Page 95 of Scarlet Angel

“Messenger. Dammit, Nick. You should listen when I speak. I wish it hadn’t come to this.” He steps to the door, and I glance back at the drawer in my desk. “Don’t bother running. Or holding services. They won’t buy it.”

He and his father were suspicious of Leo Sullivan’s funeral. That’s why he showed up that day. Why the suspicion? What do they know? Dorian wouldn’t come at me unless his father pushed him.

“Are you ever going to stand up to your father?”

He fumbles with the lock on the door. With a huff, he turns. “You locking me in?”

“What would Caroline think of you now?” I step to the panel and press the button. The shades lift, and the door unlocks.

He shoves his hands into his pockets and swivels. “Mentioning my ex isn’t the slam dunk you think it is.”

“I liked you better when she was with you.”

He steps into the hallway and holds up his hand, his middle finger noticeably higher than the others.

“Perhaps I’ll give Caroline a call. Check in.” It’s a bluff. Haven’t talked to her in years.

“Do what you like.”

“What do you think she’d say about you selling me out?”

“She never liked you.”

“That’s punchy. And false.” Caroline loved me.

He stops at the front door.

“Why are you doing this?” If I’m reading him right, he’s exasperated. “Let the Italians have Scarlet Gagliano. Bringing in Interpol was beyond the pale. None of us welcome an investigation. Call it a day.”

“You mean a man up for chief of staff shouldn’t be associated with an international drug smuggling operation?” His calculating expression says he’s trying to determine my information source. “Yes, I track American politics.”

He’s on the shortlist to replace the current chief of staff who is reportedly on the outs with the current president.

“There’s no connection to me,” he insists. “As I told you, I’m here as a messenger. The others, they don’t like it.”

“By others, you mean your father.”

“If you thwart the investigation, that will suffice. The investigation will pull in too many. Multiple stakeholders. If this keeps going, it’ll set off more investigations. No one wants it. Just hand her over and call it a day. You made your point. The Italians are permanently weakened. No one’s going to fuck with you from here on out. If you want, hand her over to me. I’ll take care of it.”

“This is where you leave my home.”

He turns his back, full of trust I won’t blow his brains out.

I watch him carefully, grateful I’m not armed or else it might be quite tempting to shoot.

“You’re making a mistake,” he warns once again before closing the car door.

I watch as he drives away. Then I step up to the panel and press a button to reach the front gate.

“Let the Rover out, then no one else comes in.”

“Yes, sir. Copy.”

I flick the screen to activate the image. “Farrow.”

“Yes?”

“Were you on when Moore came through?”

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