“You and Blicks hit that motherfucker hard,” I ordered.

A wicked grin spread across his face. “Will do, sir.”

I walked toward Amadeo and Renato, a grin tugging at my lips.

“Good evening, fellas.”

“Good evening, Vino,” they echoed in unison.

“Is Claire safe?”

“Yes,” Amadeo assured me. “We’ve assigned extra men to keep watch in the back alley.”

“Good.”

“A woman named Polina visited Claire two days ago,” he continued. “They had a heated conversation. After she left, Claire wasn’t herself. She was shaking, crying.”

My fists clenched at my sides. “Did you have her followed?”

Amadeo swallowed hard. “No, sir. We didn’t have the manpower. We prioritized increasing security.”

With the heat on the Romanos, that was the right call.

“Renato got a clear picture of her inside the warehouse. Think Dex can track her down?”

“Yup. Send it to my phone. I’ll get it to him ASAP.”

“Also,” Amadeo hesitated, “Claire’s afraid if her benefactor learns about whatever trouble she’s in, they’ll stop her funding.”

I rubbed my brow. “What did you tell her?”

“That wouldn’t happen.”

My jaw twitched at all this bullshit. It was time Claire knew who I was.

“Here she comes, sir.”

“We’re going to my other house. S-two.”

I turned on my heels. “Hello, Claire.”

She halted, her eyes narrowing. “Why are you here?”

I let my gaze roam down her frame, my lips twitching. Her long, dark curls cascaded over her breasts. The short gold and black dress that scrunched up on either side of the thighs held my attention. “That dress is sexy,” I murmured, biting the corner of my lower lip. “I love the way it shows off your legs.”

Her head dipped, hiding a smile, but when she looked up again, it was gone. “I won’t let you distract me this time. Answer the question,” she demanded.

Behind me, my men were probably laughing their asses off. No one talked to me like this. Except Claire.

“I’m taking you away for the weekend.”

She folded her arms. “I haven’t spoken to you in over a week.”

I closed the distance between us, tucking a curl behind her ear. A shiver ran through her.

“That’s what you wanted, remember? To keep me at arm’s length.”

I had recently talked to Dex about Claire’s ex. I couldn’t get to that motherfucker yet, but it was only a matter of time. The deeper I dug into Claire’s past, the more I realized how long she’d been running.