Page 29 of Deadly Intentions

Alex mulled over Massimo’s words for a moment. “Explain.”

Massimo and Antonio exchanged a glance. A silent conversation passed between them. “We’ve just made it out from under the Feds’ watch. Involving the police here would likely put us on their radar again. Vincenzo’s wife just had their twins, and he nearly died. Not to mention Antonio.” Both men glanced toward Antonio, who was watching the exchange from the sidelines. “Please, Alex.”

“This could cost me my job,” Alex sighed.

“If that happens, come to Vegas. I could use a man like you.”

“You want me to work for the mob?” Alex furrowed his brows. “That’s the opposite of what my job stands for, Massimo.”

“Not really. You have this idea that we are bad guys who steal and murder. While I won’t lie and say that’s not a small fraction of the business—that’s not all we are.”

Alex paced the tiny space where he stood. “Fine. But we need to do this as clean as possible. I don’t want blood on my hands.”

“Trust me. The blood won’t be on yours,” I growled. “We need everything you have on Dr. Brooks and Javier Costa.”

Alex shoved his hands in his pockets and inhaled. The air rushed out of his body as he huffed in frustration. Wordlessly, I watched as Alex walked out of the room and disappeared into the hallway.

“Should I go after him?” I looked to Massimo for direction.

“No. He’ll be back.” He slipped his phone from his pocket and frowned.

“What is it?” Antonio stood from his chair.

“The twins have arrived in Vegas.”

“Wait.” Antonio shoved his hands into his hair. “You mean Carmela and Celestina are here in the States?”

“Yep.” Massimo closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “They couldn’t have picked worse timing.”

“Shit.” Antonio pressed his phone to his ear. “Rach. I need a favor.”

I listened as Antonio explained the twins’ arrival and how we needed them kept completely out of what was happening. Their arrival wasn’t supposed to happen for another month.

“What the hell is going on?” A very pissed-off Harley was sitting up and glaring at us.

“Hey. Take it easy.” Massimo moved beside her and pressed his hand to her shoulder. “What do you remember?”

Harley rubbed her head. “I was heading down to Dr. Brooks’ office to check on Catarina… when—Oh my God. Catarina—” Harley tried to slip off the gurney and stand, but Massimo pushed her back down.

“Harley. You took a knock to the head and have been out for almost two hours. Don’t try to get up just yet.”

“But… they took her.” She erupted into sobs, her body shaking with emotion.

“Jesus Christ.” Drew pushed around me and pulled Harley against him. “We leave you alone with her and you make her fucking cry?”

“Whoa, Drew.” I blinked. “She just woke up and reacted to her memory. Calm down.”

I couldn’t believe his response to a woman he didn’t know was so visceral. And more shocking was Harley. She clung to him as if he was the only thing keeping her stable.

Drew continued to rub her back, whispering something into her ear. Vincenzo stepped into the room, making the space feel even smaller.

“They’ve gone to Reno.” His voice had everyone looking toward him. “Evidence Drew and I recovered from the doc’s house made it pretty clear they were going back to Javier’s stomping grounds.”

“He’s right.” Alex stood in the open door. “I just got off the phone with my contact in Reno. He heard Javier is due back with something that will bring them a big payout.”

“Catarina.”

“Yep.” Massimo grunted. “He thinks he can use Catarina as leverage to get something from me.”

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