Page 79 of Pretty Lies

“Theo said the same.”

“You can step back now, if you want,” Damian said quietly. “I’ve talked to Tommas. It’ll be more than just Frankie and his people going after Luis Ruiz, not to mention they’ve clearly got an issue with information about business being shared outside of pertinent people.”

“That’s a nice way of saying today was probably a setup.”

Joe said nothing.

“Nonetheless,” his father said, “you can step back from your job. They’ll have someone else to handle what you’ve been doing. With Tommas putting people on this situation, it’ll be over a lot quicker than anyone realizes.”

Good.

That changed nothing for him.

Cory glanced down at his dog, barely considering his father’s offer. “I’m not stepping back. Not while Della is still involved.”

His father looked at him in a different way, then. “I heard through the grapevine you were possibly getting close to Costello’s daughter. That something I need to talk to you about, or …?”

Cory chuckled.

Joe grinned, too.

“Already done, Dad.”

Damian made a thick sound under his breath. “Just … behave.”

“You all keep telling me that like I’m not.”

“There was a time it didn’t matter to you.”

Cory nodded. “Guess I grew up, huh?”

His father gave him a ghost of a smile. “Guess so. I’m going to make some calls. You’re welcome to bring Mace back to Monica whenever. She’s been trying to convince me to let her steal him from you altogether.”

“Never gonna happen.”

“Tell her that.” Then, Damian reached through the space between them, his palm clapping Cory on his left cheek. “Be careful. Hmm? Don’t do to Lily what was done today to someone else’s mother.”

That hit a few nerves.

All Cory could do was nod.

It was only once their father had exited the building that Joe finally spoke.

“I’ve found nothing interesting on Luis yet—nothing that’s going to help. I’m still looking.”

Cory didn’t doubt it. “What have you found?”

“A lot of business ties. The man keeps flipping his game, you know? Never stays on one thing for long. A year ago he was working with fake cash. This year he’s been running whatever scheme works. You know what that means, though, right?”

“He’s probably got connections.”

“To almost every gang in the city. He’s got a lot of friends. People act like they’re not helping or doing shit for him, but they are behind the scenes.”

“I wonder if that’s what today was,” Cory mused.

“What?”

“The drugs at the warehouse, Joe. You think the fact they were stolen was by accident just because they were there? Nah, man, not even close. That’s why he hit the place today. Us being there was the accident, that’s all.”