“That makes no sense.”
“It said to tell his daughter to get her husband to give up the bid.”
Leo ran his hand over his face. “Jesus.”
“So will you please give it up? There’s other cities you can open a casino in. New York is awfully close to opening up licenses. Maybe if you’re patient–”
“I will not be told what to do by some anonymous piece of shit who's just trying to intimidate me. If they’re really serious, they’ll meet me face to face. Not send my wife to do their job.”
“Leo–”
He held up his hand. “Trust me, Drea. I’ve seen this type of shit for years. Even my father got bullshit warnings like this, which is why I wonder why Edoardo even bothered bringing it to you. He should know better.”
Oh God. What was I going to do? Not only was he not backing down, but he also wasn’t taking it seriously. I couldn’t possibly prove to him the seriousness without incriminating myself.
My chest clenched in agony. “Can’t you see this is a sign? From the moment you bought the property, nothing has gone right. This isn’t meant to be, and you should get out before it costs us anymore.”
He chuckled. “It’s a sign that your father shielded you too much from the family business, or you’d know this wasn’t a true threat.”
“Would you just humor me this time?”
Leo gave me a long look before sighing. Hope surged in my chest. “Fine. I’ll get Gianni to dig into the name on the other bid. Will that make you feel better?”
No, no, no!Since I didn’t know what else to do or say, I could only whisper, “Okay.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: LEO
As I stood in front of my desk eyeing the new blueprints for the casino, I couldn’t help feeling like I was master of the universe. Okay, so maybe I was master of my own little corner of the universe. No matter what, it felt fucking amazing to be one step closer to making my dreams come true.
Of course, my excitement was tempered by the conversation I’d had with Drea last night. After I finished dinner, I’d tried putting her at ease by calling Gianni to get him on the case. When I’d come to bed, I found Drea already asleep. I hoped Gianni would have news for me soon, so I could call her.
Without knocking, Gianni swept through my office door. I stared at him in surprise. “What brings you to Philly?”
“I didn’t want to risk giving you the information over the phone.”
With a low whistle, I said, “That does not sound good.”
He handed me a folder. “Your competition on the adjacent property isn’t Grant Laborteux.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Well, it’s an alias for Vincent Moreno.”
“Fuck,” I groaned.
It was one thing to try to outbid an outsider for the land. It was quite another to potentially double-cross an investor whose wife was the daughter of Edoardo’s enemy.
“Do you think it would help if I reached out to him?”
“I guess it couldn’t hurt.”
Nodding at him, I said, “I’m probably going to need your expertise to track down the number.”
After taking out his iPad, he said, “I’m on it.”
Gianni’s hacking skills were infamous. He was one of the best on the East Coast. That’s why his role in the family was strictly cybersecurity and technology.
Silence echoed through the room. I didn’t know how long it would take for him to locate Vincent’s real number. I’m sure, like us, he had numerous accounts and burner phones.
