Page 96 of Dangerous Rhythm

Dean studied Curtis with an uneasy gaze. “I’m gonna try.”

“Lina,” Brandon called. “You know how he is. Tie him up, lock him in a room. Do whatever you can to keep him away from those people.”

Lina exchanged glances with Curtis. “I’ll watch his back,” she promised. “Nothing’s gonna happen to him.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Callie said.

“No, Callie,” Curtis said. “If anything happens to me, it won’t be anyone’s fault but mine.”

Lina looked at Curtis’ family and friends. If anything happen to Curtis, she could never face these people.

“I won’t let Serafina touch him,” Lina promised.

She'll have to kill me first.

“Lina, don’t—”

“It’s time. Say goodbye to your friends,” she cut him off. She knew he was trying to manage his sister’s pressure on her. But she didn’t need Callie or anyone else to remind her about her job. Even if Dean Rowland fired B&Y or her personally from Curtis’ details, she wouldn’t budge from his side.

He is mine. And no other woman—grieving mother or not—can have him.

After they terminated the call, Lina didn’t wait for Marcus or Ken to take the reins. This was her case, her man.

“Our mission is not just about keeping Curtis safe anymore. It’s about eliminating the threat.” Lina bore her gaze at her superiors. When they didn’t argue, she turned to Dean to see his reaction.

The man eyed Curtis thoughtfully, and Curtis told him, “I don’t want to run for the rest of my life.”

As CEO of the company for which Canis Major was one of the best assets, it’d make sense for Dean to not want to risk his talents. It’d be the smartest business move.

“How do we eliminate the threat?” Dean asked Lina instead.

“First, we need to learn everything about the Stilettos, find their weakest point, and see if we can use that to our advantage,” Lina said. “On our flight home, we studied what we had about the family, but I feel there are elements we’re missing.”

“Here’s what we know,” Ken started. “The Stilettos only got to the top of the ladder in their crime kingdom a generation ago with Tony Stiletto Sr. He was the lieutenant to John Bonetti—”

“Doesn’t Bonetti mean hat makers?” Curtis smirked. “No wonder they got taken over by the Stilettos.”

Lina’s lips twitched, trying not to smile. Of course Curtis would focus on that bit of trivia instead of the dreadful stuff those hatmakers had done in their days.

“You may be right, Curtis.” Ken didn’t bother to stifle his chuckle, but he sobered up fast. “Though the Bonettis owned the streets on the Lower East Side for decades, it was during John Bonetti’s leadership that they started losing ground. There was a power struggle, and Tony Stiletto Sr. came out on top because he bulldozed anyone standing on his path, including any Bonettis, young or old.”

“Ruthless,” Dean muttered in disgust.

As a businessman himself, Lina was sure Dean understood the reality of running a successful business. But she doubted Dean would’ve ordered a whole family to be slaughtered—literally or figuratively. From what she could tell from the way his company dealt with B&Y and how he personally showed up for Curtis today, Dean Rowland was a decent man. They could use more businessmen like him.

“So who is Serafina Stiletto?” Dean asked. “Sorry, I’m not literate in the New York crime business.”

“Serafina is Tony’s wife. When Tony died—from natural causes, believe it or not—she took over. She’s as, if not more, ruthless than Tony. Being a woman, she had to establish herpower fast. Her children were young at the time. Junior was still in middle school, I believe.

“Serafina expanded their businesses. See, these people are smarter than you think. They have a stake in almost everything—from trash removal, gambling, and pornography, to food industry. But that’s not all. They’re in real estate, construction, and I heard they’re getting into clean energy. The thing is, we may be dealing with them and we don’t even know it.”

“No kidding?” Curtis’ eyes went wide.

“Yeah,” Ken answered. “From what my team gathered, Tony Jr. is the one who’s gotten the Stilettos into these new ventures. Serafina kept her hold on the more traditional businesses—the gambling, the trash, anything that needed more of a…let’s just say, a firm hand. While Junior handles the rest.”

“Preparing to pass the reign,” Lina commented.

“I heard it’s not quite all rainbows and unicorns in that family,” Marcus added.

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