Page 51 of Gin & Trouble

“Yes, as a matter of fact there is. Tommaso is back in Sicily. It’s safe for you to go home.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. While Mia was right, I couldn’t help but wonder how she’d found out. Last night had been so busy, I’d forgotten to tell Sophia the news. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I have a friend at the compound who keeps me abreast of the situation.”

Sophia had told me the same thing, but my gut instinct was to play dumb. “That’s helpful. How’s Val holding up?”

“Clean up your own mess before you worry about hers.” Mia sounded more like our mother with each passing word. Not surprising—both women were as warm as winter in the tundra.

I made a noncommittal sound and checked the status of the video download. I hated that she’d called my relationship with Dante a mess. Even if it was a disaster in the making, I’d enjoyed my time with him. Working or playing video games or just hanging out, I’d never felt more like myself then when I was with Dante.

Mia continued her lecture. “It’s time you quit your job and put some distance between you and the Marchionnis. You’re risking too much for a relationship that can never happen.”

Thanks for the reminder.

It dawned on me neither Mia nor Sophia had taken my feelings for Dante seriously. Or maybe they just didn’t care. Either way, I’d had enough. “My personal life is none of your business. As for my job, I’m not going to quit until I have what we need to take Tommaso down.”

“Speaking of that.” I could practically hear her narrowing her eyes. “What is taking so long to get the lab results?”

In the past, her condescending words and curt tone would have stung more than bleach in a festering wound, but that day, they irritated me. I thought back to how Dante had dropped everything to help Leo get a tree. How upset he’d been when he’d learned his brother had kept secrets from him. How Dante’s eyes lit when he talked about his family. Even when he was frustrated with his brothers, it was clear he loved them unconditionally.

Mia doesn’t care about me. She cares about what I can do for her. Are they all that selfish?

“Frankie, are you listening to me? I asked you a question.”

“The results were lost in the mail. They’re sending copies, but it will take a few days.”

Mia muttered something under her breath. “Why aren’t they posted on a website?”

“Sophia insisted we needed a hard copy.”

“Probably because of your incessant bragging that you can hack any computer system” She huffed.

For the love of God, that doesn’t even make sense.

Her voice rose. “You need to focus on saving Valentina instead of spending the weekend in Dante Marchionni’s bed.”

“Couch. I slept on the couch.” I sent up a silent prayer for patience and opened the airport security footage.

I could have hung up on her, but the more she talked the more I understood about my place in the family and my current situation. Instead, I half listened while I worked. Upset Mia was sloppy. She’d be far more likely to slip and tell me more about her confidant inside the Abruzzo compound.

Mia laughed a bitter sort of laugh that had me grinding my teeth. “You’d be in a better mood if you’d just sleep with the guy and get it over with.”

Wait, what?

“Not five minutes ago you were preaching a different sermon.” I hit fast forward on the security video to hurry things along. From the looks of it, I had twenty or so cameras to check and there was no guarantee any of them had caught Tommaso’s plane.

Mia continued to ramble on about my prudish ways, using sex to get information out of Dante, and the likelihood I could get away with murder if I killed him in his sleep.

I’d heard more than enough. There was absolutely no way I would allow her, or any of my family members, to use my relationship with Dante to hurt him or his family. It was past time I told him the truth, starting with how I felt about him and ending with my real name.

If it’s meant to be, it will be. If it’s not, I’ll deal with the consequences when he hands me over to Marco.

“Nice talking to you, Mia, but I’m working.Ciao.”

She started to say something but I hung up.

The surveillance video ended, and I opened the next in the queue. Images of a private jet sitting on a runway filled the screen. I’d have to do some serious enhancements on the grainy footage to make out any useful details. Frankly, I couldn’t focus on anything except the conversation with my sister and figuring out what I planned to say to Dante.

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