My mind raced. Was that the same day I’d found the red heart-shaped stone?
“Pia?” I heard Mylos say.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“Decker asked if you thought you could find your way back to the chest.”
“Maybe…” It had been so long since I was in those caves. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples with my fingertips.
“Lucia, could you?” Rile asked.
“I’m not sure, but we could try,” I heard Lucia answer. “Pia, what’s wrong?”
I turned to my mother first and then looked at Lucia and finally at Mylos.
“That was the day I found it,” I said, barely above a whisper.
“Found what?” my mother asked.
“This?”
I turned to Mylos, and he held the stone in his hand. My mother reached around me to grab it from him, but I was faster. As I closed my hand tightly around it, all conversation in the room ceased. I wasn’t sure anyone was even breathing.
“Give it to me, Pia.”
“No, Mamma.”
“Pia, please.”
“What is its significance?”
She shook her head.
“Tell me, or I’ll—”
“It isn’t just a stone, Pia.”
“What is it?”
My mother shook her head a second time.
“Come, Mamma,” I said, standing and holding my hand out to her. I led her out to the terrazza.
“Something about this stone causes you great distress. Tell me what it is.”
“You shouldn’t have given it to Mylos.”
“Why not?”
“It’s cursed.”
My first inclination was to roll my eyes, but given my mother’s level of agitation, I refrained. I waited, arms folded again, for her to continue.
“Very well. It is believed to have belonged to the Prince of Venetto, Viano de’ Medici, also known as the Black Prince. He and his men stole it from the corpse of the Sultan of Grenada after stabbing him to death. Shortly after that happened, Viano contracted a mysterious disease from which he died less than a month later.
“The stone was passed down through the Medici family, with every recipient dying a violent death or from a mysterious disease. It is said that Estancia’s first husband stole the gem, and it was found on his body after his death.” My mother shuddered.
“How did he die, Mamma?”
“Pia…”
“We’re alone. Just tell me.”
“He burned to death.”
“Mylos…” I couldn’t go on. I covered my mouth with my hand, hoping to stave off being sick to my stomach. Unsuccessful, I ran inside to use the lavatory.
All eyes were on me as I walked back out to the terrazza. My mother was still seated in the same place.
“It’s my fault—”
“Shh.” My mother shook her head. “Let’s not speak of it.”
When we rejoined the others, I could feel Mylos’ eyes on me, but I couldn’t bear to look at him. Because of me, because of my gift to him, he’d almost died—more than once. First, from the explosion in Iraq and then the explosion in London. By the grace of God, he hadn’t, but I could no longer tempt fate.
My heart was breaking, but I had no choice. I had to end things between us. I could never look Mylos in the eye again, knowing that because I’d given him the cursed stone, he’d suffered unimaginably.
“Pia?”
“I am not feeling well, Mylos. I am going to the villa to lie down.” I said all of that without looking him in the eye. He stood, most likely to come with me, but I held up my hand.
“Lucia, would you mind going with me?”
She followed me out the door and closed it behind her.
“Pia, what’s wrong?”
When my eyes filled with tears and I shook my head, Lucia put her arm around my shoulders.
“We don’t have to talk about it.”
“I need to rest.” I knew the stress I’d experienced in the last couple of hours was bad for the baby. If nothing else, I’d close the draperies in my bedroom and try to sleep.
We walked up the hill in silence. With every step I took, I tried my hardest to let go of the tension in my body, but every time I thought of Mylos and how he’d almost died because of me, I felt my muscles tighten again.
When we reached the terrazza, Lucia went ahead of me to open the front door. I walked over to the railing and looked out over the vineyards of Valentini.
The hair on the back of my neck bristled when I sensed I wasn’t alone. I looked over my shoulder and saw Paolo standing in the back corner of the terrazza, holding a gun to Lucia’s head.
“Hello, Pia,” he said with an evil smile.
26
Grinder
It was obvious that whatever Countess Maria told Pia about the stone, had jarred her. Never before had she refused to make eye contact with me.
I was torn between following her and giving her some space. At least she hadn’t left alone.
“What did you tell her?” I asked when the countess sat back down beside me.
“The stone has…a history,” she began after taking a deep breath. “Some say it’s cursed.”
“Is that what Pia thinks?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I would disagree. I’ve always seen it as a talisman.”
“What is the stone?” asked Rile. “It’s obviously something you’ve seen before.”
“Actually, I hadn’t, although I’ve read a description. Given it is quite unique, there is no doubt it is the same one.”
Rile took a seat next to the countess. “Tell us,” he urged. “So we understand.”
Matteo’s phone pinged. “Cazzo! I just got an SOS from Lucia!”
I jumped to my feet out of instinct. We raced from the house and climbed into the waiting vehicles. When the countess got into the back of the SUV Rile and I were in, I almost told her to wait at the farmhouse, but if she did, she’d be alone with no one to protect her.
We followed Matteo’s vehicle up the hill and parked near the terrazza. When we got out, I could see Lucia’s crumpled form near the back corner. I raced over ahead of Matteo and breathed a sigh of relief when I found a pulse.
