Page 69 of To Have and To Hold

My body tingled. It was unreal to be discussing this with a friend. “He did. He proposed on the beach last night.” I wiggled my fingers. “No ring until we have both the cartel’s and famiglia’s approval.”

“You live withel Patr?n. Has he given the cartel’s approval?”

I nodded.

Her smile grew. “Hey, if you need another alibi, I’m your go-to.”

“Thank you.”

Liliana stood and walked to the door. “I’m one hundred percent in favor of this marriage.”

“You are? Why?”

“Because if you marry Em, you’ll move to San Diego permanently, and we won’t lose you here at the apartments.”

“I like it here more than I could have imagined.”

The rest of the day moved slowly. I watched YouTube videos about filing grant applications. That was enthralling. I worked on the program and ate lunch with Liliana and other tenants in the cafeteria. I was beginning to know all the tenants’ names and faces. The spreadsheet helped. I guessed I was a visual learner. Seeing their names spelled out helped me retain the information.

It was after four when my phone rang. It was my mother.

Chapter

Twenty-Six

Emiliano

It was near five o’clock on the West Coast, and I still hadn’t received an answer from the capo.

Since Isabella’s and my secret relationship wasn’t a secret, after a day of assessing our chiefs, I decided to detour to the apartments, hoping to catch Isabella before she left. The image of her beautiful face mouthing ‘faith’ played on repeat in my thoughts.

As I neared my exit, the alarms began to sound. The blaring wasn’t cautioning me of an incoming tsunami, rapidly growing wildfire, or any other natural disaster. The sound was my phone exploding with messages.

Andros Ivanov’smen are here.

Volkov knows they’re in San Diego.

Volkov is in San Diego

We have to move NOW.

Fuck.

Taking the first exit I came to, I reentered the interstate, changing directions and heading south toward the large warehouse.

As I fought traffic on the 5, new concerns filled my mind. We weren’t ready. Moving now was too early. The raid was scheduled for Monday on the bratva hideout we’d learned about through Adrian—Andros Ivanov’s man. We needed time to strategize with our Detroit bratva counterparts. My thoughts raced back to Isabella.

I called Horace.

He answered on the second ring. “Lieutenant?”

“Have you seen the messages?”

“Sí. I’m waiting on word what to do with Miss Luciano.”

Rage boiled within me. If anything happened to her…

She wouldn’t be top of mind to anyone but me. I gripped my phone tighter. “Don’t leave the apartments. You and José spend the night, increasing the guards. Call trusted soldiers. Don’t tell them what’s happening. Just get more outside coverage.”

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