Page 89 of Dangerous Deception

“Vito…”

“You can’t bow to a man like that. After everything we’ve worked for, everythingyou’veworked for. He’ll kill you, and all people will remember you as is a butcher!”

“Vito—”

“I won’t allow it! I refuse. There’s got to be another way because that scum doesn’t deserve to?—”

I silence him by placing my hand on his shoulder. “Vito. I need you to do something for me.”

Pain flashes across his face. Then he nods slowly. “Anything, Boss.”

“I need you to take care of the Irish like we talked about. Can you do that for me?”

After a moment of silence, Vito nods. “Consider it done.”

35

RAFFAELE

Waiting for Pascal’s precise instructions is killing me. He’s letting me dangle, likely to make me suffer, and it’s working, but I’m not one to sit around and do nothing while someone holds a gun to my head.

The woman I love is in danger and I’m powerless to help her immediately. After the explosion that nearly killed me and Vito, I have to be more careful. Pascal likely expects me to sit around and wait for the phone call telling me where to go and when to be there, but I won’t.

There’s still a problem I can actively work to solve and that’s the Irish.

“Are you sure about this?” Vito looks at me over the edge of his sunglasses. “If we do this, there’s a small chance Adelina could be dragged into it.”

“Doubtful. If we do this right, then only those who need to know will know about Pascal’s involvement. Everyone else?” I sigh and drag the last file onto the USB stick. “Everyone else will see what we want them to see.”

“Do you have any regrets?” Vito asks as I remove the drive and place it on his palm.

“About that?”

He shrugs and pockets the drive. “Anything. Everything.”

“No. I—” Hesitation makes me pause. “I will admit if I hadn’t been so enamored by Adelina, maybe I would have seen something sooner. But it’s a weird coin flip, don’t you think? Without her, Pascal and the Irish wouldn’t have gotten so close to me. And without her, I wouldn’t be who I am now.”

“I like this new you,” Vito says. “I mean, I don’t like the thought of your walking into a trap all by yourself, but seeing you happier is good.”

“Remember what I said about finding someone to settle down with?” I smirk and grip his shoulder. “You deserve a life too. You’re more than just my underboss.”

“In this line of work? How do I even meet someone?”

“Fuck knows. Have you tried walking into a hidden scheme and falling for the daughter of the mastermind?”

“I’ll give it a try.” Vito smirks, then his smile fades. “Promise me you will be careful.”

“I can’t promise that,” I say. “But if the worst happens, then I know I died doing everything I could to save her.”

“That hardly comforts me.”

“Just focus on this.” I glance at his pocket. “I need you to gouge the heart of those Irish fucks. Make them regret even looking in our direction.”

“I will.” Vito nods and tightens his jaw. “We’ll see each other next week, right?”

“A hundred percent.”

My heart rests heavily in my chest as I stand at the window and watch Vito leave. He has all the information about the Irish and their toxic dumping, scraped together with everything we could squeeze out of the doctor and that slimy politician. It’s a lot, and it’s messy, but any reporter worth their salt will orgasm at how fucking juicy this story is.

---