Page 76 of Gin & Trouble

I caught Marco staring and frowned.

Leo handed the phone to Gabe.

He watched the screen, shook his head, and handed the cell to Marco. Gabe might have played it off, but his jaw had tightened hard enough to crack his back teeth.

Marco took the phone, frowned, and showed the video to Nico.

I knew I was in trouble when she handed it to me. Brow wrinkled and eyes misted, Nico mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

I took one look at the face on the screen and my entire world exploded. I could hardly breathe, let alone think straight.

Fuck, Frankie. What the hell?

Forcing myself to keep my expression blank, I swallowed hard to keep from vomiting. “I don’t know her.”

Leo glared. He’d caught my reaction, I only hoped Waylon Calhoun hadn’t.

What the hell is Leo playing at? He has to recognize her.

I needed to get the hell out of there and find Frankie. There had to be an explanation. A reason she was at the scene of the shooting. A reason she’d reached into her freaking pocket right before the gun went off. A reason Abruzzo’s goons were walking a few feet in front of her.

There’s only one reason. She shot Enzo.

My mother glanced at the screen and sighed. “This woman shot my son?”

She might have played it cool, but she’d recognized the youngest Abruzzo sister.

“We don’t know yet, Ma. Maybe nothing.” Leo took the cell from her and handed it back to the governor. “Thank you. It was worth a try.”

“Let’s hope the police have better luck.” He glanced around the room, seemingly unconvinced.

The police? Did Marco tell anyone else Frankie’s staying with me? His security team knows. So do Kincaid and his men. Will he call them? Have her apprehended? Then what?

I ran my trembling hand over my face and my fingers came away wet. This couldn’t be happening. I loved her. There was so much stacked against us from day one, but this? There was no coming back from something like this.

Did she fucking play me all along?

Calhoun slid the phone into his pocket, walked to where Gunnar was playing, and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you soon, Squirt.”

“See you, Granddaddy.” Gunnar turned and wrapped his arms around the governor’s legs.

Nausea rolled through me like a tsunami.

Did Frankie do this? Did she almost rob this child of his mom? Shanna and Leo of the loves of their lives?

The longer I sat in the room with them, the angrier I became, but I couldn’t decide if I was more pissed at Frankie or myself. I’d allowed her into my life, given her access to the tools she’d needed to pull this off. I hated myself for loving her.

Or maybe I was furious at Marco for not fighting harder to get away from the mafia? Or my mother for the way she treated her daughters-in-law? Or my father for getting sick and not being there when we needed him? Or my brothers for finding the right women and stopping at nothing to be with them?

Calhoun knelt in front of the child. “Your mamma isn’t feeling well. You’re going to have to be extra good for her, you hear?”

Nodding, Gunnar put his hands on his chest with his elbows sticking out like wings. “I good. Right, Daddy?”

“Right, Gunnar. You’re the best.”

Calhoun smiled. “There’s no mistaking he’s yours.”

My mother muttered under her breath in Italian, but for once in her life, she kept her opinions to herself.

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