion"

And I had it but there was something quite missing.

"What’s going on? What names are those?" Adriana made a move to grab the notepad but I quickly snagged it off the table, leveling her with a glare.

"The identity of those on this list is confidential. If you must know, these names are those who we suspect might be our snitch" I explained to her, deep in thoughts.

"But I’m not allowed to see it?" Adriana looked baffled.

Val tapped her lap. "So did you get any information from the bookstore?"

"I went there about 5 times and made other purchases but nothing. Man came and said he didn’t know shit. Waste of my time" Adriana huffed, her tone deflated.

They were saying something but I wasn’t listening, my pen was in between my lips and I was thinking something over.

"What do you think about my list?" I heard Val ask when she noticed how silent I was.

"Pretty good. I do have a nagging feeling about most but..." I paused.

"There it is... that but" Val groaned under her breath.

"It’s missing something important... someone important" I muttered under my breath, a frown on my face.

"Who?" Val asked, curiosity now in her tone.

I looked at her and I smiled to myself. I couldn’t say it, if it turned out true, it would shake my entire ranks and if it turned out false, it would do the same thing.

But I couldn’t shake it off.

What if... the person I thought had a hand in it?

But no one could know. It would be my secret to the grave.