Page 58 of Pretty Lies

Cory considered that. “We’ve got history—me and him.”

“And that means what for Della …?”

“Best option is for me to remain where I am, doing what I’m doing. See if we can get shit calmed down and go from there. Especially if Luis thinks we’re together. The bigger issue I want to know is what the fuck does he want?”

Frankie’s brow dipped low. “That’s obvious, isn’t it? He wants her. Why else would he go through all this fucking trouble?”

But was that it?

“Is that all?” Cory asked. “A little fuck like Luis is going to come after one of the Outfit’s most successful Capos because he got a taste of your daughter’s puss—”

“Watch it,” Frankie said sharply. “And Luis’s got more reach than you think.”

Cory straightened his mouth out. It always got him into trouble. Or so his ma said.

“Apologies.”

“Thank you,” came the grumbled reply.

Frankie also had a point—Cory hadn’t kept up with Luis’s growth on the streets or rather, his gang’s growth, more than knowing he still fucking existed and what he was usually doing to hustle. He was still waiting to chat with Joe and see if his brother could find more detailed information that might help him out here to connect some dots.

“It doesn’t entirely make sense, think about it,” Cory said.

Frankie didn’t meet his gaze.

That told Cory a lot.

“And you didn’t answer my question—why wasn’t I given the full details?”

Still, all he got was silence.

Cory waited it out.

“You’re a smart and quick young man, Cory,” Frankie said, reaching for the cup of coffee with steam edging upward from the rim, “so why don’t you tell me a reason I would have to keep valuable information like that to only those who needed to know? Your only real job here is to watch Della’s back—keep her safe. Not solve my fucking problems. Go ahead and consider it, I have time to wait.”

Yeah.

Just like his uncle, Tommas.

“You’re protecting something,” Cory said.

Della, of course.

Because she was who she was working in a business that would take every chance to eat her up and spit her out. No doubt, she could handle it. That didn’t mean people like her father wouldn’t still protect her at all costs from every angle they could.

Frankie shrugged. “For one.”

“What else is there?”

“You answered that yourself, didn’t you?”

Cory had to think about that.

All at once, he understood.

It was the entire thing.

The attack.