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I shoot to my feet and storm up to her, looming over her and getting right in her personal space. I’m fuming. I can’t believe this. “The Gatekeepers? Matthew Priest? Tell me that ain’t true, that you ain’t mixed up with that psychopath.”
Priest don’t call himself mafia and hates it when he’s compared to any of that. Thinks of himself as a businessman. But the way the asshole does business ain’t above board in any way whatsoever. Blackmail, extortion, maiming, murder… you name it, he’s there doing it. He’s the goddamn puppet master of the criminal underworld.
Getting mixed up with him ain’t no small thing. And once you do, the only way out is death.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“What?” I bark. “You? You didn’t have a choice? You expect me to buy that? Nobody controls you. I should know.”
She drops her gaze, actually looking… embarrassed? It ain’t something I’ve ever seen from her before, so it’s hard to peg it. “I… made a mistake.”
What?The surprises just keep on coming.
Shifting my weight, trying to get my head around her confession, I press, “Mistake?”
She shoves her hand through her hair, clearly distressed about it. “Yes,” she says. “I was hired to take out a big-time mob enforcer of the Veritino crime family. Marco.”
“Hired by who? Who the hell would risk the fallout of that?”
“The Don himself,” she tells me. “Luigi.”
“Why?” I press.
“Marco had become a wildcard. He was screwing up all over the place. He couldn’t control his bloodlust and it was endangering the Veritino syndicate.” She takes a beat, then goes on, “The guy had a ridiculously predictable routine. He visited the same brothel every Friday night and spent exactly forty-five minutes there. The plan was to take him out when he left and was relaxed and… satiated, off guard.”
“Sounds easy enough.”
“It should’ve been, yes. But I didn’t have all the intel, the complete picture. I’d been hard-up for a while, no jobs coming my way. I couldn’t figure out why, but it was what it was. Then this one came to me. I was anxious, way too anxious. It made me impulsive and stupid. I just assumed there wasn’t anyone else inside the blacked-out limo he always arrived in. Sure, it wouldn’t have been such an issue if I’d been able to get off my shot at my target before he’d climbed back in after his brothel visit. But a scuffle outside forced me to adjust my shot and plans. I fired into the limo. It wasn’t only him I ended up killing.”
“Who was it?”
“Will Land.”
“Priest’s right-hand man.”
She nods. “The very same.”
“So, you’re saying you were forced into working this job for Priest, because of your screw-up?”
“Of course. Why else would I be doing it?”
“I don’t know, maybe you wanted to move up in the world. You’ve always been intense about your career.”
She gives me a nasty glare. “I don’t answer to anyone. I’m an independent contractor. This… doing something at anyone else’s behest—especially his—doesn’t sit well with me. Why do you think I came in here blind? Priest wouldn’t give me any other intel. I had no idea it was you.”
“That ain’t a coincidence.”
I see realization spark in her eyes. Hell, we were always on the same wavelength, so it ain’t no surprise that she gets my train of thought without me having to explain.
“You think he knew and that he was trying to have you killed.”
“He’s gotta know that the James Cannon alias is me.” This is bad, real bad. For everybody. “I’ve been doing a load of contract work, plus all the stuff I’ve been doing to help out Thorns. Word must’ve gotten around and reached him that I’m still alive and kicking.”
“Why, Cal? Why would he want you dead?”
I shrug. “No clue. We ain’t never crossed one another.”
Instead of getting this sorted, every answer is just breeding so many more questions.
“I need a drink,” I mutter, turning and heading for the bar at the far end of the room.
It’s gonna be a long-ass night.
