Page 58 of Merciless Desires

“I’ll let you go.” After you’re dead.

“Shortly after she came to New York, I was approached by a man to distract her from you,” he admitted. “That’s why I approached her at the club. I was paid for helping them. I had to be photographed with her so her father could see.”

“Why?” I asked.

“They were trying to discredit you. They wanted to show her dad that you weren’t as loyal as he thought. I wasn’t supposed to shoot at you. I was supposed to take the girl and keep her safe until they found her.”

“Who?” Romero asked. “Who hired you?”

“Some big family in Italy. They’re working with Malatesta,” he said. “They didn’t like Cinzia cozying up to you in America. They were afraid you were going to convince the Don not to make an alliance with them.”

I glanced at Romero, knowing we already had a name. Calabrese.

Romero nodded.

“You’ve been very helpful.” I pressed the gun to Paulie’s chest.

“Wait!” Paulie shouted as Romero held him still. “I didn’t give you a name. You can’t kill me.”

“You didn’t have to give me a name, you piece of useless shit.” I stared him in the eyes as I pulled the trigger, feeling the impact of the bullet piercing his chest. He fell to the ground, lying in a pool of his own tainted blood. “That was for taking a shot at me in front of my house while my girl was with me.”

“No honor.” Romero waved two of our guys over. “Take care of this. The cameras are disabled. Be quick about it.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Romero’s trusted head of security, Joey, said.

I shoved my gun inside the back of my pants as we headed into the club. Romero put his arm around me as we walked.

“I would have done it,” he said.

“That one was mine.”

Romero usually did the heavy lifting when it came to eliminating people. These days, we had people who did it for us, but when something was personal, we took care of it. Paulie taking a shot at me and Cin was about as personal as it could get for me. He deserved to die.

When we entered the back office, Rocco was waiting for us.

“Well?” He shut his laptop.

“It’s done.” Romero went to the table and poured three shots of vodka. “Paulie botched the hit all on his own. That’s why no one came to help him. He was only supposed to kidnap Cin to rattle Malatesta’s trust in Gio.”

“Calabrese?” Rocco asked.

“Yeah.” I took a shot of vodka. “I guess having Cin living with another man while her father arranged the marriage wasn’t traditional enough. They were afraid I was going to taint her.”

“If Calabrese was in negotiations with Malatesta and he was going to get Cinzia in the deal anyway, why risk kidnapping her?” Rocco chugged his shot of vodka. “It seems unnecessary.”

“Not if he was showing strength in his own family,” Romero said. “If I were promised a woman in an alliance, I would want to make sure she was with me and not another man. I’d want to keep an eye on her. I wouldn’t want her in another country doing whatever she wanted with Gio.”

“Cin could be in danger,” I said. She had told me all about her new fiancé through texting. “Once Aldo has her and this deal goes through, it’s going to be a lot harder for me to get to her.” Not to mention what could happen to her when he finds out she’s not a virgin. “I don’t want to do anything that could get her killed.”

“Her father will protect her until we can get to her,” Romero said.

“They’re staying at a resort in a secluded area in New Jersey,” Rocco said. “I had Malatesta tailed when he left the safe house. My guys have been hanging back, but Calabrese is there.”

“With Cin?” I slammed my glass on the table. “We have to go get her.”

“We’re working on it,” Romero said. “I needed confirmation from Paulie before we could go to Malatesta. Now I know Calabrese is responsible for the hit.”

“We don’t have any proof,” I said. “I killed Paulie. Why would Malatesta believe us?”

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