“And they believed her?”
“Like I said, enough to make mention of it. Supposedly, it all started with her husband. The archives say he tried to get control of her estate and leave it to his sons from a previous marriage. You don’t want to know what happened to him.”
“What happened?”
“I just told you that you don’t want to know. I’m not fuckin’ around here, Grinder.”
“Understood. What archive did you hack into, Decker?”
“You don’t want to know that either, man.”
“How deep was this buried?”
“Way, way deep. Back in the late seventeen hundreds, when this all went down, there were rampant rumors about this alleged buried treasure, but they were squashed. It wasn’t long after Estancia made her deal with the government. Could be they covered the rest of it up as part of their agreement.”
“Say there was a treasure buried somewhere on Valentini. Who would it belong to?”
“Because of the deal I just mentioned, it belongs to the owner of the estate.”
“Pia’s mother?”
“That’s right. However, it doesn’t mean it can’t be stolen.”
“You think this is what Viticcio is after?”
“Think about it, Grinder. Estancia Valentini gave the Italian government half. Can you imagine what the other half would be worth now?”
“You were able to find this rather quickly, Deck. Couldn’t someone else do the same?”
“Just in case you left your brain in London, do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”
“Right. Sorry. I’m a wanker.”
“You got that right.”
23
Pia
I took a deep breath and opened the door to the winery office. Mylos said he had a few calls to make, so I decided it was time to inform Georgio of his presence and get it over with.
I looked around the space that had bustled with people when I was growing up. It was still and quiet now.
The winery itself was a different story. Georgio managed over a hundred employees. During the harvest and bottling, that number jumped significantly.
One of the things I’d picked up on recently was that his labor costs were high for this time of year. It was something I knew would lead to an argument, but it was a conversation we had to have.
I heard the office door open and turned to see Mylos walk in.
“Did you finish your calls?”
“Yes.” He put his hands on my shou
lders. “You’re tense.”
“Thinking about having a conversation with Georgio does that.”
He continued rubbing my shoulders but didn’t comment.