Page 18 of Broken Hearts of Sin

“And you trust her not to betray you?”

I think about the last two years and everything that Giada and I experienced together. I can say for certain that we have built trust between us. It’s surprisingly easy to transfer that trust to this new relationship that we have. I nod decisively, “I trust her.”

“Wow,” Benedetto shakes his head, “that must have been some night.”

I grin at him acting all mysterious, “It was.” I say.

Benedetto blinks at me, giving me an intent look as if he might be able to pierce the veil of mystery I’ve put up if he juststareshard enough. I almost burst out laughing but refrained. “Is that it or is there other news?”

“Cardinali eyes are on us. They’re looking for any evidence that we did it. I understand that the old man does not like the loss of face. He’s calling for blood.”

I harrumphed. “They don’t even know if Giada ran off on her own. She was planning to do just that when we took her.”

I stop off at the nearest Starbucks which is still three blocks away from our warehouse. “Shit. I forgot to ask what kind of coffee Giada likes.” I banged the back of my head against the seat in frustration.

“Go for a simple black coffee and carry cream and sugar and all the rest of it as asides.”

I clap Ben on the shoulder. “My problem solver. What would I do without you?”

Benedetto smirks. “Crash and burn probably.”

I snort, stepping out of the vehicle. “Yeah, right.”

We walk into the Starbucks and buy enough breakfast items for six people. I’m pretty sure Giada will find something she likes among the offers. Benedetto keeps looking at me funny and once we’re back in the car, I turn to him. “What?”

“Nothing. Just… wow, she got you wrapped around her little finger, huh?”

I start the car and reverse out of the parking lot. “Shut up.” I say.

* * *

After breakfast, I drop in on the compound to give my dad a status update and get one from him. I will tell him that I have the girl secured somewhere she can’t escape, neglecting to let him know she is there of her own volition now.

I’d left her at the warehouse, curled up on the bed with a kindle. She was using my account to download books to read, just in case anyone was monitoring hers for activity.

Good thing we already had that Wi-Fi installed.

Of course, it’s a big risk to leave her alone with a means to communicate with the outside world. Worse, it wasmyidea.

At some point you just have to let go and let God. The trick to winning when you gamble is weighing your odds carefully and being in possession of as much information as you can. For me, this involved listening as Giada told me her whole sorry tale including why she sought someone like me out at the BDSM club.

“The last time I saw you, was going to be our final encounter,” she said to me.

“Is that why you were crying?”

“Yeah, I thought my life was basically over. The thought of marrying that man fills me with horror.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” I pulled her to me and kissed her hard.

I take a deep breath and open the door to my father’s office. He’s sitting behind his desk, the map of our territories alight behind him, showing where every brick of cocaine we own is. Each brick is air tagged until it leaves our possession. In front of him are various burner phones that we use for communication. Open on the computer is an app we developed for our distributors.

It looks like a dating app except swiping right means you need some more product. It’s then dropped off by couriers on bikes who look just like any other delivery person in the city.

I’m very proud of the system because I came up with it.

“Papà.”

He looks up at me, his gaze piercing. I stand there and let him look until he’s satisfied. I don’t know what it is he searches for with these looks but he always does this every time I come to see him in his office.

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