Page 321 of The Devil's Fire

“And why would you do that? A magnet would have done the job just fine to disconnect any signal.”

“I didn’t want to take any chances.” I shrugged.

“We underestimated the bastard.” Antonio sighed, and I nodded in agreement. Gaetano was an eager man, and his eagerness knew no bounds. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

“I still don’t understand how he got Koreans to work for him. They don’t work with anyone.” Raffaele pondered.

I rubbed my jaw as I examined the pictures of the ones we had identified.

“Michael.” They both looked at me when I let out a humorless chuckle. “It’s that shitface, Michael.” I said as I looked at Antonio.

“When you were with her at Gaetano’s house, she went with Michael to Koreatown. He must have some kind of contact with Koreans.”

“That’s fucked up. Didn’t they grow up together, and now he’s trying to kill her?” Raffaele scoffed.

I took another look at the pictures while they discussed. I grabbed a particular one as I examined it.

“… I’m going to stuff a knife up his ass -”

“Michael is not trying to kill Althaia.” I cut off Raffaele. “He might be being used.”

“How can we be sure of that?” Raffaele asked.

“Because he’s in love with her.” I revealed. Althaia had told me everything about it at the safe house, not wanting to keep any secrets from me.

“I fucking knew it.” Antonio scoffed.

I put the pictures in order on the table for them to see.

“The drive-by shooting at the church, Michael, was not there. At some point, Gaetano disappeared and left his men behind as a show for us. Roberto said he had a random phone slipped into his bag when he was trapping the streets. It was most likely Michael who did it or had someone else do it to avoid getting caught.”

“It would make sense. Michael is respected on the streets, and he’s deeply connected.” Antonio commented.

“Shit. Gaetano tried to kill Althaia so soon?” Raffaele frowned as he focused on the pictures.

“No. That was aimed at us. She just happened to stand in the way, but he didn’t care. If I hadn’t gotten to her in time, she would have been shot in the head.” I clenched my jaw as I remembered just how close she was to get a bullet in her head.

“My guess is Michael’s the one who has contact with Koreans, but he has been unaware of what jobs they were hired to do. Gaetano needed people who couldn’t be traced back to him, and they were all hired through Michael. He doesn’t ask questions and makes sure the job is done. That would explain the bastard who attacked Althaia in the hotel.” I explained.

“And he made sure he wouldn’t be able to speak because he knew he would get caught. The pictures hung on the wall were a message; to let us know she was being watched.” Antonio finished my thought.

“That tongueless bastard was caught off guard when he saw Althaia and thought he could finish her.” Raffaele said, understanding how it was all connected now.

“Most likely. Gaetano has been keeping us busy while he blackmailed Jacinta into laundering money for him, leaving her no choice but to comply, especially with Althaia staying with him.”

I continued to explain my thoughts on how it was all connected: from the increased non-traceable phone calls Jacinta received, to the boutique being used for laundering money, and then burning it down to eliminate any evidence left behind.

“Jacinta knew he was going to come after her once he was done using her; that’s why she bought that property in Greece to flee with Althaia, but he attacked sooner than expected.” I finished.

“He is one sick bastard… He must know Althaia is not his daughter. Or maybe she is, but he doesn’t care because he wants to get revenge on Jacinta for leaving him.” Raffaele wondered out loud.

“Whatever it is, we’re putting an end to it. I’m going to fucking skin him alive for everything he did.” I wanted to get my hands on him, make him suffer for all the pain he caused Althaia.

For killing the life we had created inside of her.

“Until then, I still want a DNA test to make sure. What’s the status on her?” I asked Antonio.

“She won’t talk.”

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