Page 48 of Texting Mr. Stranger

“A Gallo threatened her. He tried to kill me.” When Sofia’s expression turns scared and vulnerable, I almost regret telling her so bluntly. But I have to be honest with her, for once. “She’s here because if I let her go, they’ll try it again. This time, they won’t just threaten her. They’ll realize their mistake and finish the job.”

“Jesus,” Sofia whispers, shaking her head. “It’s all falling apart, isn’t it?”

I stand and walk around the table, leaning down and pulling her into my arms. She lets me pull her into a deep hug, wrapping her arms around me and laying her cheek against my chest.

“No,” I tell her firmly. “Nothing is falling apart. I’m going to fix all of this. One day—wait—you and Bella will play the world’s most beautiful duet together.”

“Really?” She leans back in my arms, looking up at me hopefully.

A nasty feeling hits me for a moment, but it’s there all the same. It’s the vulnerability in my sister’s face. It’s the childishness. Part of me wishesshehad to face the full force of this life, see the blood, and feel the responsibility.

Then, it goes just as quickly as it appeared. I’d die before I’d let that happen.

“Really,” I tell her.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asks.

“Maybe make sure they get dinner and anything else they need,” I say. “I have a feeling Mrs. Rossi won’t be too keen to see me.”

“Do we think they’ve made the connection between their missing man and the TNT shipment?” Marco says. His face is even paler than usual as if he’s contemplating what would’ve happened if the assassin had been successful.

“Not as far as we know,” Enzo says quietly, The Whisper keeping true to his name.

“How muchdowe know?” Elio says, arms folded as he leans against my office wall, his hair seeming wilder as he bobs his head as if to a tune only he can hear.

“Chatter,” Vito grunts, the big man looking ready for a fight. “Street is buzzing with talk of the shipment.”

“Trusted sources?” Enzo says.

Vito nods slowly. “Trusted … or scared of what I’ll do if they lie. They know they failed to get you, Don DeLuca, but Orlando is arrogant. He doesn’t think we have what it takes to outsmart him. He can’t believe it. He thinks he will swoop in and finish the job the rest of his Family started.”

“That’s good for us,” Enzo mutters. “If he thinks we’re fools, we’d be foolish to persuade him otherwise.”

“Hmm,” I nod. “How many numbers do we have at the docks?”

Elio nods, too, getting where I’m going straightaway. “Around twenty.”

“Pull fifteen away and put them on security for other businesses. As far as the Gallos are concerned, the docks are a low priority for us.”

“Ah,” Enzo says, smiling. “I see. They’ll think we’ve overreacted and played right into their hands. The reduced security will make it even easier for them to smuggle their filth.”

“Exactly,” I snarl. “But when they get there … I draw a line across my throat with my thumb.”

“A-fucking-men,” Vito growls.

After the meet, I drive home with Elio in the passenger seat. The sun has set after a day of busy meetings, making sure the Gallo rats haven’t hit any of our businesses and beefing up security as subtly as we can.

“By tomorrow midnight,” Elio says, “this will be over.”

“Let’s hope,” I say. “The last thing Bella needs is to live in this world one second longer than necessary.”

“This is about more than Bella and herfriend.”

I don’t say anything for a while, focusing on the road. Yet I can’t let go of how my brother’s voice hitched on the wordfriend.

“Her name’s Emily,” I say after a few minutes.

“Huh?”

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