“You’re taking her out of town?” Johnny stares at me across the desk in my penthouse office. It’s late. Or early, depending on how you look at it. He looks as haggard as I feel, and I’m pissed at him for even being here.
“Yes, I’ve already said that. Now tell me why we can’t have this conversation over the phone so you can be home with your wife?”
“Because,fratello, Bianca told me if I hover over her any more I’m going to be the one who ends up dead.”
“She does have a lot of sharp knives.” I grin when Johnny curses at me, but instantly sober when I ask, “She’s okay? And the baby?”
“Both are doing fine,meno male. The doctor said Bianca just needs some rest and there’s no reason to worry about the baby.”
“Thank God, brother. Thank God.”
Johnny drags a hand down his face and I look away, giving him some privacy to get his emotions in check. When he’s ready he continues, “I also got word from Bruce. He’s learned something from that balaclava-wearing asshole and he’s coming here to report. I want to know what he’s found out.”
“And how many bones he’s broken?”
Johnny gives me a dark grin. “Obviously. When we’re done here, I might go break some myself.”
I’m right there with him. Bruce has been torturing the man who attacked Bianca and Lena all night, extracting as much information from him as possible before we dump his broken body into the river. But knowing Bruce is making him beg for his life isn’t the same thing as doing it ourselves.
Despite Lena’s promise to follow the rules and stay in the apartment (afterthe fucking trip out of town she negotiated), the vise around my chest hasn’t loosened. It takes seeing the pained, vicious look on Johnny’s face to realize what I’m feeling. It’s rage at the person who dared hurt my woman and fear it will happen again.
Beating the shit out of the man locked beneath one of our clubs won’t make the feeling go away, but it’ll sure as hell help. “You should pay that fucker a visit,” I tell my friend. “Inflict some pain for me as well. I won’t have time to make it over before leaving.”
“Yeah, back to that—where the fuck are you two going?”
“Her aunt’s place.”
“The one that burned down?”
“The one that burned down.” I scroll through the police report open on my laptop. I tapped one of my connections on the force to get my hands on it. “The investigation is still in the preliminary stages. Nothing much for the cops to go on other than it looks like a gas leak was to blame.”
“Or made to look that way.”
“Exactly.” I lean back in my chair, meet the level look of my number two. “Lena wants to go out and look for herself.”
“That’s a crazy fucking idea. A horrible one, too.”
“Maybe, but the woman killed, Mable Fisher, she was Lena’s last living family member. I understand her need to go. She won’t be able to rest until she feels like she’s donesomething to help her aunt. Even if it’s just look around the house and tell the cops if anything’s missing.”
“She thinks it could be a robbery?”
“No,” I say. “Deep down, she knows it’s something more. But she’s exhausted and stressed and grieving so I’m not going to question what she says and I’m going to take her out there and act as her own personal fucking bodyguard and make sure she gets back here in one piece.Thenlock her in the penthouse until this shit is sorted once and for all.”
Johnny cocks his head, considering what I’ve said. “That’s uncharacteristically considerate of you, boss.”
“Fuck off. It’s the least I can do for my soon-to-be-wife.”
Johnny sits up straight in his chair. “Wait, I thought the engagement was a farce, a protective tactic. I mean, I know you two are fucking and all?—”
“We’re not fucking.” Not yet, anyway. I jab a finger in his direction. “Not that it’s any of your fucking business.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Johnny brushes away my comment. “Whatever the sex situation, you’re saying you’re going to marry her? For real? You, second-in-line for the Cerreti crime family, one of the most sought-out matches by power-hungry fathers, from allies and rivals alike. Fuck, rumor has it that various Cosa Nostra and Camorra bosses have their sights set on you for their daughters. The most lethal ‘Ndranghetamaestro di giornatain the new world. You’re going to say fuck off to all of them and marry Lena, the one woman who couldn’t be more off-limits if she tried? You’re going to do this for real?”
There are so many reasons I should say no. I shouldn’t want this woman. Shouldn’t love how well she fits against my body or how turned on I get when she’s being defiant. I shouldn’t marvel at her bravery or ache to be the one she runs to first when she needs help.
Marrying Lena will enrage my brother. Will make Aldo homicidal. Neither will trust her. Not now, maybe not ever.
But fuck me, I trust her. Twice now I’ve questioned Lena about her job and her possible ties to the Pagano family and both times her answers have confirmed what I’ve surmised for weeks: she’s not doing any of the things Aldo and Ari suspect her of doing.