“And if I do this favor, and it doesn’t provide that evidence after all?”
“Then, I’ll drop it.”
“You’ll drop it,” I pursed my lips. He was going to have to do better than that.
“I will. I’ll never say another bad thing about the guy. But on the other hand, if what I’m saying proves out, if the evidence I’m looking for ends up being there, you’ll know. And then you can make an informed decision.”
I shook my head. “What is this favor that you want so bad?”
He opened his briefcase, riffling around inside. He brought out a small plastic zip lock bag with a tiny black device about the size of a dime. “Sometime when he’s out of his office, you go in there and put this inside his landline. It’ll record all conversations, incoming and outgoing, as well as any voice in the room.”
“You want me to bug his phone?” I asked, incredulous. “That’s a colossal infringement of his privacy!”
“If you’ve got nothing to worry about, what’s the harm?” he challenged. “If he’s all above board and such a standup guy, there won’t be anything in those discussions that’ll hurt anything. His credibility with you will remain intact. But if I’m right and some incriminating evidence pops up, then you’ll know. You’ll know the truth.”
I couldn’t believe what my brother was asking of me. All this lunacy just because he didn’t like that I was with Marco. I stared at the bug, feeling half sick to my stomach. “I don’t know about this, David.”
“Hey, if Varasso’s innocent, I’ll admit I was wrong and never mention it again. I hope I am wrong, and that he is innocent. That would take a huge load off my mind. I’d place the thing myself, but Ian has a security camera by the door, right?”
I nodded. There was only one camera, but it was pointed in such a way that anyone entering Marco’s office would be visible. I didn’t know how my brother knew that, though. Had Ian told him when he’d still been the owner?
“So I can’t,” David said. “It’d raise too much suspicion. You stepping in there for a minute won’t draw anyone’s attention. As his office manager, you probably do that all the time anyway.
”
I said nothing. My brother didn’t need to know what Marco and I had done in that office.
“Please do this, Kelly. For me. It would make me feel so much better.”
I wanted to say no, I really did. But David was peering over at me with this concerned expression, and I couldn’t bear it, especially since it was causing him to lose sleep over it. I could do it, prove Marco’s innocence, and then my brother would know I was right. That everything I’d told him about the man I loved was the gospel.
I closed my eyes and released a gusty sigh, holding out my hand. I felt the bag land in my palm.
“You won’t regret this,” David promised me, and I felt this cold icky feeling saturating my bones. I waited until he left, then I looked down at the device.
“I better not.”
20
Marco
I sat back in my office chair, kicking my feet up on the desk. Life had been incredibly indulgent with me of late. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this rejuvenated in every single way. But then, I received a text from my eldest brother.
Yeah, should’ve known my little high wouldn’t be allowed to last.
Missed you at dinner last Sunday. Going to be here day after tomorrow?
I’d enjoyed the elation of two entire days with Kelly in various states of undress this past weekend. Something I’d hoped to reenact this weekend, too.
Something important going on I should know about?
Luca’s response made me grimace.
You tell me.
Goddammit. So much for another forty-eighty hours of bliss.
I’ll be there.