Page 60 of Unhinged Little Angel

“I don’t know if Cian is trying to dethrone his brother or just create chaos, but Don knew computers. He could have given him the idea and even offered to find a back door in to make the transfers happen.”

“Fuck,” he mutters.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Alright, I need to call Lorenzo. Save those emails or whatever you need to do, and get ready, because I’m sure he’s going to want the full rundown of everything you just found.”

“Got it.”

He heaves himself off the couch and pulls out his phone to make the call. With the adrenaline finally fading, I sway a little on my feet, exhaustion starting to catch up with me. I don’t have time for that right now though. Don is getting released in a few days, and clearly he got himself tangled in a big-ass Mafia clusterfuck.

“What if the Fitzpatricks decide to protect him?” I ask after Sal ends the call.

His expression darkens and he cups my face in both hands. “I’m taking care of this one way or another, Angel. Trust me.”

I nod and sag into him, that certainty I felt last night still as solid as ever.

“I do,” I whisper. “I trust you.”

Chapter 23

DANTE

“Whoa, it’s weird being here when it’s not open.” With regular lights illuminating Wild, no sultry music playing, and not a single horny customer in sight, I almost don’t recognize the place.

During the drive over I couldn’t help wondering if I would feel antsy being here knowing I can’t come back and dance for another couple of weeks still. But I’m not feeling much of anything about it now that we’re here. Do I even want to come back? I definitely don’t want to be some kept man, but if money isn’t a huge issue anymore, maybe I could do something else… something that wouldn’t require me to be constantly pawed at.

I push those thoughts aside for now. I have plenty of time to think about what the next chapter of my life looks like, but first I have to write the ending to this one.

“I’m surprised Enzo didn’t want to meet at one of the offices instead, but maybe he’s already anticipating the need for easy-to-clean floors,” Salvatore says darkly, eyeing the industrial tile floors, designed specifically for easy cleanup of all the spilleddrinks… and most likely blood today if things play out the way we’re expecting.

“I call ‘not it’ on mopping duty,” I mutter, and he laughs.

What I’ve come to think of as Lorenzo’s inner circle are already seated around the table when we get there. An unusual tension hangs in the air, making even Alessio sit up straight and keep his mouth shut. Salvatore drags an extra chair over for me and we take our seats between Alessio and Sparrow, directly across the table from Lorenzo, with Elio on his right side and Xaviaro on his left.

“Perfect timing. Sparrow just filled us in on what he found with the bank transfers, so why don’t you go ahead and take it from there.” There are tense lines around Lorenzo’s eyes and an air of authority in his voice that gives me goose bumps. Not the sexy kind of authority, the ‘I’m about to start blowing fucking heads off’ kind.

Salvatore nods at me to give me the floor and rests his hand on the back of my neck. The warm weight of his touch is comforting, keeping my heart from breaking into a gallop and soothing my nerves. Sure, we’re on Lorenzo’s team, but it’s not like that hasn’t turned on me before. But with the soft brush of his thumb against the side of my neck, there’s no doubt in my mind that my husband is with me. No matter what else happens, I’m not standing alone in my corner anymore.

I take a breath and then start from the beginning. We talked about it on the way over, and there is no way for me to connect all the pieces for them without the backstory between me and Don. I keep the details about my cousin sparse this time, delivering the whole explanation with a cold detachment I’ve found comfort in for the last decade.

Lorenzo’s gaze is unwavering. He doesn’t move or flinch, he hardly reacts at all as I tell them all the details from the emails, my suspicion of how Don charmed Cian, not knowing I’d havea Mafia of my own behind me, and the strained interactions between Declan and Cian. But even without a single twitch of acknowledgment, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s listening to every word with rapt attention.

“Great, so we have to call up Declan to tell him we think his brother is a fucking menace who flipped one of our guys and set it up to look like we’re ripping them off. Oh, and by the way, can you step aside and let us pop Cian’s new bestie? Don’t worry, this one’s just personal,” Alessio summarizes with a groan.

“I’m sure I can finesse the news a little better than that,” Lorenzo says blandly.

Elio’s eyebrows go up. “Seriously? You think calling Declan is the way to go?”

“The alternative is to skip right to taking out his brother before he becomes an even bigger problem. Don’t get me wrong, we might end up at that option anyway, but let’s try for a little diplomacy first and see where that gets us.” Lorenzo’s already pulling his phone out and making the call.

I lean closer to Salvatore and lower my voice. “Does he have this other mob boss on speed dial?”

“What, were you expecting he’d attach a formal invitation for a meeting to a severed horse’s head and stick that in his bed?” He smirks, and I shrug.

“Makes more sense than fucking calling him.”

“Declan,” Lorenzo says into the phone, his voice full of that same dark, commanding edge. “There seems to be a problem that we need to discuss immediately. I want you to come to Wild so we can clear it up before anyone gets hurt.”

---