Page 79 of Mob Bride

But don’t do it in a way that endangers me.

I pull myself out of my own thoughts and back to the conversation when Shane’s voice permeates my fog of war.

“Who was Bartlomiej doing the deal with? Which one of theCosa Nostrathought to strike out on their own without Salvatore finding out?”

“Vicenzo Girgenti.”

I recognize this voice as Dillan’s. He responds to Shane, and the disgust is evident with every word.

“He’s trying to one-up Salvatore and prove Boston’s still a contender for East Coast power among any of the syndicates, but especially theCosa Nostra.”

“And he’s a fucking fool.” That quip comes from Finn.

Cormac speaks up with news that’s useful. “I’ve got more texts coming in right now. It looks like Bartlomiej’s headed back to his plane without completing the deal. He’s still out whatever product he was going to buy from the bratva, which means he’s still out the product he was going to sell the Armenians. Now whatever deal he had going with theCosa Nostrajust went to shite. He’s certainly not having a pleasant month. It’s a good thing you got Carys out while you could. I can only imagine his temper right now, and he’s going to unleash Jacek on the world, so he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty.”

There’s a lull for a moment. Then Shane speaks up again.

“I still want him at the station. The moment he returns, have some guys at the airport scoop him up. I don’t want Salvatore or Maks getting a chance at him before I do.”

I recognize Sean’s voice when he asks his twin a question. “Do we let Salvatore and Maks know why you get priority? They’re going to find out about Carys eventually, if they haven’t already. They’d understand and give him to you if we did.”

“No, I’m not ready to put Carys in the center of anybody’s radar until we know what they know about her already. It’s not worth bringing attention to her yet.”

What the fuck does that mean? It’s not worth bringing attention to me. As in, he doesn’t see me sticking around that long?

He obviously thinks I’m worth some protection, or I wouldn’t be here. But he wants to keep me a secret because I’m not worththe effort? I know I could interpret that a couple other ways, but it still stings if that’s the case. I thought I already meant more to him than that.

If I don’t, then why am I risking my job?

You’re being overly sensitive, Carys.

I’m certain he means it’s not worth endangering me by having the bratva orCosa Nostraexamine me too closely. That’s the reasonable explanation. That’s what I’m going with.

“If he’s headed back, then it’ll only be a couple hours before he gets here, assuming his plane’s refueled and ready to go quickly, and he’s not sticking around for anything else.”

That voice sounded a lot like Cormac, but not exactly. Maybe it’s Seamus. He’s been quiet the entire time. I wonder what his mountainous cousin thinks about all this.

If I were part of the conversation, I’d be able to ask, but I’m not, so I can’t. There’s another lull while I think everybody contemplates what’s going on.

“I’ll send Joey to round him up with some other guys.”

“Thanks, Finn, but I’d rather it not be Joey. I don’t want to put him in the line of fire right now because Bartlomiej’s already going to be more pissed off than a shaken hive. I’d rather it be someone we know can get the job done but isn’t as valuable as Joey.”

Holy fuck. Shane means someone who’s expendable. I really just listened to him say he doesn’t care if somebody dies. Not true. He cares if Joey does, but it means they have men they don’t care about. That’s something to work my mind around, even though I’ve felt similarly as far as CIs are concerned. I’ve just never been so blasé about it. It’s always made me think twice before putting them in danger. Shane says it as though he’s ordering orange juice with breakfast.

This is part of the man I know he doesn’t want me to see. This is all the more reason he took this call inside his office, wherehe wanted to keep me away from it. I don’t know what to do because a tiny part of my conscience is still niggling at that, but he’s also doing all of this—or at least partly—for my sake. I can’t ignore he’s putting my life ahead of somebody else’s, so he can’t be entirely detached from me.

I guess he really wants to protect me by not putting me on the other syndicate’s radar.

“Sean, any hits on the Colombians? Are they blissfully ignorant, or are they watching from the sidelines?”

Shane turns his questions toward his brother, and it’s the same thing I just wondered. I hadn’t thought about the Cartel at first, but now I wonder why I haven’t heard their names in this at all yet.

“Enrique seems preoccupied with some stuff right now, but I haven’t figured out what yet. He’s been laying low lately, and I don’t think Pablo’s interested. He has the shite with the Ecuadorians and Brazilians down there to deal with. Some issues with supply chain management.”

I hear laughter at that comment. I’m not sure what the insider part of that is, but clearly the Colombians aren’t getting all the ingredients they need for their drug production. That ought to pique my interest, but I can’t say that it does. I’m actually surprisingly indifferent to it right now.

It’s hardly my priority to figure out the next syndicate to stake out. Normally, this would be something I’d tell my bosses right away. However, I’m not feeling very forthcoming with them right now. I’m tucking that little nugget away for a rainy day. It might be my ticket to freedom from the agency at some point, so I won’t give it up yet.

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