“Buona notte, Simone.”
She waited on the front porch while he walked toward his car, the cold night air swirling around her thin robe. His confident swagger kept her glued to his every move. He glanced at his phone, slipped inside his very expensive sports car. It roared to life and he backed out of her driveway. On the street, he turned on the headlights, tapped the horn, and sped away.
“Wow,” she murmured.
Luciano Santini was the most compelling, complicated man she’d ever met.
LUCIANO
Luciano returned Teddy’s call.
“Yo,” Teddy answered. “I got a hit on the Fuller brothers.”
“Nice,” Luciano drove out of Simone’s neighborhood, her beautiful scent still surrounding him.
“They’ve been flying below the radar for months,” Teddy continued. “One of them made the bonehead move of stealing a wallet and using a credit card at his favorite strip club. The card got flagged and I found ‘em.”
“Where?”
“DC apartment.” After a beat, Teddy said, “The credit card got turned off. I’m concerned they’re gonna bolt.”
“Neighborhood surveillance?” Luciano asked.
“Everything is cued up to turn off.”
It was one-thirty in the morning.
Luciano accelerated, and the McLaren flew down the road. “I can be home in twenty.”
“Twenty at your house, another thirty to DC,” Teddy said. “That puts us there around three.”
“What about building surveillance?” Luciano asked.
“I turned off the exterior cameras,” Teddy replied. “I’ll take down the power in the building.”
“Let’s do it.” Luciano hung up.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled up to the gates of his mansion, acknowledged the night guard in the booth, and drove inside. Up the tree-lined driveway he flew, parking at the fountain out front.
Dressed in all black, Teddy waited on the front steps. As he rose, Luciano extended his hand. Teddy clasped it, pulled him in for a hug.
“Who were you with?” Teddy asked.
“What makes you think?—”
“Why don’t you ever just answer my question, you know, like direct?”
“Simone Redding,” he said. “She was at Carrera’s.”
“How does she know Carrera?”
Luciano plugged in his six-digit code on the electronic lock, then stood in front of the retina scanner. The light turned green, the lock slid open, and he walked into his home.
“Z had her watching me, but Carrera pulled her.” Luciano walked down the hallway, stopping in front of a closed door. Again, he paused in front of a retina scanner, then stepped away so Teddy could move close. The light flashed green and Luciano opened the door.
Once inside, movement tripped the light sensor. Both men walked over to the back closet. Luciano plugged in a ten-digit code in the electronic lock, the door opened, revealing over twenty weapons of various sizes.
“I have to change.” Luciano exited the room, rode the elevator to his bedroom. There he changed into skintight black pants and a black pullover sweater. On went his Kevlar vest, a black knit cap, and his leather boots. In his walk-in closet, he left his wallet and phone on the marble table, pulled the burner from its charger, confirmed it was on silent, and slipped it into his pocket. He shouldered into a double holster before grabbing his black leather gloves.
