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“Do not worry. I will.” Nico had never felt more certain of anything in his life. No slight to the Marzano family would ever go unpunished.
Nico only had himself to blame for what happened to Sofia. For years, she never went anywhere alone, yet she’d been eager for independence while at the University of Toronto, begging for a “normal” life and chafing against the idea of guards trailing her every move. He’d foolishly given in. Now she’d been hurt, preyed upon, and Nico had to live with the regret.
And kill the man responsible.
Though their business was concluded, Nico hesitated. He thought back to last night, the frustration of not knowing where Verreault was and not being able to reach him. Nico didn’t want to be standing around tomorrow night while Verreault hid from him again. “I need you to locate a cell number for me.”
“Easy,” Michael said, clicking and typing rapidly. “I can find the cell phone company and then hack into their records. All I need is a name.”
“Bennett Verreault. Will it take long?”
“Ten minutes, maybe,” the young man said. “I can have Sergei text it to you, if you don’t want to wait.”
“I would appreciate that.” He thanked Michael again, then gestured for Sergei to follow him to the door. As they walked, he asked a few more questions about business, then departed with the photos. Once in the car, they drove to meet up with Filippo in West Hill and Nico made sure to add an extra zero to Michael’s next paycheck, and Sergei’s as well. Then he rang up Sofia to update her, as he’d promised he would.
“Bella,” he said when she answered. “Come stai?”
“Zio,” she said, calling him uncle as she always did, even though they were technically cousins. Her mother left when Sofia was a baby and her father, Nico’s first cousin, died three years ago. Nico and Filippo had been looking after her ever since.
“Did I wake you?” he asked.
“No, I’m still up.”
She wasn’t sleeping well, so Nico didn’t comment about the hour. Sofia had always been a vibrant girl, eager and ambitious, but the drugging had understandably shaken her. “Have you eaten? If not, order in something you like.”
“You sound like a nonna. And it’s too late to order food,” she explained, her tone implying that Nico was too old and uncool to know how the internet worked.
“There are restaurants still open, bella.”
“Yes, bad ones.”
“Oh, you no longer like poutine?” The Canadian staple was her weakness, though this was a dish Nico couldn’t begin to comprehend.
“I had soup. And poutine isn’t bad, Zio. It’s, like, iconic.”
“Poutine is a crime against your people. Iconic is cacio e pepe or spaghetti alle vongole—”
“Ugh, stop. Now I’m getting hungry.”
“I will bring you home some pasta after I meet with Zio Filippo. We can watch a movie while you eat.”
“Okay, but only if you get something too. And I get to choose the movie.”
That meant either a horror movie or a romantic comedy. There was no middle ground with Sofia. “Fine. Any other demands you would like to make?”
“Yes, actually. Can I invite Ava over tomorrow? I thought maybe she could stay through the weekend.”
Sofia’s roommate, Ava, had been one of the girls with Sofia at The Loop five nights ago. Sofia hadn’t yet returned to school and she was probably missing her friends, so Nico decided to make an exception to his no-outside-guest policy this one time.
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll let Riccardo know.” Riccardo was head of security at the compound and another one of Nico’s cousins.
“He knows,” Sofia said. “I already told him you’d say yes.”
A smile tugged at Nico’s mouth. “Because I never tell you no.”
“A lie! Remember when I begged to buy a puppy and take it to school?”
“They don’t allow dogs at university, bella. We have been over this.”
