Page 30 of Vincenzo
I’m about to speak again when he finally lets out a long breath and grinds out, “What is it?”
“The plan. The kidnapping plan Carlos told you about. They know.”
“Theyknow?” Silence takes over the phone once more, then my uncle says, “Whoknows, Amalia?”
The anger in his voice is clear through the phone. It makes me want to wither away, but this isn’t something I can avoid. I failed my uncle, and he’s not going to be happy about it. Dealing with the repercussions is part of life.
“The DiMaggios. They know our plan to kidnap the wife and sister.”
“And why thefuckdo they know that,Amalia?”
I clear my throat, the invisible frog making it nearly impossible to speak. “Our suite was bugged. They heard our conversation with you on the phone.”
My uncle lets out a long, low, frustrated sigh. “Have I taught younothing?” His voice is threatening. “You didn’t scan the room?”
“I did, but they must’ve installed sometime after that when we weren’t at the hotel.”
“And you didn’t think to continue periodically scanning?”
“I only scanned for the first week. I understand that was careless of me, but?—”
“Carelessis an understatement,” he snaps.
I remain quiet because I know I fucked up, and at this point, there’s nothing I can say that will temper the anger my uncle is feeling.
After letting out another long sigh, he says, “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to stay in that damn city until you come up with an alternate plan. Hell, I don’t even fucking care if you continue with the kidnapping. You will not come back to Miami until a deal has been made. Do you understand?”
“Tío, por favor?—”
“¿Entiendes?”he growls out.Do you understand?
I drop my head in defeat and say,“Sí.”
Hanging up my phone, I fall back onto my bed. I have no idea what I’m going to do. There’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to make a deal with the DiMaggios. And after what happenedlast night between Vincenzo and me?Fucking hell.What am I going to do now?
15
VINCENZO
My brother sends a hook to my ribs that catches me so off guard I have to suck in a sharp breath as the pain radiates into my chest.
“Fuck,”I hiss out, leaning over.
“Shit, you okay, man?” Teo asks.
Maybe asking him to spar today was a bad idea.
“Yeah,” I grunt out with a cough, then wave him off. “Just give me a second.” I walk off the mat and grab my water off the bench.
“You realize you’re the one who askedmeto spar today, right?” Teo says.
I gulp down the water and let out a breath. “Yeah, and?”
“So, why’d you want to do that when you’re clearly distracted? Your head’s not in it at all.”
“I’m not distracted,” I state, knowing full well it’s a lie. I’m distracted as fuck. I’ve been distracted ever since Amalia Velasco showed up in my life, and after last night, she really is the only thing taking up space in my head.
Teo narrows his gaze on me. “I rarely get hits on you, and that’s the third one already this session. What’s wrong with you?”
