Page 244 of Marcello

And she turns out to be the daughter of the people we’re supposed to kill.

Romeo and Giulietta, I thought bitterly. Star-crossed lovers indeed.

FUCK!

I slipped out of the hidden doorway and quietly closed it behind me. The edges of the door fit neatly with the rest of the wood paneling.

With luck, no one would ever find it –

At least, not until after I got Giulietta out.

I started back down the hallway when I realized I’d better go back to night vision.

Seconds after I turned off my cell phone light and put my goggles back in place, I heard an angry voice.

“Hey!”

Fuck –

Ciro.

He had just turned the corner and was coming towards me.

Did he see me come out of the hidden doorway?!

I tried to force my heart to stop beating so hard.

I badly wanted to go back to my ice-water-in-the-veins way of seeing the world –

This is the part where the hero plays it cool –

But all I could picture was what would happen if they found Giulietta.

“Why’d you have a light on?” Ciro demanded.

If that was his only question, then he definitely didn’t see me come out of the hidden passageway. I calmed down a bit.

“I thought I saw something, but I couldn’t tell what it was with the night vision.”

“What was it?”

“Nothing.”

“So where the fuck is the girl?”

“I can’t find her,” I lied.

“You looked in her room?”

“Of course I did,” I snarled. “I’ve been looking everywhere.”

It was the perfect lie, because there was no way to disprove it. No matter where anybody searched, Giulietta would never be found.

…as long as they didn’t find the hidden door.

“Tell it to Cesare,” Ciro sneered. “He wants to see you NOW.”

I would’ve loved to kill Ciro right then and there for the smug look on his face – You’re in troublllllle! – but I ignored him and headed for the Amatos’ bedroom. Ciro followed right behind me.