Free Pure Dead Frozen by Debi Gliori Page A

within earshot, “Dada smells horbil. Go ’way, stinky, yuck.”
    Stung, Luciano deposited his younger daughter on a nearby chair and turned his attention to Ludo.
    â€œYou’ll have heard our good news, then?”
    Ludo blinked several times, dragging his gaze away from Minty; this, he found to his dismay, appeared to require an unimaginable effort. “Er, ah…um,” he managed, and stopped to take a deep breath and try again. Fortunately, his training as a lawyer enabled him to talk fluently about one thing while thinking about something else entirely, and he pulled himself together, remembering the real reason he was here. “Delighted. Congratulations. You must be absolutely cock-a-hoop, old chap.” As he spoke, his mind was spinning off, down darker pathways. Despite the dizzying nearness of the young woman at his side, despite the faintest scent of lilies that she carried with her like an invisible bouquet, despite the fact that if he was stupid enough to let her slip out of his life, he would never be able to forgive himself…despite all of these, Ludo’s first responsibility was toward Luciano and his family. Today there would be no shooting lessons for Luciano, because Ludo had come to StregaSchloss to inform Luciano that time had run out.
    A known Italian associate of Luciano’s evil half brother, Don Lucifer, had been arrested in Bologna and charged with murder. Upon arrival in the police station, young Fabbrizio had taken one look at his future cellmates and had decided at that instant to repent and turn his back on a life of crime. One word in his jailer’s ear and he was escorted to a soundproofed cell and invited to spill the beans regarding the activities of his previous employer. Fabbrizio had recorded everything he knew about Don Lucifer di S’Embowelli Borgia onto a tape, a copy of which now nestled in the pocket of Ludo’s tweed jacket. This was the reason for the lawyer’s appearance at StregaSchloss that morning. Unaware that Ludo was the bearer of some very bad news indeed, Luciano smiled widely and crossed to the range to make coffee for his guest.
    â€œWe’re
all
thrilled about our new baby,” Luciano lied, blatantly ignoring Titus’s fisheyed expression, Pandora’s deep, meaningful sighs denoting terminal boredom, and Damp’s Beethoven-browed, bottom-lip-puckered pout. Spooning coffee beans into a grinder, Luciano continued, “I’m bringing Baci and Little No-Name back this afternoon, and rather than having a huge celebration now, we were thinking about holding a small party in about a fortnight’s time. I would hope that you’d be able to join us….” The rest of his words were drowned out by the clatter and whine of the coffee grinder.
    Ludo waited, keeping a tight leash on his urge to grab Luciano by the arm and scream, “For God’s sake, man. You don’t have time for parties, you don’t even have time for coffee. You need to take your family,
all
of them, away from here, out of Argyll—maybe even the U.K.—and get yourselves into hiding before your half brother’s hired assassins arrive on your doorstep.”
    Instead, Ludo forced himself to smile and wait as Luciano spooned ground coffee into the bottom half of an ancient espresso maker, wait and smile while he replaced the top half and screwed it down tight, smile and wait as Luciano placed it on the burner, took milk out of the fridge, found the cups in the china cupboard…. It felt like whole lifetimes had slid by before Ludo finally found himself alone with Luciano, upstairs in the study. Moving a pile of manuals, correspondence, and assembly instructions for exercise equipment to one side, Luciano offered Ludo a battered wing chair and perched himself on a stool before taking a deep gulp from his cup and extolling the coffee’s virtues.
    â€œDelicious. You can really taste the dark-roast