Page 41 of Finding Love

“As much as you don’t want to talk about this…” I growl at my brother, “… we need to. Somebody tipped Vitali off to that Hamptons trip. It sure as hell wasn’t me, and there weren’t very many people who knew about it. I can think of a few beyond the people in this room now. I sure as hell hope Mama and Guilia would keep it to themselves. Nico too.”

“Did you speak to anyone else, Dante?” Papa asks in a quiet, almost gentle voice like he has to coddle the precious baby.

“Yes, underboss. Did you?” I echo. The ice bucket is open on the bar, and I drop what’s left of my makeshift ice pack inside before flexing my hand. “I would like to hear about any conversations you might’ve had.”

“Am I supposed to be threatened?” Dante asks. His chest puffs out farther, to the point where I worry about the buttons on his shirt popping off and flying around the room. The obnoxious shit.

The sight of his pompous bullshit makes my blood boil and burns away any last scrap of self-control for Papa’s sake. “Who did you talk to, Dante?” I demand, charging at him and taking him by his collar to haul him in close. He bares his teeth, eyes hard and gleaming, and his lips sealed.

Papa stands, slamming his hands on the desk. “If the two of you don’t stop this shit right the fuck now—” His warning is interrupted by the loud ringing from my phone. I made sure to turn the volume up in case an important call comes through, and now the sound jangles loudly enough for all of us to cringe.

It’s enough to make me release Dante, anyway. I pull the phone from my pocket. It’s Bruce calling, and the fact that he’s scheduled to guard Emilia’s apartment tonight makes my heart clench before I answer. “What happened? What’s wrong?” I bark out.

Bruce sputters. “I was just checking in now that I’m on my way back.”

“Back from where?” I ask him, turning away from Dante now that something more important has grabbed my attention. “You weren’t supposed to finish your shift until midnight.”

“Yeah, but that cop guy showed up and said he had his own guys coming in, and I could leave, so I left.”

I turn to the others, puzzled. “Craig called him off. Said he was using his own guys.”

“Since when does Craig make that kind of call?” Dante looks at me, but I have no answers.

“I’m gonna fucking call him and ask him right now.” Like I need this shit. He doesn’t decide who sits outside that apartment or when they do it.

“Wait!” Dante shouts, grabbing me by the shoulders as I end the call with Bruce. All the arrogance is gone, wiped from his face. “Motherfucker. I told him! I told him you two were in the Hamptons when he asked me how Emilia was fitting in around here.”

His words land like a ton of bricks, flattening me, filling me with sickening dread. “He knew?”

His hands clamp down, almost crushing my joints, but I hardly feel it. “Oh, shit,” he whispers, shaking his head. “I swear to God, I didn’t think about it until now. I swear, Luca. I remember he asked a question, and I answered on reflex.”

Craig knew we were in the Hamptons.

Craig pulled Emilia’s detail without checking in.

He’s with her. He has to be.

“How long has it been since you left her?” I demand as soon as the bubble of shock pops and reality rushes in to fill the void. I’m already running for the door before Bruce answers.

“Maybe ten minutes ago?” he replies. “I’m on the road now.”

“Get your ass back there!” I shout, sprinting down the hall with Cesco and Dante on my heels. “Go straight up to the apartment and kick the fucking door down if you have to. Do not leave until I get there. Understood?”

Dante meets me as I reach my car. “We could call the cops. They’ll get there faster than we will.”

“And tell them what?” I counter as I throw myself behind the wheel. “A former detective might be in danger from a current detective on our payroll? And how would we know that? There’s no fucking way to explain this. He’d talk his way out of it, anyway.”

“It could save her,” he argues.

Now he’s concerned with saving her? I’d laugh if I had it in me. “If one of the other guys we pay gets word the cops were called out to her address, he could kill her to shut her up before they arrive,” I fire back. The thought makes me sick, but I can’t push it out of my head. Why didn’t I see it? Why didn’t I question his loyalty?

“We could make it in a half hour at this time of night,” Cesco points out. He doesn’t have the back door closed before I’m peeling away from the house at top speed. Thirty minutes? I’ll make it twenty, if that.

“I’ll try Craig,” Dante suggests, already on his phone. The guys at the gate barely get it open in time for me to fly through. His angry grunt comes as no surprise. “No answer.”

“Here…” I hand him my phone. “… try Emilia. Keep trying her.”

I slam my foot down on the gas, ignoring the blaring horns from other vehicles as I swerve through light traffic. “Bruce will get there,” I grit out through clenched teeth as my heart thuds in my ears. “Then, we will.”

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