Page 97 of Falling for the Enemy

“Si, you do that. I don’t know what you have in mind, and I don’t care either. But you fix this, Alejandro, because I can’t…”

She shakes her head, tears once more spilling down her cheeks. “I lost both Papá and Mamá, then was ripped away from you. I can’t lose one of my bebés too. I’ve been down that road and I won’t survive it a second time.”

Pulling free of my hold, she returns to Jade and kisses her forehead, the loving expression she wears a replica of one our mother always used to wear.

I swing my gaze to Ari.

“Hermosa, stay with Casper and Anna. I’ll find out what Benito knows.” Hopefully, I can do so without killing him. “Then we’ll respond accordingly.”

The look she gives me is pointed.

“Don’t hurt him.”

My hand fists.

She and my sister have me by the huevos. If they want Benito’s life spared, then it will be done. But if he fucks up one more time, it’s lights out. I should just send him back to Colombia. It would put an end to everything.

The plan is a regretful yet solid one.

Soon, I’ll put it in motion.

* * *

La Famiglia tried to kill my niece.

The particular truth is clear as I stare into the lifeless eyes of Enzo DeMeo, Stefano’s youngest son, from where his corpse rests in Javier’s plastic sheet-lined trunk, his face maimed by a single bullet hole to the temple.

“Did you get any information from him?”

Javier shakes his head. “No. He came close to losing me three times when I gave chase so I took him out before he made it into the city and escaped for good.”

I drop my head back and stare up at the blue sky. It’s one dead end after another with La Famiglia. Manzana and I both have money on the street, the reward for Stefano’s head reaching well over seven figures, but we can’t flush him out.

Like a cockroach, he hides well.

“What did you do with his car?”

“I pushed it into a ravine after I shot him and he crashed,” he replies, rocking back on his heels. “The bottom was covered with kudzu vines. It disappeared immediately. I assure you, no one will ever find it.”

His answer is good enough for me.

“Did you search it before disposing of it?” I slam the trunk closed before someone glimpses the dark secret that’s concealed inside. “Perhaps there was something—”

He takes my hand and turns it over before slapping a black phone into my palm. “There was.” Smiling like a fool, he points to the cell. “It’s not even locked. No passcode required.”

Again, how estúpido can they be?

“Stefano’s number is saved in the contacts.”

Beside me, Benito scrubs his hands down his face. I have yet to speak to him regarding Jade, but the conversation is coming.

Quickly.

“Maybe we should just call the hijo de puta and set up a meeting,” he says. “When he shows, we’ll slit his throat.”

The half-cocked plan will never work.

Except, maybe it’s just loco enough that it will.

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