Page 72 of Dangerous Deception

“You come intomyhome. You threaten my family. You kill my people. O’Brien might not have wanted a war by trying to take me out quietly. But he’s fucking got one now.”

I shoot the last Irishman between the eyes and watch his body slump like a rock to the side. The flap of skin containing his tattoo is placed down on the nearest surface. “Send that to Hector,” I order quietly. “And I want eyes on him. I need to know exactly how he reacts.”

“On it, Boss.” The guard nods quickly, and I leave the garage, wiping the blood off my hands with a rag and with Vito by my side.

“Do you think we have a rat?” Vito asks in a low voice when we’re far away from the garage.

“Maybe. I’m not going to commit to anything like that just yet, but if Hector calls anyone, I want to know about it. Maybe he’ll call whoever told him I was back in the States.”

“About that.” Vito puts out a hand to stop me as we near the manor. “I have some news about Carlos.”

Adelina’s ex-fiancé. The main reason she hates me. “Tell me.”

“Carlos Giordana. He was related to the Giordanas we killed, but not directly. He was the nephew of the man leading the family we killed. His own family was small, two siblings who ended up dead. One of an overdose, and one was shot in a drug bust.”

“Explains why he’d move on to his extended family to keep himself relevant,” I murmur.

“Exactly. Uncle takes him in to marry him off to someone higher for security, while Carlos gets time with his family and a chance to control the drugs that killed his siblings. Probably why they were stealing from us. Dude saw an opportunity and with fresh blood adding some boldness, bit off more than they could chew.”

“And yet I don’t remember him from that night,” I say, studying Vito’s face as if he holds the answers.

“That’s not all, though.” Vito digs into his pocket and pulls out a crumpled sheet of paper, then unfurls and offers it to me. “A couple of weeks before his death, he started calling Pascal almost every night. The calls were brief, but I did some digging into Carlos’ GPS. I thought if I could find out where he was when he was making those calls, I could get an idea of how he was when he made them.”

“And?” I press, my pulse quickening in anticipation.

“He sent a bunch of cryptic texts, and Pascal told him to come meet him. He had one hell of a screaming match with Pascal in broad daylight in one of the car dealerships Pascal uses to ship his counterfeit goods.”

“Not what you’d expect from the man about to marry Adelina.”

“Exactly. I could only get the CCTV from across the street, but it was one hell of an explosive fight. And that’s not all.” Vito steps closer. “A week before that fight, Carlos had several long calls with a state official. And an email exchange that’s been deleted.”

“The fuck?” We slowly resume walking toward the house. “What the fuck was Carlos doing wrapped up with state officials? And what’s that got to do with Pascal?”

“No clue.” Vito sighs. “I’d have more, but…” He gestures to the rapid repairs occurring at the manor and the three additional bodies now in the garage.

“I want to know who it was.” Reaching the door, I pause with my hand on the wood. “Whatever was going on was enough for Carlos to get into screaming matches with Pascal. Find me that official. I want to know what he knows.”

29

RAFFAELE

“You look exhausted.” Vito brings the car to a stop but doesn’t unlock the doors quite yet. “You sure you want to do this today?”

I fight a yawn and nod. “I’m fine.”

“Are you?” He gives me the same look he’s given me throughout the years, a look of tired disbelief.

“These past two weeks have been stressful. Adelina is throwing herself into her hospital project. I knew she was passionate after what happened to her mother, but at this rate, she’s going to buy the entire building and make everyone’s treatment free. So she’s been working hard, and I haven’t seen her as much as I’d like to.”

“It’s good, though,” Vito replies. “She’s back to her normal self, or a version of it, at least. Following her passions.”

“I just worry about her spending all her time around those sick kids. Not all of them survive.”

“I’m sure she’s aware of that.” Vito pops the lock on the doors. “She puts up with you so I imagine kids are easy as pie.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Vito shoots me a withering look as we climb out of the car. “You know exactly what I mean. You’re carrying this weight about her father, and have been ever since the Irish attacked the manor. I really think you should tell her.”

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