Chapter 170: Volpe’s Identity

The reaction was immediate.

Marco went completely still.

It was such a small change that I might have missed it if I hadn’t been watching him so carefully, but Lorenzo noticed it too.

His attention sharpened, and the room seemed to grow quieter.

"I knew about the meetings," Marco eventually admitted.

"What meetings?"

"Between your brother and DeLuca’s people."

My stomach tightened.

Deluca?

That creepy man at the gala?

Lorenzo did not move. "Explain."

Marco dragged a hand over his face, taking a shaky breath before continuing.

"Boss Dante had been meeting with them for quite some time. Not openly, of course. Everything was arranged through intermediaries, and the locations changed frequently. Sometimes he would leave the estate without telling anyone where he was going, and sometimes we were instructed to take him to private properties outside the city."

"Who arranged the meetings?"

"I don’t know all of them. There were different men involved, and we were never given their real names. We were only told where to go and who would be waiting."

"And you never questioned it?"

Marco looked uncomfortable.

"We were bodyguards, Don. Our job was to protect Boss and follow his instructions. We weren’t supposed to ask questions about his private affairs."

I raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds like a very convenient arrangement. Get paid to drive someone around, pretend you haven’t noticed anything suspicious, and collect your salary at the end of the month."

Marco looked at me helplessly.

"I didn’t know what they were planning."

I believed that he might not have known everything, at least. There was a difference between the people arranging meetings and the men standing outside the door while those meetings took place. Not every guard was secretly plotting the downfall of an entire criminal empire. Some people were simply unfortunate enough to work for the wrong person.

Lorenzo continued watching him.

"When did these meetings begin?"

"Before Boss Dante returned to the estate."

"How long before?"

"Several months. Perhaps longer. I can’t remember exactly."

"Did you hear anything about what they were discussing?"

Marco hesitated. "At first, no. But eventually, I realized they were planning something against you."

Lorenzo’s expression remained unchanged.

"What made you think that?"

"Boss Dante started asking questions about the organization. He wanted to know which men were loyal to you, which businesses were most important, and how much influence you had over certain territories. He also asked about your security arrangements and the people who were closest to you."

My fingers curled slightly against my palm.

The people closest to him.

I had a fairly unpleasant feeling that I knew where this conversation was going.

"Did Dante ever mention me?" I asked.

Marco’s gaze shifted toward me.

"Yes."

The answer landed harder than I expected.

"What did he say?"

"He asked about your movements, where you usually went, who accompanied you, and whether you had any security arrangements outside the estate."

For a moment, I couldn’t find anything to say.

I remembered the Paris attack, the drugged cloth, the explosion, and the terrifying realization that someone had wanted to take me away from Lorenzo.

At the time, we had known that the attack was connected to the DeLuca organization, but hearing that Dante had been asking about my movements made the entire thing feel horribly personal.

I had not simply been caught in the middle of someone else’s war.

Someone had been watching me.

Someone had been collecting information about my life and using it to determine how best to hurt my husband.

I swallowed, trying not to let my expression reveal too much.

"Did he say why he wanted that information?"

"No, sir. I only heard him asking."

Lorenzo’s fingers moved once against the table.

"Continue."

Marco took another breath.

"I eventually realized something was being planned behind your back, Don. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew it involved DeLuca. Then the situation in Paris happened, and after that, Lord Dante became even more secretive."

"Did he know about the attack beforehand?"

"I don’t know."

"Did he discuss it with anyone?"

"I heard him speaking to one of DeLuca’s men afterward. He seemed angry, but I couldn’t hear everything they said."

Lorenzo leaned forward slightly.

"What did you hear?"

Marco’s face tightened as he tried to remember.

"He said something about the plan not going as expected. Then he mentioned that you were still alive and that the situation had become more difficult."

The room seemed to lose several degrees.

I looked at Lorenzo, but his expression had become so carefully controlled that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

"Was DeLuca present?" he asked.

"No, Don. It was one of his men."

"Did he mention Volpe?"

Marco’s eyes widened.

"Yes."

Lorenzo went very still.

