Page 103 of Vicious Heir

“Great, actually. I had to crawl around on the fucking ground and got my new jacket wet?—”

“But did you plant it?”

He grins and shows me his phone. “No problem.”

There’s a map of Philly with a single dot moving slowly down the street right behind this building. It’s headed out east toward Old City where all the rich pricks live.

“Beautiful.”

“You really pissed him off. The guy looked livid when he got in his car.”

“Think so? I tried my best.”

“What’d you say to him?”

“Just insulted his wife. She deserves it, by the way.”

“No judgment here.”

“If we’re lucky, he’ll be so angry that he’ll go straight to Demir. And once he does?—”

Luca snaps his fingers. “Then we’ve got him.”

“You and Vittorio log every single place that car stops. Send some guys to follow discreetly. Pick the best people we have. Don’t fuck this up.”

“Already done.” Luca gets to his feet. “Anything else?”

“Nothing. I made the right choice making you Capo.”

Luca swells with pride. “Fucking right you did.” Then he stalks off, swaggering just a little bit.

Chapter 39

Lucy

“Iwant you to see what I’m thinking, okay?” I pull Adriano along through the halls of the Marino mansion by the hand.

“It’s been a long day,” he growls, dragging his feet. “Can’t we just unwind?”

“You mean, can’t we just have raunchy sex for an hour or two?”

“Pretty much.”

I slap at his wrist lightly. “Later. Just indulge me.”

He sighs, smiling. “I always do.”

“And it’s such a chore, isn’t it?” I lean into him, and he puts an arm across my shoulders. We walk to his father’s former wing together and step into the empty rooms.

They’re entirely cleared out. All the old stuff is gone. The carpets were ripped up, and the walls are painted a neutral light gray. The trim is in the process of being replaced, and half the light fixtures are missing. There’s more painter’s tape than anything else, and plastic sheeting covers most of the floor space.

I tug him with me right into the middle of the main room.

“Den,” I say, gesturing around us. “Couch over there. Something easy to clean. TV when he’s older. Shelves, bookcases, storage for all his toys.” I gesture back toward the bedroom. “Nursery.”

Adriano’s eyebrows raise. “You want to make this the kid wing?”

“We’ll have to move our bedroom. There’s a good one right next door I was thinking we could refinish. Maybe even knock down a few walls and make it into a whole suite. That way, we can be close to the kids?—”

---