Page 52 of Broken Vows

“How do you even clean a billion euros?” Dominic groans. “It’s a money laundering nightmare.”

“All I know is Franco has a plan, and her stepbrother, Vincenzo Trapani, has sold her out.” I bet it’s because she refused to marry him. I can see that happening. I’d love to meet the fucker in person.

“That’s brutal. Imagine selling out your sisters,” Luca says as he leans on the table. “So, we have something Franco wants. He’ll have to come here to get it.”

“Exactly. He won’t be able to fly over a massive security detail and will want men for hire on this side.” I nod in Benedict’s direction. “You are an unknown entity, to be honest. You literally live underground, so it would make sense for you to head this fake operation.”

“Geez, thanks, Fanny,” Benedict says.

“You’re welcome, Benny.” I suppress a smirk as he rolls his eyes.

“Let’s hear your plan then, Steph,” Matteo says as he leans back in his chair.

This is how we made Randazzo’s assassination happen. This time, we’re going to invite the fucker in, just like Randazzo had invited Matteo into his sanctuary. Despite being the Don, Matteo defers to me here, and I appreciate the respect and trust.

This idea has been brewing for the past few days, but I need my brothers’ input to see how we can catch Franco Fiore and reel him in.

“Benedict will set up a security company on the dark web that runs on the east coast, men for hire with solid track records, reputations, references, the whole shebang.”

Benedict cocks a brow as Dominic wipes at his jaw.

“And then?” Dominic asks.

“Then we make sure it’s Benedict’s men Franco hires when he comes to town.”

“And he basically walks into a trap, and we get to finish him off,” Matteo concludes.

“Yep.”I’llfinish Franco off. Gigi will be my wife. I’ve seen what he’s done to her, so I’ll kill him with my bare hands if that’s what it takes. “There can be some bait and switch?—”

“Bait and switch?” Luca laughs. “We’re not twelve anymore, Steph. Plus, there’re more things that differentiate us now.”

“To us, yes, but I bet both Gigi and Carla still don’t know us apart when we’re dressed the same.”

“Too many variables there,” Dominic says. “But if we put our minds to it, we can probably control most of them.”

“Franco might not bring many of his own men, but he might also hire in Europe and fly in some back-up we won’t be aware of.”

“I’ll expect nothing less. Benedict, you’re going to have to put your whole team on this one to make sure we’re ahead where we can be.”

“Sure thing.”

I glance around the table. I’ve laid out the basic plan—now we’ll brainstorm until we’ve come up with the foolproof one. “Before Franco even knows he’s going to need a local team, we need to bait him with Gigi and Carla’s presence here. We need to control the knowledge of their whereabouts to such a point where their location is only revealed once we’re ready.”

“You’re actually going to use those two women to lure Franco over to Boston?” Dominic’s tone makes it clear he doesn’t like it at all.

“How else?” I say, not happy with it either. “Gigi is what Franco wants. He’ll come for her.”

“And why won’t he send a hired hand to do it for him?” Matteo asks. “Would be easier, and cleaner.”

“Because he doesn’t want her dead,” I say, the mere idea like a punch in the gut. “Franco needs Gigi alive.” We all know how this works. How things go wrong. It’s a risk, but I’ve thought long and hard about it, and I don’t see any other way around it. “Whatever happens, neither Gigi nor Carla can know our game plan.”

“Really, Steph.” Dominic groans. “There must be another way.”

“They could stay hidden forever, or we can do this and get it over with. How long do you need to set things up, Benedict?” I ask, wanting to dig into details and not into the way everything can go wrong.

Benedict rakes his hands through his hair. “I could have this up and running in two weeks, for sure. I already have a few trusted guys in mind to help us set this up.”

Yep, that’s Benedict: an octopus, camouflaged, but with tentacles reaching far into the underbelly of our world.

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