“The things we do for love,” Jared chuckled. “Right?”
Love. Angelo wasn’t afraid to fall in love. He had wanted to fall in love for a long time. But the spark he’d been looking for with someone, the one that told him this was the right person, had never been there.
Until now.
Kara was definitely someone he could see himself falling in love with, but he couldn’t imagine a more doomed relationship, either. He was going to do everything he could to help her, but he knew that might not be enough. Kara could get hurt, kidnapped, or worse. At some point she might have to run if that was the only way to stay safe. He would have to let her… andthatwould break his heart.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. Roarke’s man will be there soon. The code word you need to know is ‘Atlas.’ He’ll use that to let you know he was sent by Roarke.”
“Thanks, and tell Roarke thanks.”
“See tomorrow, Angelo.” Jared hung up.
Angelo drifted to sleep, for how long he wasn’t sure, but when the hospital door opened, he bolted upright awake, twitching his stomach muscles, ready to defend himself.
“It’s okay, Mr. Vertucci.” A tall, muscled man wearing jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt hovered in the corner of the room as he let the door he’d just slipped through close.
“I’m Asher Fleming from the Brothers of Valor Security team. Mr. Covington sent me. Have you readAtlas Shrugged?” he spoke in a calm, quiet tone as he approached the bed and the tenseness in Angelo’s body slipped away.
“Atlas Shrugged? Er… no,” Angelo said, realizing he was using the codeword.
“Don’t. It’s overrated,” Asher said as he stepped next to Angelo’s bedside.
“Good to know.” He held out his hand to Asher. “Call me Angelo. It’s nice to meet you, Asher.”
Asher’s shook Angelo’s hand with a firm grip.
“Thanks for coming so quickly.”
“Mr. Covington said he didn’t have a lot of details, but a protective presence was needed immediately. He said you were attacked by a man wearing a cop’s uniform?”
“That’s right. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to be a real cop. I imagine that would be a lot harder for you to deal with.”
Asher’s lips almost curved into a smile. “Not really.”
Angelo saw the dog tags on a chain hanging from the man’s chest from him chain, as well as a unique looking crest tattooed on the back of his hand. It was the crest of 75thregiment of Army Rangers. His uncle Luigi had been in the army in his younger days and had told stories about the Rangers he’d met while serving. That more than anything else secured Angelo’s trust.
“Here’s what I know…”
Asher listened intently, asking only a few questions to clarify key points. When he was done, Asher crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window as if something had caught his eye. He got up slowly and lowered the blinds, blocking the natural light, but also stopping anyone from seeing into the room.
“Organized criminals usually have scattered weapons training and no professional combat experience overall, which means they can be outwitted and out-manned, but what makes them dangerous is their unpredictability. We come up against the occasional professional hit man, but they usually aren’t ready to deal with well-protected targets. We can prepare for sophisticated attacks easily enough, but it’s the rushed,unexpected attacks we won’t see coming where people could get hurt.”
“So what do we do?”
Now Asher did smile. “I’ve been told you know the Cabrini crime family?”
“Sort of. They eat at my restaurant. I don’t know if they’d listen to me if I asked for help. And I don’t imagine they’d help me for free. It would come with a price.”
“Understood. You don’t want to owe those types a favor.” Asher’s brow furrowed. “I still think we need to make contact with them. If they think the Westies are encroaching on their turf, they might be more than willing to send a clear message to the Westies to back off.”
“My friend said something along those lines. You’re okay with working with the Chicago mob?” Angelo couldn’t hide his surprise. He couldn’t picture former military men and mobsters mixing.
Asher shrugged. “Life isn’t always black and white. Sometimes you fight in the gray. I’d rather get back-up from the devil we know than go into battle without enough force to defend you and Ms. Gallagher. Hell, they might handle our problem for us before it becomes a problem.”
Angelo lay back on the bed.
“You still need to rest if you want to get back home, Mr. Vertucci. Don’t worry, no one will get past me. My associate Colton is watching over your home. He’ll keep your family and your woman safe.”
