Page 65 of Make You Mine

“She did… Are you a friend of my daughters?”

She shakes her head. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

I turn to her, fully taking her in. She looks so familiar, like someone I used to know, but I just can’t quite place it. “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

Her delicate hand extends to shake mine. “Ashley Castrovinci…or more recently known as Ashley Santini.”

My nephew’s bride. “I haven’t seen you since you were just a young child. You look just like your mother.”

Isabelle and my Nicole were very close when they were younger. Wherever they went, their undeniable beauty was always the talk of any made-man’s conversation.

She smiles kindly. “Thank you.”

“Sorry for the loss of your father-in-law,” I say, even though I don’t mean a word of it.

“I’m not,” she says blatantly, and confusion mars my face. Then, I remember another important piece to this puzzle. Trent Manning, one of The Saint’s current prospects, and the man hopelessly in love with Junior Santini’s beautiful wife.

Ashley’s tone changes as she looks at me more seriously. “Listen, I’m going to cut to the chase. I knew you’d be here tonight when I saw your daughter’s name on the production. And I have a favor to ask of you.”

Now my interest is extremely piqued. I nod toward a quiet corner, and she follows me over to the velvet bench.

“What is this favor?” Briefly, I wonder if Trent has contacted her, but he made me a promise he wouldn’t do that until he had my clearance.

“I remember the talks of you when I was younger. Leaving your family, breaking free of the family… And I need your help so I can do the same.”

I close my eyes. Shit, I should have known this was coming.

She pushes forward, not wanting to lose me. “There are two major secrets I know of his. I just need to find a way to prove it.”

My eyes meet her blue ones. “Go on…”

“Well, are you going to help me?” she asks, and my respect for this girl grows by the second.

“I’m going to try. Is that good enough?”

She nods. “Not only is he profiting off money that is supposed to be distributed back to Italy. Which, by the way, he uses his strip club,Sinners, to do so. He’s also selling Fentanyl, boatloads of it, as another way to make a profit behind the mafia’s back. Only his underboss and most trusted capos know about this.”

For some reason, I instantly trust this woman, and that’s no easy feat. But I still need to ask, “And how do you know?”

“Because he thinks so little of me and my intelligence, he’s fucking sloppy, and I take every chance I can to take advantage of that.”

“Can you come to the showing next week?” I ask in regard to my daughter’s next off-Broadway play.

She nods again, a glimmer of hope in her eyes I didn’t see before.

“Meet me here during the first intermission, and I’ll bring you a phone so we can keep in touch.”

I know Trent deserves to hear all of this. After he saw me attempt to call Ashley earlier, I had every intention of telling him then. But Micah ran out, saying Santini had her, and his mind was on one thing—getting to her. But he needs to hear this. I want him to be calm, and his emotions are too all over the place for me to do that now… I’ll explain it during the helicopter ride.

The other phone in my pocket vibrates, and I pull it out just as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

Unknown Number

You know what happened to Nicole when you didn’t fight for her. If you don’t want history to repeat itself, you better come get her.

The words affect me more than I want to admit.

But she’s alive.

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