A Moment on the Lips(61)

No answer.

Carenza never ignored her phone. Ever.

Prickles of unease darted down his spine.

He was supposed to be in a meeting in less than five minutes. An important meeting. Something that would have a huge effect on the franchising.

But no way could he leave Carenza alone in what could well turn into a seriously nasty situation. What the hell had she been thinking? That Mancuso would simply say, ‘OK, so you caught me, I’ll stop now’? It looked as if the man had been systematically taking a cut from Tonielli’s, with nobody to check him; Gino’s accountant was clearly either incompetent or in on the deal. And it was unlikely that Mancuso would take it well when Carenza confronted him with the evidence.

Dante raked a hand through his hair. If he rang Mancuso and she wasn’t there, it would give the man enough warning to help him cover his tracks and lie his way out of it. But if she was there, then why the hell wasn’t she answering her phone? Had Mancuso done something to her? His stomach turned to water at the idea of her being hurt. Carenza. So bright and sweet—and so damn vulnerable.

He had to go and find her. Now. There was no real choice.

His lawyer was waiting for him when he cut the connection on his phone.

‘Vittorio, you’ll have to do this without me,’ he said. ‘That, or get them to postpone—something important’s come up and I have to go.’

‘Rachele’s all right? Your mother? Fiorella?’

Interesting that his lawyer had mentioned his sister first, Dante thought. They’d talk about that, later—but right now Carenza had to come first. ‘They’re fine. Sorry, I don’t have time to explain. I have to go.’

The bike was going to be quicker than a taxi at this time of night. Decision made, he strode into his garage—not caring that he was wearing a business suit, because there wasn’t time to change—jammed his motorcycle helmet on his head, and took off for Mancuso’s office.

This would prove to Dante that she knew what she was doing, Carenza thought. He’d said that she needed to gather her evidence. She had—and from more than one source. And her instincts had been right on the money, too; she had proof now that Mancuso had been at the bottom of this all the way along. And hadn’t Dante said that he’d rather she called with solutions than with problems?

She could do this. Prove her worth as a businesswoman.

It made her angrier and angrier as she reached the shop, but she kept a lid on her temper. Yelling was going to get her nowhere. She had to stay calm and deal with the facts. Show Emilio Mancuso that she knew what he’d done and it was going to have to stop right now.

As she walked into his office Mancuso looked up. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you at this time of night.’

No, she’d just bet he wasn’t. But she wasn’t going to rise to the bait and protest that she worked longer hours than he did. It wasn’t relevant. ‘We need to talk.’

There was a mocking glint in his eye. ‘Ah, so you realise now that you can’t manage the business?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘I can manage, all right. But there’s a problem that needs sorting.’

‘And you’re expecting me to sort it?’

‘Actually,’ she said quietly, ‘you are the problem. I know what you’ve been doing. You’ve been creaming off money through the supplier.’

‘What are you talking about?’

Oh, he was good. A few weeks ago, that wide-eyed look of shock might have fooled her. But she knew how to read figures and spot trends, thanks to Dante’s help. ‘I have proof.’

He sneered at her. ‘You know nothing.’

‘Actually, I do.’ She outlined exactly how he’d done it. ‘And I have the paperwork to prove it.’

Mancuso folded his arms. ‘You’re bluffing, or you would’ve called the police.’

‘I’m not bluffing.’ She took the papers from the box file. ‘It’s all here. Plus the information they helpfully faxed over to me.’ She stared at him unflinchingly. ‘You deserve to be in jail for ripping off someone who trusted you, for putting the jobs of all your colleagues at risk just because of your own greed. But I don’t want Nonno knowing how you betrayed his trust. So here’s the deal. You go now—and you tell Nonno it’s because you want to set up on your own—or I take the files to the police and let them deal with you.’