Page 75 of The Kingpin’s Bride

“Good.”

“No. It’s not. You’re going to make a mistake if you don’t get some of that out of your system,” he hissed.

I looked out the window. “The only mistake I made was letting my wife walk out on me.”

Afternoon brought the secondary location. A short-term safe house near the industrial airstrip. Santino’s people flagged it. We hit it hard and fast. Empty.

A mattress. Signs they had been there and moved again before dawn.

I stood in the middle of the empty room. Santino stepped up beside me. “We’ll find them.”

“We will.”

“Morena is out there chasing the same trails. My guys spotted her near here an hour ago. Alone, still.”

My jaw tightened. “And?”

“And I told them to keep watching. Soft. Like you ordered.” He paused. “You want me to bring her in?”

“No.”

“Matteo.”

“I said no.” I turned to face him fully. “She walks back when the little girl is safe. Not before. I won’t take that choice from her again.”

Santino studied me for a long moment. Then he nodded once. “Alright. We do it your way.”

He handed me a small pink jacket.

“There’s another lead,” he said.

I looked at the address he pulled up on his phone.

Solid.

“We hit it before dawn,” I said.

Santino nodded. “I’ll get the teams ready.”

He clapped me once on the shoulder, harder than necessary.

“Then let’s go get the bastard,” he said. “Before you burn the rest of the city down.”

I followed him out. But for the first time since she walked out, I had a direction. And a friend willing to walk into the fire with me.

“Estate first. We re-arm, we use the secure lines, and you get ten minutes that are not pure blood and concrete,” he said. “Non-negotiable.”

I did not argue. Another few hours of pure momentum and I would start making the kind of mistakes that got people killed. The Moretti estate was quiet when we pulled in. Security nodded us through. The main house glowed with warm light against the dark. I could hear the high, bright sound of small voices somewhere deeper inside.

Santino glanced at me as we walked up the steps. “Aurora knows the broad strokes. I texted her on the way. She’s not going to be soft about it.”

“It’s fine. I don’t need coddling right now.”

“Good. Because you’re not getting it.”

We stepped into the foyer and the sound of the girls got louder. Three sets of small feet pounding down the hallway. Then they were there. Francesca in front, as always, dark curls wild, followed by Angelica and Elisa like a tiny, chaotic formation.

“Uncle Teo!” Francesca launched herself at my legs without hesitation. “You’ve got blood on your shirt again. Mama said you’re not allowed to be bloody in the house.”