Page 37 of Hot-Blooded Killer

He shrugs, and I get the distinct impression he doesn’t much care about his surroundings.

Then he takes me down to the kitchen to meet Susan and Nevaeh. They were at the wedding Saturday night, but I’m grateful for the reintroduction—everything from the wedding is a blur, and I need the reminder. The older woman is Susan, and her daughter Nevaeh works with her.

“We will serve lunch whenever you’re ready,” Susan tells me. “Just let us know if you want to have it served in the dining room or in your suite.”

I glance at Lorenzo, who shakes his head. “I’ll be heading into the clubs soon, so I won’t be here for lunch. Possibly not for dinner, either,” he tells Susan.

I blink in surprise. This is the first time I’ve heard of his plans for the day.

Before I have a chance to say anything, Susan glances out the window. “It looks like your moving truck has arrived,” she announces, her face wreathed in smile lines.

Lorenzo walks me to the front door, where he greets the movers and shows them up to our suite. “Everything currently in here needs to go into storage in the second garage building,” he tells them, showing them to a freight elevator I hadn’t realized existed.

Once they get started working, he says, “I’ll be home this evening.” He touches my wrist lightly, and for a moment I think he’s going to lean in and kiss me goodbye.

But then he thinks better of it and simply turns to depart.

* * *

It feelsweird moving into a dead man’s space, but when the movers Lorenzo hired finish clearing out the suite, I begin directing them to unload all my furnishings.

I break from decorating and moving only long enough for lunch and then again for dinner. The staff is unfailingly polite, and the workers Lorenzo hired to help after the movers left equally so, though I’m fairly certain most of them work for the Beneventi family in other, less savory capacities.

Of course, I’m used to that. I’ve spent my life surrounded by men and women like the ones I’m directing now.

And as we go, I make a list of all the items I need to buy. I shoot off a note to Sarah and Adele, asking if they’d like to meet me for lunch the next day at La Sérénade. They both reply instantly, probably eager to know how my wedding night went. I grin at my phone and tuck it back into my pocket.

That evening, I tumble into bed exhausted and fall asleep almost immediately, waking deep in the night only long enough to discover Lorenzo has at some point slipped into bed beside me. He’s breathing deeply, evenly, his arm draped over me.

But when I wake up in the morning, he’s gone again.

If he doesn’t start spending more time at home, I’m never going to fulfill my mission for Pop.

And that means I won’t be able to earn my freedom.

I am going to have to find a way to keep Lorenzo’s attention on me so I can get him to begin sharing his family’s secrets with me.

CHAPTER16

LORENZO

“That’s what I’m hearing from my contacts at the State Department, anyway—that El Toro’s men just made their way through customs in L.A. and are on their way to Vegas,” Max says, the sounds of a New York street echoing behind him. “Keep your eyes open, bro.”

It’s the second time I’ve listened to the voicemail.

It’s not surprising that El Toro is out to get us, after all. After all, Max took out one of El Toro’s main hitmen, and then I helped our men dispose of him out in the desert.

Sometimes I wonder how many sins the sand of the Mojave Desert has buried.

I am, however, surprised atwhyEl Toro has sent his men.

I start the message over for a third time.

“Hey, Lorenzo. Thought you should know the latest. Apparently El Toro’s pissed at your new father-in-law. He seems to have promised Gia to El Toro’s son at some point along the way, so now El Toro’s pissed off and sending more goons in our direction. That’s what I’m hearing from my contacts…”

In my office at the club, I swipe my phone off, drop it onto the desk in front of me, and stare at it, my thoughts whirling.

Fuck.

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