It was almost imperceptible, just a brief pause in his breathing and the slight tightening of his fingers against the table, but I noticed it immediately.

"What did you hear?" Lorenzo asked.

Marco licked his lips.

"I heard the name several times during conversations involving Lord Dante and DeLuca’s men. At first, I thought Volpe was another person they were working with, but eventually I started to suspect something else."

"Which was?"

Marco glanced toward the door before looking back at Lorenzo.

"I think...I think DeLuca is Volpe."

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

I looked at the prisoner, then at Lorenzo, trying to determine whether I had heard him correctly.

"Wait," I said. "You think DeLuca and Volpe are the same person?"

Marco nodded nervously.

"Yes, sir. I can’t prove that he uses the name himself, but I heard the men speaking about Volpe as though it was someone giving orders. Whenever Boss Dante met with DeLuca’s people, the name came up. They seemed to be following instructions from someone they referred to as Volpe."

"Did you ever hear anyone call DeLuca by that name directly?" Lorenzo asked.

"No, Don. I didn’t."

"Then what makes you certain?"

"I’m not certain. It’s only what I suspect."

Lorenzo considered him quietly.

I was beginning to understand why the man had insisted on speaking to the Don personally. He had been carrying this information for some time, and now that he had finally said it aloud, he looked as though he expected the ceiling to collapse on top of him.

"Why didn’t you come forward earlier?" I asked. "Dante might be your Boss, but your loyalty is still to the Don right?"

Marco looked at me with an expression that was almost desperate.

"Because I have a family, sir. I have a wife and two children. If DeLuca found out I had spoken, they would be in danger."

His voice cracked slightly.

"I didn’t participate in the attacks. I never helped them hurt anyone. I only followed Lord Dante’s orders because he was my employer. I didn’t know what they were planning until it was already happening."

He looked toward Lorenzo again, and whatever composure he had managed to maintain began to fall apart.

"Please, Don. I know what people say about you, and I know what happened to Lord Dante last night, but I swear I didn’t betray you. I have a wife and children waiting for me. My youngest is only three. Please don’t hurt them because of something I heard."

I felt an uncomfortable weight settle in my chest.

He was frightened, and beneath the uniform and the years spent protecting a man who had apparently been conspiring against his own family, he was simply someone who wanted to go home to his children.

I glanced at Lorenzo.

He was studying Marco in silence, and I knew better than to mistake that silence for indifference.

"Look," I said, leaning forward slightly, "I don’t think anyone here expects you to have personally dismantled an international conspiracy while standing guard outside a car. You’re a bodyguard, not a detective. Although, after this conversation, I would strongly recommend considering a career change. Just saying."

Marco gave a shaky nod, apparently uncertain whether I was joking.

I sighed. "That was a joke. Mostly."

Lorenzo’s gaze shifted toward me, and I could almost see him deciding whether to interrupt my unofficial good-cop routine.

Instead, he turned his attention back to the prisoner.

"Listen carefully, Marco. Neither you nor your family will be harmed because of what you have told me, provided everything you have said is true."

Marco stared at him.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, Don."

"I will not allow anyone under my authority to touch your family. You will remain here until my investigation is complete, and you will answer any further questions we have. If you have concealed something, if you have deliberately misled me, or if I discover that you were personally involved in the attacks, then the promise I have just made will no longer apply."

Marco nodded frantically. "I...I understand. I swear e–everything I told you is true."

"Then you have nothing to fear from me as long as you continue telling the truth."

The man lowered his head, visibly relieved.

I watched Lorenzo for a moment, understanding that the promise had not been made out of sentimentality. My husband was not suddenly becoming a gentle humanitarian because a frightened bodyguard had mentioned having children.

Lorenzo was a man who took his word seriously, and he expected the same from everyone around him.

When he promised protection, he meant it.

When he promised consequences, he meant those too.

Unfortunately, most people seemed to find the second part considerably more memorable.

We had barely finished questioning Marco when Timothy entered the room carrying a folder and a tablet.

"Don, I have something you should see."

Lorenzo glanced toward him.

"What is it?"