Page 52 of Unhinged Little Angel

“No one other than the people at this table have access to this account, so if we don’t know where it’s coming from, that raises some red flags,” I add, even though I’m sure Lorenzo and Elio have already come to that conclusion themselves.

“I don’t like it,” Lorenzo agrees.

“Should we shut down the account?” Elio asks, looking at Lorenzo, who’s still glaring at the reports with a furrowed brow.

“Not to step on your dick or anything,” Sparrow says, leaning across the table with his hair falling over his forehead and his usual ballsy bravado, “but if you shut down the account, you won’t find out who hacked you or why.”

Lorenzo’s frown deepens. “You think you can find out where the transfer originated from?”

Sparrow shrugs. “Shouldn’t be that hard. Give me a few days?”

“A few days,” Lorenzo agrees with a hard edge of finality.

Sparrow gives him a lazy salute and sits back.

With a tired sigh that I’m not sure anyone else notices, Lorenzo passes the reports across the table to Sparrow and straightens his tie.

“Next order of business. Xaviaro, anything to report on Cian?”

“Not much.” There’s a reluctant twist in his expression as he answers. “He’s careful. Too careful. He never goes anywhere alone, sticks to noisy public places, buys rounds of drinks for the whole bar when he goes out. It’s almost like he’s trying to makesure he always has an alibi. If I had to bet on it, he’s definitely up to something, but I haven’t been able to get anything concrete.”

“Dante’s attacker had red hair,” I say when Xaviaro finishes.

Lorenzo’s eyebrows inch up his forehead. “You think it could have been Cian?”

“It’s possible. Or any one of the two dozen gingers running around doing Declan Fitzpatrick’s bidding.” I rub my hand along my jaw and bounce my knee under the table.

The icy chill that ripples through everyone at the table is almost palpable.

“If the Fitzpatricks are directly attacking our people, that’s a declaration of war.” Elio has always been the easygoing younger brother and second-in-command, but right now he sounds just like Lorenzo.

“Settle,” Lorenzo says firmly, his voice so low I almost can’t hear it over the din of the club. “We don’t know anything yet, and we’re not going to rush in guns blazing like a bunch of impulsive idiots. It is possible that there are people in Wildcliff with red hair who have no association with the Fitzpatricks, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Elio mutters, and Lorenzo gives a brief nod of satisfaction.

“I agree, the connection is suspicious. We’ll get to the bottom of it,” he says definitively, then looks at Xaviaro. “And we’ll start with Antonio. I trust you can incentivize him to share what he knows about Dante’s attack.”

“No problem. I’ll pick him up when we’re done here and have a little chat with him.” Xaviaro rolls his head from side to side like he’s limbering up and the wicked grin returns to Sparrow’s lips.

Lorenzo shifts the meeting to standard reporting and regular business, but my knee continues to bounce under the table. There are too many missing pieces of this puzzle still, but something is itching at the back of my brain, telling me it’s allconnected. Keeping secrets from Enzo is only going to come back to bite me in the ass. By the time the meeting draws to an end, I know what I have to do.

Sparrow kisses Xaviaro on the cheek. “I have to deal with something first, then I’ll come meet you.”

Xav grunts and nods, playfully swatting Sparrow on the ass as he walks away.

“Lorenzo,” I call out as everyone else starts to disperse. “Do you have a minute?”

He doesn’t hesitate to pull his chair back out and gesture to the one Elio just left empty.

“What can I do for you?”

I take Elio’s seat, hoping it’s not obvious that I’m starting to sweat. With so much uncertainty and bullshit going on right now, Lorenzo could easily think that Dante is everything Antonio tried to imply. But if Don is somehow all tangled up with the Fitzpatricks, it’ll only look worse for Dante and for me when it comes out.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you, but I want to change that right now.” I hold his gaze so he can see the truth in my eyes. I’m not here to bullshit him, I’m here to set things straight.

His brow creases. “Go on,” he says coolly.

I clear my throat. “The impromptu marriage in Los Vespar… there’s more to the story.”

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