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“I’ve been working around the clock to trace them,” Gio explained tersely. “Marta has been especially helpful, inquiring with all her friends to see who first started this chain. Everyone seems to have received that forward from dozens of other sources.”
“Then how are you sure it’ll be resolved today?”
“Because of this.” Unlocking his phone, Gio handed it to her.
Tamping down the rising hope, Ana carefully took the phone. The screen was shattered at the bottom, from his crushing grip last night, making it difficult to read. From the top of the screen, which was still intact, she could see a chat with her aunt. It looked like Auntie had forwarded some screenshots to Gio in the middle of the night.
9:44 PM
Marta: [Image]
Gio: Any others to back this up? I can’t go off of one anecdote alone.
Marta: Of course. Sophia is supposed to be very reliable. But I will continue asking if anyone else also got these texts from her.
Gio: Appreciate it. I need this closed ASAP.
12:57 AM
Marta: Second confirmation. Claudia also said the text came from her. [Image]
3:25 AM
Marta: Third confirmation–from Cora. [Image]
8:00 AM
Marta: Shall I proceed? Is this enough proof?
Gio: TY. Good enough for now. Proceed.
Proceed with what? Ana tried to make sense of the thread. It was hard to believe so much conversation and investigation had already occurred in one day.
Downloading the images, she frowned through the cracked screen. These appeared to be the same screenshots everyone else had received. She began to close them out when Gio reached over to tap on the screen, zooming in until the sender’s name was visible at the top.
Her hand flinched.
Three texts, sent to three separate women. All from the same person.
Celia Russo.
Disbelief and anger whipped through her. “I don’t believe this...” Ana’s stunned face sought him out. The anger she saw mirrored there confirmed it. Celia fucking Russo had been spreading the messages.
“Is she just forwarding gossip along? How do we know she started this?” Ana tempered her heated reaction, striving to understand it with a level head.
“Hers were the earliest texts,” Gio said grimly. “The time stamps on her messages are three days old, while the texts everyone else got came a day later. One of these women, Sophia Cazzola, is also a good friend of Celia. She told Marta that Celia was complaining about us after the summit last week, saying we’ve ruined her father’s standing in the faction.”
“And Sophia tattled on her ‘friend’?”
“She had no choice. I told Marta to convey my sentiments to anyone who resisted helping.”
At her enquiring look, Gio smiled entirely without humor. “Saying that I would rip their entire existence into shreds if they withheld information from me.”
A shiver snaked through Ana at the coldness of his vow. “Will you punish Sophia?”
“No. But her delay in revealing this is something I won’t forget.”
His ominous tone made her grateful to be in his inner circle. His tenderness in the late hours of the night was a version of him only she, and perhaps Gabriella, ever witnessed. For everyone else, he was the unforgiving Don–watching them like hawks, ready to pounce on the smallest of mistakes.