Matteo gathered her in his arms while he examined the wound on her forehead.
“What happened?” she groaned, opening her eyes.
“Looks like someone knocked you out.”
“Paolo! He’s with Pia!” She wiggled out of Matteo’s arms and landed on her feet.
“When you say ‘with Pia,’ what does that mean?”
She clenched her fists. “He made her take him to the place where she hid the Medici diamond!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Come on, she took him to the caves!” When Lucia ran inside the villa, I followed, and so did Matteo.
“Rile,” I called out behind me. “Stay with the countess.”
The words had just left my mouth when I saw her move out of his grasp and in our direction.
“You need me to show you the way to get to the tunnels.”
“See if you can locate Georgio and the woman!” I shouted to Matteo as I rushed to follow Lucia.
“This way,” said the countess once we were inside. She motioned us to a back staircase. We raced down the steps, but instead of stopping at the first floor, we continued going down. I recognized it immediately as where Pia had brought us in earlier.
At the next landing, Lucia tried to open a wooden door. When it wouldn’t budge, I stepped around her.
“It’s locked from the other side,” said the countess. “It’s never locked.”
That meant we were on the right track. I slammed my shoulder against it. Again, it didn’t budge. I hurled my body against it a second time, and it gave in the middle.
“Move,” said Rile, pushing me out of the way. “Get back!”
I shielded the countess, and Lucia crouched down when we realized what he was about to do.
> A shot from his gun, and the door sprang open.
“Look,” said Lucia, pointing to what appeared to be fresh footprints in the dirt on the stone floor.
“Do you have any idea where she’d take him?” Rile asked Lucia.
“Probably back to where she found the red stone.”
She led the way through the tunnels and outside to the trail that led to the caves. Rile and I held up our mobiles to provide light.
We were halfway up an incline when the countess stopped. “You go ahead,” she said, trying to catch her breath.
“Go on,” said Rile. “I’ll stay.”
I nodded and raced ahead with Lucia. When we reached the top, there was a curve, and beyond it, I saw light.
I stopped when I heard footsteps and peered around the corner. When I saw it was Matteo, I eased into view.
“I saw tracks but stayed in the dirt,” he said, pointing to the trail that led from the villa to the cave’s entrance. The parted grasses were high, indicating someone had just come that way.
We crept farther back in the caves. I stopped when I thought I heard a scream.
27
Pia
After we walked into the caves, I saw Georgio waiting. I looked into his eyes and shook my head. When he smirked in response, I wanted to claw his eyes out, just like Mylos had predicted.
In hindsight, I wondered if I’d made a mistake in agreeing to lead Paolo to what he was looking for as long as Lucia didn’t come with us. It never occurred to me that I’d be outnumbered.
“I told you she’d know where it is.”
“Why are you here? I told you to wait in the tunnels,” Paolo spat at Georgio.
“And leave you alone with the diamond? Not a chance.”
Paolo leaned into me so his mouth was near my ear. “If you’re playing me, know that I will kill you.” The gun he’d had trained on me the whole way through the tunnels, pressed into my side.
When he pushed me, I kept walking, hoping I’d be able to find the place where we’d discovered the chest all those years ago.
Once I found that, I could probably locate the place where I’d originally picked up the stone I gave to Mylos.
I’d never heard of the Medici diamond and had no idea why Paolo thought I knew where it was, but the only thing I could think of was that maybe it was buried somewhere near where I’d found the other stone.
“This way,” I said, rounding a familiar-looking corner.
I recognized the wine racks, but I couldn’t see if the chest was still behind them. I stopped and looked around, trying to get my bearings. “There,” I said, motioning with my head to an offshoot about twenty feet from where we stood.
Paolo grabbed my arm and jerked me forward. Once we rounded another corner, he pushed me so hard I fell to my knees. I heard a clicking sound and looked over my shoulder, screaming when I saw Georgio fall to the ground. When he landed, I could see blood trickling down from a bullet hole in his forehead.
“You’re going to kill me too, aren’t you?” I said, looking into Paolo’s eyes.
He knelt on the ground beside me. “This could have been so much easier, amore mio. I gave you so many chances.”
“To what, marry you? Are you saying if I had, you wouldn’t have killed me eventually?”
He shrugged and looked as though he was thinking it over. The fucking lunatic. “Maybe, yes. But, if you had agreed to sell Valentini, then we wouldn’t be in such an ugly predicament.”
“You’re mad.”
He shrugged again and gazed off at nothing. “Perhaps, but I am rich beyond your imagination. The maps I discovered that day so long ago, allowed me to locate many of the Sovereign Order of Malta’s buried riches, but none as great as the Medici diamond. In fact, all those combined are unequal to its value. Once I possess it, I can disappear and never be seen again.” He turned back to me and dug his fingers into my arm. “Time is up—where did you hide it?”
“Hide it?”
