Page 17 of Dangerous Secrets

“The Russians. They know about L’ombra and they’re hunting you.” Tony’s words froze my blood. It made me shiver to think Roman knew about my alter ego and that he might be hunting me.

“How did you find out?” I ask him but my back is to him. I don’t want him to see the very real emotions on my face which I cannot hide. I sort through the clothing rack for the dress I’ll wear for my first song. My brain is foggy, and I can’t think straight now. If the Russians are hunting me, and I confess to Rome my little secret, what will his reaction be?

“I don’t know how Mickey found out. I just know they’re coming. You need to end this before they do.” Tony walks up behind me and grabs both of my elbows, kissing the back of my head. “I can’t lose my baby sister.”

I drop my head and clench my jaw. This is beyond fucked up. “You’re not losing anyway. Just let me think.”

Tony backs away and I hear the door shut, but my mind still won’t focus. Between the whirlwind of emotions, I felt in Rome’s presence and the frustration and fear I now feel, I don’t know if I can even go on tonight. There is no way to get out of this now. I can’t kill the man I love, whose child I’m carrying. But I can’t let him, or his family kill me.

I sink into the vanity chair overwhelmed and speechless.

How the hell do I get out of this? My only option might be to actually stop him myself. But how?

11

ROME

Istalk into Dominic’s office in his home. Nanette, his wife, was gracious enough to welcome me and offer me a cup of tea, but I’m not in the mood. I know I fucked up badly with Leo a few nights ago, but Dom has been so busy handling family business I haven’t even spoken to him yet. No doubt Leo told him all the details. It isn’t like I had a choice. If I hadn’t popped the guy Leo would be dead, or he’d have done it himself. Our mistake was not confirming it was L’ombra before following him, but why would anyone sneak around in a dark alley wearing all black? I just made a bad assumption.

Dominic sits at his desk staring at his computer screen. His sleeves are rolled up, tie loosened around his neck. His hair sticks up at odd angles and he looks tired, dark circles beneath his eyes. I’ve seen him in better sorts, which means something is out of place and stressing him. It’s not often I see him this stressed though, so I know it’s personal. And since his beautiful wife seemed happy as a clam, I know it’s something to do with my family.

“Is it Matvey? Has he had a relapse?” My brother, shot and almost died on the street a few weeks ago, is at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts right now.

“It’s Dad… Sit,” he orders, nodding at the chair across from his desk.

I move toward it and have a seat. The leather squeaks as I lower my full weight into the chair and Dominic rubs his forehead before reaching for a whiskey tumbler on a coaster on the corner of his desk. He takes a swig and raises an eyebrow at me. I wave him off. I don’t need a drink right now, though if the news about Dad is bad, I may stop by the bar. I trust Dom to lead the family once Dad passes, but no man is ready to send his father to the other side, no matter how old he gets.

“Dom, I—”

“You fucked up bad this time, Rome.” He sets his glass down and I see we are going to talk business before personal matters. I’m ready for it. I have explanations and I know it’s probably riled the Italians. There is nothing I can do except make it right moving forward.

“Yeah, I’ve been told by Leo enough times.” I unbutton my suit coat and cross one leg over the other. “It wasn’t out guy.”

“No, he was a fucking cop. Works at that club for security in his off hours. He has a fucking baby on the way.” Dominic’s face is red with anger. We aren’t cop killers, especially innocent ones, so I know why he’s so angry.

“I didn’t know, man.” The news is shocking to me, but in the hunt for a deadly assassin there are always casualties of war. “We got that intel from Akers, and I sat on that place for days. There is no way to tell which of the guys who come and go from that club could be L’ombra. I chose a very likely subject by selecting the man who exited the rear entrance dressed in all black.)

“Well, you fucking chose wrong. Lucky for you, they have no cameras out back or you’d be on the front page of every newspaper, the headline of every evening news broadcast.” Dominic acts angry with me, but I can tell something else is stirring in him he hasn’t yet processed.

“Was he connected to the Italians?” I watch his face as he skims the computer screen again, but there is no hint of what he’s actually thinking. My guess is Dad took a turn for the worse. Dad and Dom are close, closer than any of us. Dominic is the oldest and was there for our family when Mom passed. I know it will be hard on all of us when Dad goes, but Dom has big shoes to fill on top of grieving.

“There is no way to tell right now, but it doesn’t look like it. If so, we’d have seen some retaliatory strike of some kind. As it is, it’s being reported as a mugging. You did well taking his wallet.” Dom picks up his drink and sips it again.

“I didn’t, neither did Leo.” I try to recall that night clearly, but all I can think about is how I went to Bianca later and she calmed every ounce of anger I had over the situation.

“Hmm…” Dominic looks puzzled as he sets his empty glass down. “Well, someone mugged a dead man.”

“What’s really wrong here? You called me over to tell me off about this? It’s a non-issue since the Italians weren’t connected to the man.”

He glares at me. “Killing an innocent is not a non-issue, Roman. We don’t kill for killing’s sake. We do not make mistakes.” He rises slowly, pressing his hands against the smooth wood of his desk. “And one of New York’s finest is down because of you. You’re taking that to your grave. We might be organized criminals, but we are not monsters. Let that shit happen again, and you’ll see how the hand of God works. Because I won’t tolerate senseless violence.” His nostrils flare as he speaks, and I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. It’s an honor thing and I get it; I just hate how he rains it down on me.

“Fine…” I cock my head sideways and loosen my collar. “So, what’s this about Dad?”

Dominic’s chin drops and he slowly sits back down. It’s like the anger drains out of his feet and leaves his face pale. I know what he’s going to say before he says it; I can tell it by his body language. Dad’s not doing well.

“They’ve given him only a few days. We all need to stop in and see him, spend as much time with him as we can. But we can’t let it affect our jobs. Death is a part of life, and we who remain must carry on. We have no choice. We owe it to those who have gone before us, who have built this family and this business.” All the words coming out of his mouth are rehearsed, something Dad told him to recite to us in the wake of his death.

“I’m going to miss him too, Dom.” My body rises but my heart sinks. “I’ll be on the street looking for my mark. I’ll stop by and see Dad later, maybe tomorrow. If you need anything, text me.”

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