Page 94 of Royal Desire

“So you’re saying it’s a divine disappearance.”

Eli huffs a laugh. “If you call having a priest on payroll in the form of tithing, then yeah, divine. He missed Sunday family dinner, hasn’t been back to his club, and didn’t show up to the office today. The guy disappeared into thin air.”

“So he’s on his way here. That’s fucking great.”

“We don’t know that. But here’s the thing ... the loose-lipped bartender said no one in the family misses that family dinner. My investigator parked down the street and watched the drama unfold. There were more people in and out of that house than the family. And none of them looked like they were there for a plate of pasta. They were agitated and pissed. But the kicker is, there were armed guards at the door.”

I drag a hand down my face. “And you think this is related to Ruby?”

“We have no way to be sure. But we do think this is related to Enzo going MIA, and since Enzo is after Ruby, I wanted you to know.”

“I appreciate it. And I’ll pay you for the additional information. Thanks for sticking it out.”

“I said it’s on me and it is. My guy is scheduled to come home tomorrow. He’s going to visit his BFF bartender one more time tonight to see what he says. I’ll let you know.”

I’m about to glue myself to Ruby’s side when another call beeps in. A client, but I’m not about to send him to voicemail.

“Thanks again, Eli. We’ll talk soon.”

“Will do.”

I click over to the next call. “Good morning, Brand.”

“It is a good morning.” I hear water lapping the shore and kids playing in the background. Exactly what I like to hear from my clients—enjoying their lives instead of working themselves to the bone. But this client is different. “Consider it a good morning for you and the Vitales, but not so much for the Carusos.”

I pause before asking, “Do I want to know what that means?”

“Of course you do. Hang on though, I need to step away from my kids.” He holds the phone away, but I can hear him talk to his wife, Aria. “I need a minute, Doc. I’ll be right back.” He returns to me and lowers his voice. “When I told you we don’t like messy, I meant it. There’s a war waging within the Caruso family, and we were able to keep our hands clean.”

I follow Alice and Ruby to the aisle of panties and bras. Alice’s eyes light up like she just hit the jackpot. “I heard Enzo is MIA.”

“You heard right. All it took was my man whispering to the right people and paying a certain cop more than Enzo thought he was worth. We have the surveillance video that Enzo thought was deleted from his servers. It shows Enzo putting a bullet through his brother’s head in the back room of his club. We made sure the Caruso family knows who took out their golden child.”

“Damn, you work fast.”

Brand confirms his efficiency as the West Coast Mafia king. “I don’t waste time. I was happy to do this. We need to find him, but it’s a first step toward making this go away. We’re looking for him, so stay close to your woman for now. Do you need me to put a man on her? Aria will have my balls if anything happens to her new favorite singer.”

I move closer to Ruby and Alice. “Ruby and her family have moved into my house. It’s gated and secure, and the property is vast. I have cameras everywhere. I don’t plan on her leaving, but I’ll have peace of mind if I can locate Enzo.”

“If the Carusos find Enzo before any of us, they’ll take care of the situation themselves. Enzo is on the run for a reason. He should be afraid of his own family. If they find him, the rest of us can keep our hands clean—just the way I like it.”

“Yes, clean hands. I prefer it that way too.”

Brand chuckles at my expense. “Don’t worry, man. I’m keeping you clean.”

“If you could also keep me in the loop, I’d appreciate that too.”

“I’ve got your back. I’ll let you know when Enzo Caruso is lying in a shallow grave his own family dug for him.”

“When I said keep me in the loop, feel free to do that without so many specific details.”

Brand doesn’t even chuckle this time. It’s an all-out laugh. “Got it. We’ll talk soon.”

I disconnect the call before Brand shares more details than I need to know and go straight to Ruby who tosses a pack of five of the tiniest panties into the cart right next to full coverage granny panties that I pray are for Alice. This is the most interesting shopping trip I’ve ever experienced.

Ruby looks up at me with an expression I’ve seen multiple times in the last two days. “Everything okay? I feel bad that we’re keeping you from work.”

Alice wanders closer to the socks, so I speak freely. Or as freely as one can about my diverse group of friends. “Let’s just say that between my contacts who make up a prior FBI agent and a Mafia boss who adopted me as a cousin, I have good intel that Enzo is on the run from his own family. They know he offed his brother. That’s the good news. The bad news is he hasn’t been seen since he took communion yesterday morning.”