Page 76 of The Air You Breathe

“I’ll let her know,” I said, trying not to smile as I turned away.

“Dev,” she called out to me, and I turned around. “I’m really sorry for your loss but I’m glad you have someone to weather the pain with. But please don’t hurt her, she’s been through enough with Evan, and needs something good in her life.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, not wanting to make a promise to her because I was so afraid that I was going to mess this up.

“You deserve to be happy too, Devlin.” She gave me a sad smile that said she knew what my situation was.

“She makes me happy,” I said, turning around before I let my emotions get the best of me.

I walked back to Vittoria and the piccolina.

“Are you ok?” I asked. “Do you need something to drink or more food?”

She looked up at me with that fierce expression she’d had on all day, cracking slightly when she saw it was me. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose the love of my life. Just thinking about losing Darcy had me on the edge of a panic attack.

Bringing her into my arms to give her a moment.

“I know you think you have to be strong, but you deserve to be home and let go.” I kissed her temple, giving her one last squeeze before I pulled away. I made sure she composed herself before I looked for Evan.

I noticed Darcy talking to Mary before I spotted Evan in his kitchen. I nodded my head towards the door, signaling we were going to be leaving. He said something to whomever he was talking to, and walked to Armando before he left to the guest bedroom to get Ava. We said our goodbyes, I carried my niece with Vittoria by my side as we walked out the front door with five guys behind us.

“This is a lot of men for a funeral, were you expecting something to happen?” The sound of Lucio’s voice made me stop instantly. I gave the piccolina to Vittoria, stepping in front of them.

“We didn’t want anyone to ruin the day we laid Giovanni to rest.” Evan walked out of the house with Ava, pushing her towards me. “I think Vittoria and the piccolina deserved that. There was also the threat we received, and I didn’t think you would want harm to come to your granddaughter or your daughter.”

Lucio looked at Evan like he was sizing him up or he was trying to figure out what Evan’s next move was.

“Cazzo di merda” Vittoria mumbled behind me, making me glance at her quickly as she held onto Ava too.

“Per favore, Vittoria,” I said, pleading with her not to say anything that might make things worse.

“Well, it seems you’ve all paid your respects to a fucking snitch. I think you’ve used my men long enough,” Lucio snapped. “I didn’t hear of any threat.”

Geraldo walked up behind Lucio whispering something to him.

“I left a note in your office, and I called, leaving a message. It seems like the rat is still out there and we just had a shipment of drugs get picked up, too,” Evan said looking relaxed with his hands in his pockets. “A few men said they noticed a black car at the drop off, but couldn’t tell if it was one of our guys or if it was someone else. I think it’s something to be looked into.”

Lucio glared at Geraldo.

“You don’t think this is something that I needed to be made aware of? Weren’t you in charge of this?” he snarled at him.

“I had it under control, but I didn’t want to say anything to you before I knew what was going on.” Geraldo glared at Evan for a second before he looked at Lucio with worry in his expression.

“You tell me shit as it happens,” Lucio said, looking angrier by the moment.

“I put some feelers out and the feds are just waiting for someone to slip. Whoever told you that Giovanni was the snitch, clearly wants us to crumble from within.” Evan walked closer to Lucio. “The last report I saw said a woman called the hotline.”

Lucio looked at Evan like he was seeing him in a new light, and I hoped it was because he was believing what he was feeding him, and not because he now saw Evan as a threat.

“He could have had Vittoria call,” he stated, trying to come up with a reason to have killed his son. His stony mask of indifference was starting to slip like he might be realizing that he had incorrectly killed his full blood heir. Vittoria grabbed my arm squeezing it and I knew she was on the brink of saying something or worse doing something stupid.

“She could have, but I don’t think so. I have someone trying to find out the phone number that was used to make the call from. We will know our answer in a day or two,” Evan said, like he wasn’t worried about finding out the number's origins. I could feel my body heating up from worry, and the fact that we might all die at the end of this if he ever found out the truth.

They stared down at each other, but you could tell who had the upper hand. Evan was calm while Lucio looked like he was about to bust a blood vessel in his eye.

“Who are your informants?” he asked.

“I think that is better kept in private in case we have the snitch right here.”

---