Page 97 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Don
Antonio's gaze sharpens. “You think this Blackwood is going to hand over this information to whoever is working with him? Wouldn’t it be easier to feed false info to men we suspect and see if it gets to Blackwood?”
“That’s the problem,” Gabriella says. “So far, we have no suspects. But if we feed it to Blackwood, he’ll say something to whoever he’s working with, and that person will act on it, revealing themselves.”
"And you believe this FBI agent is connected to the attacks?"
I shake my head. “That we don’t know. We could have two different things going on here. Blackwood’s investigation and this inner attack. Or one could be using the other. Either way, we’re under attack from all sides.”
“This could be our chance to find out who,” Gabriella says.
Antonio turns to me. "Marco? You're on board with this?"
I cross my arms, unable to hide my reservations. "I hate it. Putting Gabriella anywhere near Blackwood is a risk I don't want to take. But she's right. He's our best lead to whoever's targeting us."
"This will take more than a few days," Antonio observes, looking between us. "Your agreement was for a week and it seems like Blackwood will be more responsive to Gabriella if he knows she’s under your guard and has access to your business movements.”
The thought of Gabriella leaving my house, being beyond my protection, is unsettling. "She can stay as long as it takes." I glance at her, suddenly uncertain. "If she's okay with that."
Surprise flickers across Gabriella's face. "I just need to pack a few more things.”
Antonio watches this exchange and then shrugs. "Then it’s settled. I trust you, Marco, to keep Gabriella safe. I know Gabriella is smart enough to get the information we need from Blackwood.”
I nod, relieved and terrified.
Each night she stays, another piece of my carefully constructed walls crumble. “Because Gabriella is meeting with Blackwood, we should probably let Dom and Leo know. Otherwise, if they find out about the meeting, they’ll think she’s betraying La Corona.”
Antonio scrubs his hand over his face. “Yes, of course. I think it’s time we told them everything.”
I arch a brow, surprised that he’s finally ready to share about his condition.
“I don’t know that they need to know about your situation.” Gabriella’s expression is full of concern.
“They do. It’s past time, really.”
I’m in total agreement with Antonio. “If this plan goes wrong, we’ll need them on board. But just them. We’re smoking out a traitor, so we need to keep this plan to ourselves.”
“Absolutely,” Antonio says.
“But I trust Roman and want to coordinate with him," I say. "Set up secure communications, establish what information we feed to Blackwood."
“Alright,” Antonio says.
“Everyone else in our businesses needs to be kept in the dark.”
“We all have men we trust like you trust Roman,” Antonio starts, “but I’ll defer to you on this, Marco. You’re the one Blackwood seems to have a hard-on for.”
I’m relieved that Antonio is willing to let me lead on this plan.
“I’ll go pack up a few more things.” Gabriella stands, her eyes softening as she looks at her father. “We’ll find out who’s behind this, Dad.”
He smiles. “I know you will.”
Gabriella leaves the room to gather her things, my eyes lingering on her retreating form longer than they should.
When I turn back, Antonio is studying me with an expression I can't quite read, but it makes me nervous.
"You care for her." It's not a question.
I shift uncomfortably, defaulting to denial. "She's under my protection."
