Page 15 of Savage Little War

“If they retaliate against us, they’re going down,” my father replies. “Anyone who drops their weapon lives. Anyone who doesn’t—doesn’t.”

I guess that’s the best that I can ask for.

“You’ll help,” Dmitri promises me. “But we’re not going to be reckless with you. I can’t lose you again.”

His words make my heart ache, and I’m once again reminded about the secret that I have yet to share with him. It’s so hard to find the right time when so much is going on. Maybe I should wait until Paolo is dead. I don’t want anything to distract Dmitri.

“I need to go clean up this mess,” Sean says with a heavy sigh. “We’ll meet tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do.”

Dmitri nods his agreement.

I give my father another sympathetic look, knowing that he’s about to look at the bodies of people that he used to drink with.

Dad gently pats my arm before leaving the restaurant.

“Sorry our date came to an abrupt end,” Dmitri tells me as he walks over to me, his eyes scanning me like he’s making sure that I didn’t somehow get hurt.

“Another time,” I say with a soft smile, promising him more than just a date.

Dmitri kisses the top of my head as he wraps his arm around my shoulders.

“Let’s go home.”

5

Dmitri

Having the Irish on our side changes everything.

They have bodies, money, and the kind of reach you can’t buy overnight.

“This is Owen. He’s the one who got into contact with Luca’s cousin in New York City,” Sean says introducing one of his men to me as a large group of us occupy the conference room at my office.

I nod to Owen. He has the calm eyes of a man who never touches a gun because he doesn’t have to.

According to Sean, Owen is his information man. The person who digs around where others can’t reach and finds out things that no one else is supposed to. “How did that conversation go?”

“It was productive,” Owen replies with a half-smile. “She gave me some names of the Italians over here that I looked into, and I’ve uncovered their information man. Aldo. He’s the one who registers the shell companies and cleans the paper after,” Owen says. “Everything dirty runs through his hands first.”

“If anyone has proof, it’s him,” Cara says as she stands next to me.

Owen nods. “Probably on a laptop. Or a drive. He’ll keep it close to him, so it’ll be at his residence most likely.”

“If you managed to find out all of that, I can only assume that you already found his address,” I reply as I lift an eyebrow at him.

Owen’s grin broadens. “Well, of course. Problem is, his girlfriend Erica practically lives there. Hard to slip in and out with her always home.”

“Won’t we need him, though?” Sean asks from the other side of the table. “He’ll have all the passwords we would need to break into his devices.”

Owen rubs his jaw in thought. “You could storm his place and force him to give you access, but you’ll still have the girlfriend there as a witness. She’s innocent. Are you willing to kill her just for being there?”

I grind my teeth, wishing that this could be easier. Not only do we have to capture this guy and force him to give up his password, but now, we also have a needy girlfriend to deal with.

“Do they seem close?” Cara asks Owen.

Owen shrugs. “I scrubbed through all of her social media. There’re a lot of flowery posts about getting through ups and downs and how he treats her like a queen. It feels a little manufactured, though. I’d guess that she’s more interested in his money.”

Cara turns to me. “What if she was coaxed out of the apartment by someone?”