Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
She did. She thought it was wonderful the way his brothers loved him. She felt their love. They surrounded him with loyalty—with love—the same way he did them. She couldn’t believe that from such a terrible tragedy, she’d found happiness. She just had to keep believing in herself, that she fit with Geno. It didn’t matter that his world was so different from hers; here, in his home, with this side of his family, his brothers and Geno close, she could fit.
* * *
• • •
The Ferraro family called it breakfast, but Amaranthe was certain it was brunch and then some. She’d never seen so much food or such a variety. They acted as if it was normal. Immediately, the talk turned to business—and she realized that was normal as well. They seemed to switch easily back and forth between teasing one another and sliding into talking about murder.
“What did your investigators find out, Geno?” Stefano asked.
“There are three families of riders in Australia. It’s a big country for them to cover. The Taylor family is in Sydney. Five boys, two girls. Lucky family for having daughters. The structure is sound. They have a good reputation. Greeters are their retired parents. A few cousins to help carry the load,” Geno answered.
Amaranthe happened to be watching the others around the table and she caught a strange look between Taviano and Nicoletta. She couldn’t quite interpret the look, but Nicoletta dropped one hand under the table, as did Taviano. Amaranthe was certain they linked their hands together. Neither changed expressions, but they definitely shifted in their chairs minutely, so they were closer to each other. Anything out of the ordinary was always a red flag to her.
She glanced at Stefano. He was stone-faced, which didn’t surprise her in the least, but his gaze had touched, for one brief moment, on his youngest brother and then slipped back to his cousin. She filed that away as significant. Whatever Taviano knew and was withholding, Stefano knew as well.
She didn’t call attention to either one of them but wondered if Geno had caught the nearly indiscernible byplay. She couldn’t imagine that he hadn’t.
“The Ryan family of riders are in Western Australia, residing in Perth.” Lucca took up the report as Geno ate Italian sausage. “Seven boys, no girls. Not a hint of a problem with the family. The parents retired from riding and are the greeters. A tremendous number of cousins, just as in our family, so plenty of investigators, bodyguards and other help with their territory. It’s a big territory. They have a very good reputation among all the riders in other countries.”
Amaranthe kept her gaze on Taviano, Nicoletta and Stefano without seeming to. She’d perfected the art over the years, thankful for her long lashes and diminutive size. Often she could appear to be looking down at her food, or somewhere else, because she was so much shorter than most people. In this case, she was between Geno and Salvatore, and if she pushed back into her chair, she nearly disappeared, giving her a natural observation site as she appeared to eat.
Taviano had all but ceased eating. He drank his coffee but continued to hold Nicoletta’s hand, his gaze fixed on his cousins as they reported on what their investigators had uncovered in the little amount of time they’d had.
She swept her gaze around the table to see if any of the other Ferraros or Elie, Dario or Valentino had the same reaction as Stefano, Taviano and Nicoletta. They didn’t. The others appeared to be eating and paying attention to Lucca while they did so. There were no strange looks being passed back and forth. She turned her attention back to Stefano’s youngest brother as she carefully ate strawberries and French toast.
Salvatore was next. He indicated the map of Australia that they had put up on a large screen on the wall across from the view of the water. “The third family of riders, the Thomas family, resides in Darwin in the Northern Territory. The parents died in a small plane crash when the oldest boy had just turned sixteen. He took over as head of the family and riders. There are four boys and one girl in the family. An aunt and uncle serve as greeters. They also have an excellent reputation.”
Geno waved his hand toward the map. “Australia is huge for three families to cover. They do a good job of helping one another, and riders come in from other countries to aid them when necessary.”
Elie nodded. “The Archambaults help out when they can.”
“The families have always helped to train young riders,” Lucca added. “Our investigators couldn’t find that any of them were out of the country when any of the murders took place. Not a single family member. Their planes were on the ground, and no cousin was in our country. Obviously, we’ll need to investigate more thoroughly; there wasn’t time to really check each family the way we needed to.”