Page 71 of Vicious Vows

My hand traveled between the laptop and the phone in a frantic motion. Every time I wanted the phone to win out, I stopped myself. I couldn’t do anything stupid and prove Marchello right.

“Don’t.” Ricardo placed his hand over mine, stopping me from reaching for my phone.

“What?” I went back to clicking on clothes I didn’t need.

“You don’t want to call your father right now.”

“I kind of do.”

I wanted answers. My father needed to look me in the eye and tell me not only did he try to kill Nico’s sons but he ordered a hit with me becoming a potential casualty. Not to mention the other innocent people on the terrace.

How did we get here? Maybe we had always been here and I just didn’t want to see it.

“Have you ever tried to understand the Accettis?” I asked. “I mean, you lost your dad because of what they do for a living.”

“My father knew who they were and what they did when he started working for Nico.” He went to the bar and poured me another mimosa, topping it off with a splash of Marchello’s expensive Russian vodka. “So did I.”

“But does it ever bother you?”

“If it bothered me, I wouldn’t be here.” He handed me the flute. “And if I wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be with you.”

“If you weren’t here, you wouldn’t have to put up with Marchello.”

“I put up with Marchello because you need me.” He winked. “It’s worth it.”

“Do you know why Nico can’t come home?” I asked.

“Are you asking because you want to tell me what you know, or do you want to know what I know?”

“I don’t know much, but it has to be important if he left his sons here to deal with his business.

“A prominent member of the South American cartel Nico works with has gone missing,” he said. “His name is Miguel Sanchez. He’s the nephew of a key leader. He came to New York to oversee a shipment, and he didn’t resurface.”

“Do you think he’s still alive?”

“Probably not.” Ricardo sat down. “Nico used all of his resources here to try to figure out what happened to Miguel, but when he came up empty, the cartel blamed him.”

“It wasn’t his fault.”

“No, but in good faith, Nico promised to find the nephew. When the search turned up nothing here, the cartel insisted that he step up his game and that Nico was to handle it personally. Otherwise, he could have sent Marchello or Milo.”

If Marchello had gone in Nico’s place, we wouldn’t be together now. My father wouldn’t have tried to kill him. I shook off the dread that formed in my stomach and tried to focus on how I could make this right.

“Nico has to honor his word. He has to find out who has Miguel or who killed him, and he has to make an example of them. He left his sons in charge here so he could focus on getting the job done,” Ricardo said.

“But no one anticipated me.”

“Does anyone ever anticipate you?” He patted my knee. “Don’t get involved in this. Nico is more than capable of handling the situation. He’ll get home.”

“Hmm…” I bit my lip.

“Lissia,” Ricardo said, his voice stern. “Don’t give Marchello a reason to do something drastic.”

“Like leave me?” I took a deep breath and abandoned any wild ideas forming in my brain.For now.

“Put the pink dress in your cart,” he said.

“Oh my God! The one that ties over one shoulder? It’s adorable.”

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