The type of rag used to shine pure silver.
I was fuming. Now I knew why those assholes were in my house that night. My father kept his ring in that small compartment, pressed against the shining rag so its sheen would never fade.
That was what they took.
I slammed the compartment shut and straightened my father’s office. I didn’t want anyone to know that I’d been in there. I was being set up, I was sure of it now. And by someone who had intimate details of my father’s office. Which made sense. If my father and Julia’s father were trying to broker peace between them, then a show of trust would’ve been necessary. That ring was my father’s prized possession. The one thing he held above all else in his life. The day he earned that ring was the proudest moment of his life. Because it was the day he proved he was a man worthy of all his father had run. It was the day he became the man he thought we all wanted him to be.
My father would’ve told Giuliano where to find this ring as a show of trust.
But even with all this information, I didn’t know what to do with it. All I knew was I had to do something. Julia and Matteo were sleeping with a raging giant, and they didn’t know it. I was the only one who could expose him for what he was really doing. I strode out to my car and high-tailed it back to Vincent’s, speeding down back roads and making sure I wasn’t followed before I parked my car behind his house.
I knocked on his back door. He answered, pulling me into the house before shutting the door.
“What is it?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s watching my house. Were you followed?” he asked.
“Who’s watching your house?”
“Were you followed?” he asked again as he peered out the window.
“No. I wasn’t. Promise.”
“Good. Why are you here?” he asked.
“My father’s ring.”
“What?”
“That’s what they took that night. My father’s ring. And guess where it resurfaced?”
“Shit.”
“Yes. Now I need you to answer me something.”
“Shoot,” he said.
“Did my father tell Giuliano where that ring was as a show of trust before they started their talks?” I asked.
“I don’t know what your father did, but I do know Giuliano was brought into his office once. And only once. So it’s possible that was what your father did.”
“Is there any reason why my father would’ve told Stefano that?”
“No, never. But Stefano and Giuliano were close. It wouldn’t surprise me if he told him about the ring, thinking he could trust his own brother.”
“What the fuck,” I said with a groan.
“I’ve got news of my own, but I haven’t been able to call because I don’t know who’s tracking me yet.”
“What did you find? Help me, and I’ll get whoever the fuck it is off your tail.”
“I can take care of myself. I took care of your father for close to two decades. I’m good. But there’s a cop in the police department. Name’s Johnson. He’s on Stefano’s payroll. If there’s anyone who planted that ring, it’s him.”
“That’s the only cop on his payroll?” I asked.
“That’s all I can find, yeah. It would’ve been easy to plant as well. All he needed was that ring, an evidence bag, and a bit of chaos to slip it into the evidence room. And with Johnson being a long-time cop, he’d have unfettered access without anyone asking questions.”
“How the hell am I supposed to prove that?” I asked.