Page 133 of The Best of Us

“The food is goingto get cold.” Angela checked her watch, a breath of irritation passing from her lips before she directed a frown at her husband. “Mind going and getting the boys and asking them to save their conversation for after dinner?”

“Let me.” I shot up from my seat before anyone could protest. I’d been left in the dark too long aboutsomething. Then, throw in that grim expression on Constantine’s face when a call came in, and yeah, I needed answers, stat.

I patted Colin on the shoulder as Salvatore gave me a nod of approval. And perhaps his thanks as well. “No convincing your grandparents to buy you anything while I’m gone, got it?”

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” Salvatore answered, smiling.

I took off to navigate the maze of hallways inside their mansion, which Colin had whispered to me earlier was worth ninety million dollars. Not sure who gave him that information, but I wasn’t surprised he’d found out.

Heading to the second level of their penthouse, I rounded a corner and stopped outside a closed door. I knocked twice, assuming this was the office. “Hey, it’s me. Can I come in?”

The door opened a moment later, and Enzo was the first to greet me. I couldn’t help but notice the astonishment lingering in his dark brown eyes as he looked at me.

Constantine set his phone on a desk, keeping his back to me and his voice low as he talked to Hudson and Alessandro on the other side of the office.

“No more secrets,” I blurted out, unable to stop myself. I remained in the doorway, leaning against it for support as I waited for him to face me. “What’s going on?”

Constantine slowly turned, resting his hand next to his hat on the desk. His chest rose and fell as he took his time to summon whatever it was he didn’t want to share.

“What is it?” Nerves propelled me forward and into the room to stand by Enzo.

“I asked Giuseppe Messina to call me. He’s the leader of the Sicilian mafia here in Brooklyn. That was him on the phone earlier. I had no choice but to pull him into this.” He kept his eyes on the desk, and the lack of eye contact was as unsettling as his words.

I looked back and forth between Alessandro and Hudson for answers, but they remained quietly standing there, deferring to Constantine to take the lead.

“Talk,” I whispered, anxiety coiling in that single word, packing enough punch to catch Constantine’s gaze. I rubbed my arms, chills breaking out in full force as I waited for him to answer me.

“Giuseppe promised his organization doesn’t have any type of cyber wallet or crypto hardware device of any kind, and I’m inclined to believe him,” Constantine shared. “He confirmed that a meeting was requested, and Giuseppe sent his right-hand man, Tommaso. The Irishintendedto present a proposal they promised would be profitable for both organizations. They never had the opportunity to hear the deal because I arrived. Tommaso declined to continue discussions with them because of my involvement and kicked Jamie and Daniel out after I left.”

“And you believe this Giuseppe and Tommaso guy? They’re mafia. Bad guys.” I plopped down on a leather couch. “I know you said they’re afraid of your family, but money can be a pretty convincing motivator to cause betrayal.”

“In this case, fear of us is a stronger motivator than money,” Enzo said confidently as he sat beside me. He gave me a brotherly pat on the knee, and I could sense he had a good soul.

“Was Jamie possibly misinformed, then, about the Sicilians having that wallet in the first place? Was there never anything for Colin to steal, but he thought there was?” I tore my hands through my hair. “I’m so confused.”

“I believe Jamie was going to propose a deal for the Sicilians to join the Irish under a new umbrella organization here in the States,” Constantine explained in a resolute tone. “That organization was formerly known as The Alliance overseas, before The League took them down a few years ago.”

The League?I mentally reviewed everything he’d told me in his office earlier about them.

“Jamie’s father was part of The Alliance, and when they fell, so did he. That’s why he’s in prison,” Alessandro explained.

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with Colin. Why’d Jamie want Colin in that room at the rave? And why did two men try to abduct Colin earlier?” My hands dropped from my hair to my lap, my arms feeling like dead weight.

Constantine slowly walked over, knelt before me, and took my hands, holding both of them. I didn’t like that look in his eyes, dang it.

“Jamie lied to Colin to get him in that room. My guess is he was going to ask the Sicilians to hold him hostage as leverage. Jamie’s family can’t risk tying their hands to the abduction. And more importantly, they couldn’t let The League find out The Alliance is connected to anything and looking to start up again, this time in the States.”

I shook my head, still confused. I looked around the room, searching for answers. As if I could pluck them from the air, or from one of his brothers, since nothing Constantine was saying made sense.

Constantine gently tugged my hands as a request to focus back on him, so I did. “Jamie met Colin for the first time last month. Jamie’s father’s prison records were swapped out with someone else’s then as well,” he said steadily, and my heartbeat quickened with every statement he dropped for me to interpret.

“Jamie probably ran a background check on Lennon’s boyfriend, as any good brother would. He’d want to know what kind of guy his sister is dating,” Enzo said, connecting more dots for me.

“And?” I whispered, never losing hold of Constantine’s eyes. “What did they find in Colin’s background to make him a target?”

Constantine expelled a deep breath and lowered his forehead against our hands, clearly not wanting to say this next part.

And he didn’t have to because it clicked.

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