Page 134 of Vicious Little Princess

“It’s not concerning that. I’ve been trying to determine why the hell Joe interfered with the Shawn Price takedown. I know you told me to put it on the back burner, because you thought I was juggling enough as it was with manipulating the upcoming raids of Marchetti and Leone gambling dens and strip clubs, leaking amassed evidence to key influential figures backing Santino to break those connections, and also infiltrating and rerouting funds across Leone Family accounts.”

“Jeez, he was obviously right about you juggling a lot,” I said.

“I know, but Joe’s involvement had been nagging at me. So I’ve been looking into it while working on the rest. I managed to identify all the buyers and partners connected to Shawn Price’s trafficking business. I put tabs on them, monitoring their activity, and the alert basically signaled me that they’ve gone dark. All of them. They’re dead.”

“What?” Milo uttered.

“It’s Joe,” she explained. “He’s killed them all, wiped out all connections to Price and that operation.”

“To ensure it couldn’t be revived even with the Price and Wharton aspect annihilated?” I asked.

“That sort of business does make him sick to his stomach, but he’s also not a benevolent guardian angel operating out of the goodness of his own heart,” Cat said. “There’s got to be more to it.”

“And you think whatever it is has something to do with us?” Nico asked.

“Something that can impact us, yes. There’s something I’m missing, a connection I can’t make. I’ve reached out to him in our usual covert way, but he’s not responding.”

“Too busy on his murder missions,” I grunted.

“We’ll deal with it after the strikes. We’ll all pull together to figure out what’s going on,” Nico said, shutting down his laptop and walking to her. He pressed his hand to her belly. “Right now, however, you need to get some rest. This little baby needs taking care of, Caterina.”

“And we’re making another doctor’s appointment too,” Milo said.

“All right,” she conceded. “Yes, to both those things. But first, I need to eat something really bad.” She looked out at me, pouting her lips.

“Yes, you can finish off my Maltesers,” I told her.

“You need something much more substantial than that,” Milo spoke.

“I will. In the morning. Just a snack for now.”

Milo eyed Nico for support.

“Let her have her snack. It’s clearly some sort of craving.”

“Fine,” Milo said. “Just for tonight.”

I chuckled and then the four of us headed on out of Nico’s office.

29

~Caterina~

“Raids are underway as we speak. Thirteen consecutive takedowns of Marchetti and Leone strip clubs and gambling dens,” I reported down the line to Nico, communicating with him via our COMMs as I sat up at the kitchen island in the Manor with my laptop.

It turned out that Remo had been playing down hispolice contacts.His asset had actually been the Assistant District Attorney, Clive Wilkins. That was a hell of a lot of power and it had been why the raids had been able to be organized so incredibly quickly.

I took another bite from the food Milo had made for me before he’d left. A frittata with feta and red peppers—a whole lot of protein and calcium, according to him. He’d also filled a massive bowl of my favored berries, so I was moving between them both.

I switched between the feeds I was watching of everything that was happening tonight with the multiple strikes and moves we were making, focusing on the surveillance footage by the Benzino’s chief meth lab.

“Cassio and his soldiers have arrived at the lab,” I reported next.

When there was still no response from Nico, I connected with Milo.

He was currently with Nico down by the warehouses on Nico’s territory, transporting their illicit goods off-territory.

“Status?” I spoke.

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