Page 68 of Beautiful Devil

“Any idea what Gia’s doing, Jeff?”

Just like before, at the mention of my wife’s name, he lifts his head up and his ears stand up in attention. He gets up this time and makes his way over to my side and sits staring at the screen.

“We’re pathetic, aren’t we, boy?” I ask, rubbing his head behind his ear on the spot he loves.

He lets out a little moan as his tail smacks against the hardwood. I watch as she climbs the tall ladder connecting the bookshelves and kicks off with a big smile on her face.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I’m not sure if I’m talking to Jeff or more to myself this time, but I realize that I want to see her smile like that more often, and I want to be the reason for it even more.

I’m interrupted when someone knocks on my door and Luigi’s head pops around as he opens it. He’s one of the few people that can enter my office without waiting for clearance. Lifting my head from my laptop, I see apprehension on his face.

“Morning, boss. I was wondering if I could talk freely for a moment?”

Not liking the sound of this already, I cock a brow at him, motioning him to continue.

“I ran into G – I mean, Mrs. Moretti, in the hallway a little bit ago. Actually…I caught her before she fell. That’s why I’m here. She seems a little strange today. I just wanted to let you know.”

Looking back at the laptop, I check the security cameras to see that she's still pushing herself off the ladder in the library. A smile breaks across my face at the delight that’s evident on hers. A throat clearing has me lifting my head back up and looking at Luigi again.

“Anything else?”

“Do you want me to keep a closer eye on her?”

“No, I want you to do your job and guard my wife. No one goes near her or touches her unless I say so. She knows where she can and can’t go. If she does something she’s not supposed to or tries to leave, call me immediately.Capisce?”

“Yes, boss.” And with that, he spins on heel and leaves.

Going back to my laptop, I check the feeds again and see her, feet back on the ground as she walks looking around the library. I blindly reach to pet Jeff as I sit and watch Gia.

“Incompetentstronzo. Do you think she’s acting strange?” I look down to see his eyes closing and his head bopping from side to side as he starts to fall asleep.

Switching out of the security feeds, I decide I’ve procrastinated long enough. It’s time to get some work done.

* * *

Pulling up at the warehouse, or lack thereof, I see the remnants left over from the fire. Stepping out of the car, I get a better look at the damage. My hands are fisted at my sides and I’m ready to relieve some anger. Taking in the pile of rubble in front of me that used to be my fifteen thousand-square-foot warehouse, I see a man in dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket standing off to the side.

Stopping a foot away, he extends his hand out to mine and waits for me to shake it. “Don Moretti, I was wondering when you were going to show up.”

Ignoring his outstretched hand, I keep my attention on the scene in front of me. “Detective Ramirez. I trust that you caught who did this?”

He lets out a laugh while I turn to take in his appearance: same slicked-back hair and tired-looking brown eyes. He stands at around six feet tall, with a lean runner's body, dressed in his usual street clothes of dark skinny jeans and black combat boots. At thirty-eight, he still looks pretty good.

“It happened in the early hours of this morning. It was a clean job with no trace of anyone ever being here. If I didn’t know who you were, I would say it was probably some drunk teenagers. But this isyouwere talking about. Got any new enemies I should know about?”

“Of course I do. I have new enemies every day. Next time, I’ll make sure to keep an updated list of them for you along with every threat that comes my way,” I seethe at him.

Fuckingstronzo.

“Hey, where are you going?” he calls after me as I head back in the direction of the car.

Not bothering to turn around, I call over my shoulder, “I’m leaving. Detective. What does it look like? What good is having a cop on my payroll if you can’t even do your job?”

Just as Santino opens my door, I hear him call back, “It’s only been hours since this happened, Moretti. I can’t pull a name out of thin air.”

Deciding to leave it and go against every urge in my body to turn around and beat the shit out of him, I slide in the back. Pulling my phone out, I call Marco. Let’s hope he has some answers for me. Thankfully, he doesn’t keep me waiting long.

“Boss.”

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