Page 55 of Don’t Say Mafia

“Thanks, Snookie-poo,” I said, unable to come up with anything more creative as I fired off a text with the coffee shop’s address. Gage knew exactly what barbecue meant, and Shelby would be waking up to a burned-down coffee shop very soon.

It actually was a win-win situation for the organization because I knew Shelby had an insurance policy on the place. Gage would make sure it didn’t look like arson, and then she’d be using her insurance policy to start paying off her debts.

I loved when plans came together.

Zachary had the door open before I reached the curb, and I nodded at him gratefully.

I slid into the back seat, loosening my tie as the door shut with a muted thud that sealed me off from the sidewalk noise. The leather was cool, the air inside already adjusted to my preferred temperature. I reminded myself to give Zachary another raise.

He eased back into traffic, and I pulled out my phone to search for Eden. The feed was just about to load when my phone vibrated in my hand.

“What,” I answered, already annoyed.

“I know something you don’t know,” Cruz said on the other end.

I rolled my eyes. “I saw Brad Luther’s hairy nuts last night, and I still managed to get the job done. You’re not allowed to be smug about anything right now.”

Silence.

Apparently I’d stunned another man into speechlessness, because it took Cruz a full second to recover.

“I don’t know that I want to tell you this knowing that. How have you not bleached your eyes?” he finally asked.

“Cruz,” I growled, rethinking our friendship rule that we weren’t allowed to kill each other.

“He’s out of the hospital.”

I went still. “What? How did I not know this?”

“Probably because you haven’t checked your phone in six hours on account of Luther’s nuts,” he mused.

I clenched my jaw. “When did he get out?”

“About an hour ago.” He answered my next question before I could ask it. “And she was by his side.”

I exhaled slowly through my nose. I guess that explained why she’d missed her shift this morning.

I hung up on him before he could say anything else, and the second the line went dead, I brought up the security feed. Her apartment came into view, and I gritted my teeth as I stared at the sight of Ryan lounging in their bed. Upright and alert and seemingly as happy as a clam.

He had a takeout container open beside him, and he was humming to himself as he shoveled cheap Chinese into his mouth.

I fucking hated him.

I switched camera feeds to the living room, and something eased in my chest when I saw Eden sitting on the couch. Of course, that thing in my chest tightened right back up when I realized she was crying as she looked at her phone.

Zooming in until her screen came into focus, I watched as she scrolled through job listings and application forms. Just another reason why Shelby’s coffeehouse was about to meet a fiery end.

Eden wiped her face and kept up her searching.

Wasn’t it typical of her relationship that Ryan was once again comfortable and carefree while she was breaking herself apart trying to keep things afloat?

Zachary glanced at me in the rearview mirror and then very wisely looked back at the road.

I switched back to Ryan and watched him take a hit of a vape, and I thought of a thousand different ways to kill him.

I texted Cruz because I didn’t have any other outlets at the moment.

Me: I just wanted you to know that I never used to feel this murdery before I met you. This is definitely your fault.