“Why don’t you show me what you learned in Europe. I bet you’re very talented with your lips. That’s why Matteo was so eager to marry you, hm?” Bardoni said and reached for Gianna’s arm. Before she or I could react, he pulled her against him and fucking kissed her while groping her breast. My blood boiling, I stormed toward them, pulled my knife, shoved Bardoni away from Gianna and slammed my blade into the soft spot below his chin, piercing his fucking brain. Gianna gasped and stumbled back against the wall, her eyes darting from my knife to my face.
“Fuck,” I muttered. I chanced a quick glance around, then dragged Bardoni’s body toward his office, leaving my knife in his chin so blood didn’t shoot out.
“You killed him,” Gianna whispered harshly.
“He shouldn’t have touched you.” I nodded toward the door. “Open that for me.” After a moment of hesitation, she stumbled forward and pushed the door open for me. I dragged Bardoni inside and Gianna quickly followed me inside before closing the door.
I put Bardoni down in his desk chair, then took a step back. This was bad. Luca would kick my ass when he found out.
“What are we going to do?” Gianna asked in a toneless voice from her spot near the door.
“We are going to make it look like I didn’t kill him.”
“Your knife is in his head.”
I grinned but sobered when I saw Gianna’s expression. It reminded me of the look she’d had after Sid had been shot. Sometimes I forgot that not everyone was as used to blood and death as me.
Slowly she came closer, gaze frozen on the body. “Why did you kill him?”
“Because he was an asshole.”
Gianna stopped beside me and dead Bardoni. She looked like she couldn’t quite believe what she saw. She raised her arm as if she was going to touch the corpse to convince herself of its existence.
“Don’t touch anything,” I ordered a bit too harshly, gripping her wrist to stop her.
She stared up at me with huge eyes. After another moment, she nodded almost robotically. She looked like she was going into shock. That was the last thing we needed.
Ideally I would have gone in search of Luca but I couldn’t leave Gianna alone with the body. If someone came in, she’d have more trouble dealing with that person than I did.
I touched her cheek to bring her attention back to my face. “Go and get Luca,” I told her.
She hesitated.
“Go.”
“Okay.” She whirled around, crossed the room in a rush and slipped out. She closed the door silently. I really hoped she wouldn’t give everything away because she was so freaked out.
I lowered my eyes to Bardoni. I really loved the sight of my knife in his skull.
“Matteo?” I heard Luca’s quiet voice a couple of minutes later. I jogged toward the door and opened it a crack. When I saw Luca standing in the corridor, I ushered him in.
“What do you want? Gianna didn’t say anything,” he said, but shut up when his gaze settled on Bardoni behind the desk. “Oh fuck.”
“Bardoni had an accident,” I said with a shrug.
Luca gave me a look. “Fuck, Matteo, what did you do?”
“If you ask me, I think good old Mr. Bardoni killed himself,” I said.
Luca circled the body, then he glared at me. “It’s because of Gianna, isn’t it? Bardoni did or said something that annoyed you and you lost your shit. I knew the girl would bring nothing but trouble.”
“The asshole has been on your death list for a while. He’s been stirring up shit. You are glad he’s gone, admit it. We’ve discussed having him killed countless times. I decided to finally act.”
“Of course I wanted him dead, but not in his own fucking home at his Christmas party. Damn it, Matteo. Can’t you think first and shoot second for once?”
Luca was right. I should have chosen a better time to kill Bardoni, but he shouldn’t have talked shit to Gianna, and he most certainly shouldn’t have touched her. He’d dug his own fucking grave.
“I’ll call Romero. He’s keeping an eye on Aria and Gianna but we’ll need him here to deal with this fucking mess.” Luca ran a hand through his hair, sent me another glower, then picked up his phone and called Romero.
A couple of minutes later, someone knocked. Luca held up his hand to stop me from opening it. Instead he went and let Romero in. Romero’s eyes scanned the scene before him before focusing on me. “You killed him?”
I raised my arms. “Why did it have to be me?” It was a rhetorical question. It was almost always me doing the killing at improper times.
“Because you’re the crazy one,” Luca muttered, then said to Romero, “Can you make this look as if Bardoni killed himself?”
We all looked toward the dead asshole, hanging limply in his chair, lifeless eyes still expressing surprise at his early demise.
Romero grimaced. “Few people stab themselves in the brain.”
“There’s always a first time for everything.” I chuckled but fell silent at a look from Luca. “Oh, come on,” I said. “It was funny.”
Luca’s lips twitched but he was too stubborn to admit I was right. I knew he was more than a little glad that I’d gotten rid of Bardoni for him. “Search the room for a gun that could have blown his fucking head off. I don’t need the Bandonis on my back right now. I want this matter dealt with quietly.”
“No matter how we make it look, the Bardonis will suspect something. They won’t believe it was suicide. Bardoni was far too narcissistic to end his own life,” I said.
“Maybe I should put a fucking ankle monitor on you, too,” Luca growled. “You are a ticking time bomb.”
Romero stopped searching the drawers of the desk. “Even if the Bardonis suspect something, they won’t say it aloud. If they don’t have proof, they won’t seek retribution.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” I said. “But we’ll make sure they won’t get a chance for revenge.”
“Maybe you should pull your knife out of Bardoni’s head. Nobody will believe it was suicide with your blade stuck in his chin,” Luca said.
I walked toward the body and slowly pulled my knife out, then quickly took a step back before blood could get on my clothes. I checked my white shirt for any specks. My black trousers and jacket would hide blood better, but luckily I was clean. The same couldn’t be said for Bardoni’s clothes. Blood was quickly soaking his shirt and trousers.
Romero pulled a high-caliber Smith & Wesson from a drawer in the cupboard behind the desk. “This could do.”
“Good,” Luca said with a nod. “Matteo and I will return to the party. Wait about five minutes before you blow his head off, then get the fuck out of here. Matteo and I will hopefully be here first and in the commotion nobody will notice you are gone.”
Romero was already busy figuring out the best angle to shoot Bardoni and barely reacted when Luca and I slipped out of the room quietly and closed the door. The corridor was deserted except for Gianna who was lingering at the end, looking anxious.
“Make sure she doesn’t let something slip,” Luca ordered. “And we’ll have a talk about this fucking matter later.”