The Hitman's Mark

13. Guest of Honor

VALENTINA

Val spent the next several hours hunched over a laptop, mapping the logistics and making arrangements for the women trapped in Belyaev's chains.

At this point, she didn't even know if her father would approve of her mission to provide for the women after their rescue. For all Val knew, he'd deem the work too "charitable" for the Romanos, but he owed her. She'd uncovered Belyaev's operation, after all.

Val figured she'd cross that road when she came to it. For now, she researched the various townhomes that her father owned across Scarsdale. He kept the houses as hideouts or guest homes for foreign business associates, but several showed promise as a temporary home for a group of women in need of safety.

Perhaps more importantly, the work offered Val a blessed distraction from the worry tangling in her gut as the hours ticked by with no news from her father or Adriano.

"They should be home by now," Val ground out, digging her phone out of her hoodie's pocket for the fourth time in as many minutes. It was a quarter after seven.

Luca, who had taken up residence on the reclining lounge chair beside hers, tore his attention from his own laptop. They'd spent the last few hours of sunlight working by the mansion's pool. "This sort of thing takes time. Relax."

"I could relax more if my father or uncle would return my texts," Val grumbled, more to herself than Luca, swiping through her most recent messages to the pair.

Luca closed his laptop and set it aside, sliding his legs to the side of the lounge chair in order to face her. "I'll text Matteo and tell him you've snuck out. He'll be more likely to respond if he thinks you're causing me trouble."

"Ha ha," Val shot back, dry, while Luca laughed at his own humor.

In truth, Val's heart palpated rapidly in her chest at the thought of Luca texting the hitman on her behalf. She wanted to know about the mission's result, but she also felt the familiar tug of unease at the reality that Matteo might not escape the Harrison Hotel unscathed. She worried for him, although she'd never say it out loud.

Val sighed. "Don't text Matteo, though. He actually has a reason to not be on his phone. My father and uncle, on the other hand..."

As far as Val knew, Leonardo and Adriano were sitting in a safe-house somewhere, twiddling their thumbs while Matteo's team infiltrated the Harrison Hotel. One of them could spare the time to send her an update.

Annoyed, Val huffed and leaned back against the mesh covering of her lounge chair, intending to continue her research on rehabilitation programs for at-risk women. And yet, as soon as she got comfortable, her phone buzzed from her lap.

She jolted upright again, furiously unlocking the screen to read and reread her Uncle Adriano's hasty text.

Successful. Meet @ Postiglione at 8:00 to celebrate. You're the guest of honor, kid.

Relief swept through Val's body like a tidal wave, and, when that initial relief faded, the thrill of victory radiated in its place.

***

Val and Luca arrived at Postiglione, one of her father's intimate, traditional restaurants in the city of Scarsdale, fashionably late.

Well, Luca wore the same bodyguard-esque attire as usual. Val, on the other hand, strived for perfection. She hadn't seen the Romano capos since her first night back in New York, and she wanted to make a good second-impression. Not to mention, she planned on using the celebratory occasion to pitch her plan for the Belyaev trafficking victims to her father.