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I still wanted to bring Giorgio in. I knew his organization had an interest in bringing down this trafficking ring. He’d contacted me to find out what I knew after we’d eliminated Marco’s cousin. Giorgio was a fucking badass, and I’d never met anyone who was a better shot. The two of us might pull this off together, but I needed more than Giorgio’s sure aim and fearlessness. I needed someone at my back who cared. I needed my family. I needed Angelo’s unwavering loyalty and Lucien’s ability to execute a complex plan. I needed Sabrina’s wit and determination. I was done hiding things from them and feeling like I wasn’t a real part of the family anymore.
I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. I was going to take the lead on this, work on a plan, bring in Giorgio and anyone else we needed, but I was going to do it with my family.
I grabbed my phone and entered the number Giorgio had told me to memorize after I’d helped him. A woman answered. “Can I help you?”
“I’m calling for Giorgio.”
“I’m monitoring his calls. Who is this?”
I hesitated for a moment considering whether I should give my name.
“If you’re on his contact list, I’ll give you his direct number.”
I didn’t like all this shadowy shit, but I was desperate. “Devil Marchesi.”
“Mr. Marchesi, you are on the list. The number you need is…” I put her on speaker and scrambled to type it into my phone as she spoke.
“Thank you.” She’d hung up before the words were out of my mouth.
I called Giorgio, and he answered almost immediately. “Devil, are you calling in your favor?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I don’t have any jobs going right now, and I’m bored as fuck. What have you got for me?”
I could easily guess that Giorgio being bored was a dangerous thing. When I explained what I needed, he whistled.
“We’ve been watching Swain since he came back to town. He’s been working harder than ever to grow his power, and he’s been fucking quiet about it.
“Yeah, so quiet we had no idea, and Lucien’s always listening.”
Giorgio snorted. “He’s going to need to listen harder for these assholes.”
“How bad is it?”
“They’ve got numerous cops under their thumb. Was Murphy’s demise your work?”
“Yes.”
“I thought it might’ve been since he went after Lucien. Did you know Murphy and their other police contacts aren’t just making things disappear like the cops on your family’s payroll? They’re committing the crimes themselves then pretending to investigate them.”
“Fuck. Are you saying Murphy killed Lily Milano?”
“I’m saying there’s a strong possibility.”
I wished I could kill the man again. “Do you think they know I’m involved with Joe.”
“I’d say almost certainly.”
At least that meant they were more likely to keep him alive so they could get to me.
“We had Daniels marked as a law-abiding man,” Giorgio said. “Did you bring him over to your side?”
“Not exactly. We… It’s fucking complicated.”
Giorgio laughed. “Of course it is. What does Lucien think of your association?”
I should have been prepared for the question, but I wasn’t, and I froze.
“Damn,” Giorgio said. “He doesn’t know.”
“He doesn’t. Neither does Angelo, but I’m about to tell them. Can you meet us in two hours?” Would that give me time to get my family on board with the plan? It would have to. I didn’t know how long Joe had.
“They don’t know about you and Daniels, or they don’t know any of it?”
“They don’t know about Murphy or anything except that Joe and I have some history.”
“Why don’t you tell me about you and Joe then? That will give you some practice.”
“There’s not much to tell. We made a bargain. He’d make sure Lucien wasn’t charged, and I’d take care of Murphy since he hadn’t been able to touch him. Now he’s involved in a case where I thought I might be implicated, so I made another deal with him.”
“One that requires you to spend most nights at his house?”
Maybe Marco had been right. Maybe I shouldn’t have involved Giorgio and his scary-as-fuck organization. “How do you know where I’ve been spending my nights?”
“It’s our business to know everything about the people we work with.”
“I worked with you once.”
“Exactly.”
Fuck.
“Now tell me the truth about you and Daniels.”
He wanted the truth. Fine. He’d get it. “I love him.”
“Damn. That was not what I was expecting.”
“If you tell anyone else, I’ll deny it.”
He laughed. “If I couldn’t keep secrets, I’d be dead.”
“Would you? I’m pretty sure you’d shoot everyone first.”
“Possibly. I’m going to talk to X, and—”
“Does X need to be involved?” X was the leader of Vigilance. None of us knew his real name or even what he looked like. I wasn’t sure Giorgio did either. As far as I knew, all of X’s communication with his operatives was done via phone, text, or email and none of it was traceable. And the man knew things no one should know, like where I went at night. Even Lucien was intimidated by him.
