“Primo. Primo Esposito?”
“My guy, you’ve gotta try a little harder to act like you actually know these people. Primo kidnapped Isabella and forced her into marriage to create a truce. But the two ended up falling in love. Same kind of thing with Lore and Renzo.”
“Little Lore?” Christopher asked, looking suddenly stricken. “And fucking Renzo Lombardi? That bastard?”
Huh.
He seemed personally invested enough to give me pause.
“I mean, Lore isn’t so little anymore. And Renzo didn’t kidnap her; she volunteered. So there’s that.”
“Where were her brothers? Where the fuck was Nico?”
Hm.
Okay.
He was starting to make a decent argument for being connected to the Costas.
“Well, Cesare is married to Mere. And Nico is married to Blair—”
“His best friend’s wife?”
“Chrissy, my friend, where exactly have you been? The moon?”
“Might as well have been,” he mumbled under his breath.
“Alright. Let me just…” I said, putting my gun down on the counter.
His gaze lasered in on it, then stiffened as he immediately clocked the guys in the back, still looking shady as hell.
Sensing the observation, the guys looked at Christopher, then me, before deciding to make their way out of the store.
“What was that?”
“The thrills of being a business owner,” I said, video-calling my brother-in-law’s number.
“Alara, not a good time.” Brio was panting and sweaty, and there was a streak on his cheek that looked suspiciously like blood.
“Just two seconds, I promise. Someone is here claiming to be the bagman, but I’ve never seen him before. I just need a confirmation.”
I turned the phone to frame the stranger.
“No fucking shit! Chris!” Brio called. “I thought I heard something about you being back, but wasn’t sure.”
“I’m back. And trying to do my job. But…” He waved back at me.
“Yeah, she’s got some brass balls on her. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll be back to you in a second,” he called as someone groaned in the background. “Alara, he’s solid. Chris, we gotta link up.”
With that, he ended the call.
Christopher shot me the smallest of smirks.
“Why didn’t someone else tell me you were—” I started.
But the door flew open so fast it confused the chime.
Then there was Leondro. Leo. Brother to Nico, Cesare, Gavino, Zeno, and Lore. Second oldest, in birth order. My personal favorite of the brothers.