“I warned you before not to play with me, Pia. I saw you. You had it in your hand. Of course, I had no idea what it was at the time. When I read the stories of Estancia Valentini and how she paid off the Italian government but kept her fortune in one stone—the Medici diamond—that’s when I realized what you’d found.”
“Paolo, I didn’t find a diamond that day. The stone I found was red, a worthless bauble.”
He looked at me as though he didn’t understand what I was saying, either that or I was very stupid.
“I’ll show you if you untie me.”
“No tricks unless you want to end up like him,” he said, motioning toward Georgio.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the stone.
“Santa Madre di Dio,” Paolo gasped, taking it from my hand.
“That’s the Medici diamond?” I muttered.
“Sì. It is the most valuable in the world. Worth twice as much, at least, than the Hope Diamond. It could bring in seven or eight hundred million dollars. More perhaps.” He looked up at me. “And it’s all mine.” His smile was pure evil, like it had been earlier on the terrazza.
“Yours? Don’t you mean ‘ours,’ my love?”
My head spun around like Paolo’s did. Standing only a few feet from us was Gabriella, although now she looked more like the woman I’d met in the lobby of the London hotel—Donnatella.
“Of course that’s what I meant,” said Paolo, rising to his feet.
“Stay where you are!” she yelled, pointing the gun in her hand at him.
“But—”
“Shut up, or I’ll kill you first.” She motioned with her gun. “Toss it over here.”
Perhaps knowing she’d kill him no matter what, Paolo raised his gun instead. I squeezed my eyes closed and prayed to the Holy Mother of God, Santa Madre di Dio. I knew that when I died, my baby would too. “Please forgive me, Mylos.” I heard the popping sound and waited. I could feel Paolo still beside me. I opened one eye.
“Drop the gun, Paolo,” I heard someone say.
I looked over my shoulder and saw three guns pointed in our direction but aimed at Paolo.
When he moved his hand just slightly, I knew he was going to fire. I slammed my body against his and then rolled away as fast as I could. At the same moment, I heard the guns fire. I squeezed my eyes shut again, only opening them when I felt Mylos’ arms around me. He lifted me up, and I buried my face in his shoulder, not wanting to see.
He held me in his arms, carrying me out of the caves, past Donnatella’s lifeless form, past where Paolo had killed Georgio.
28
Grinder
I didn’t take her inside, I carried her down the stone walkway that led from the caves to the villa, and then all the way down to the farmhouse. I ignored her protests, telling me to put her down, until she finally gave up and rested her head on my shoulder.
I carried her through the front door and up the stairs, finally setting her down on our bed. She laid her cheek on the pillows, and I rested mine above her belly. Her fingers stroked my hair as I stroked the place where our baby grew inside her. And both of us cried.
My mobile remained silent throughout the night, for which I gave my thanks to Rile. Tomorrow would be soon enough for us to debrief.
Pia was still asleep when I heard the front door ease open. I pulled on my joggers and crept from the room in time to catch a glimpse of Countess Maria walking into our kitchen.
“Buongiorno,” I said, walking in behind her.
“Oh, Mylos!” she put her hand on her heart. “You startled me. Buongiorno. How is my daughter?”
“Sleeping peacefully. What do you have there?”
She opened the basket she’d carried in and took out fruit and pastries—the same breakfast Pia and I shared almost every day.
“The baby?”
“There are no signs that there’s anything wrong.”
She closed her eyes, crossed herself, and looked up at the ceiling. I knew exactly how she felt.
“Where is it?” I asked.
“In a safe place.”
“I think you’re wrong about the curse.”
“Perhaps,” she murmured. “However, the last man to hold it, died a horrific death.”
“Pia didn’t die. She held it. I didn’t die either, and I certainly should have—more than once.”
“How does it feel, knowing you carried the Medici diamond—something worth several hundred million dollars—around in your pocket?”
I laughed. “Is that really what it is?”
“Sì, according to the research your colleague did last night.”
“What’s crazier is that Pia sent it to me in the mail.”
The countess’ eyes opened wide.
“The first letter she sent me.”
“She loved you, then.”
I nodded. “And I, her.”
When the countess looked behind me, I knew Pia was there and had heard.
I turned around and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Pia.”
She stepped forward into my arms. “I love you, Mylos.”
“I should be on my way,” said the countess at the same time we heard a knock at the door.
“Buongiorno,” said Rile when I opened it.
“Come in,” I said when he was already halfway through it.
“Has the countess shared the news with you?” he asked once we joined Pia and her mum in the kitchen.
“What news is that?” Pia asked.
“Decker was able to find quite a bit of information on the Medici diamond. Although before your illustrious family renamed it, it was known as the Heart of Eternity.”
“But it’s red,” said Pia.
Rile nodded. “The rarest color diamond in the world.”
“What else did Decker find out about it?” I asked.
He handed me a piece of paper, which I declined to take, so he handed it to Pia.
She skimmed it and then looked up at me and smiled.
“It says.” She cleared her throat. “The blood within the stone grows cold with hate. With love, it warms.”
“Is that all?”
Grinded (The Invincibles Book 3) Page 18
