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Sienna spun, kicking the back of his leg.
“Ah!” Vito flew back and landed hard on his ass—the thud resounding through the alley. “Bitch!”
“Our deal doesn’t come with a free pass for disrespect,” said my sister. “Last warning.”
I swear I was buying out a trophy shop and giving them all to her.
“See you tomorrow,” I sang, the two of us striding off. A string of curses, insults, and oaths were our goodbye. Didn’t matter as long as he showed up the next night with a name.
“Do you think this is it?” Sienna asked. We hit the sidewalk and left Cooper’s on a quick march. The bar was located on another red-light street, and almost every alley we looked down had another shady deal going on. “Is Vito about to give us the guy who attacked Sunny and started this all?”
“I don’t know. Though he is about to tell us who murdered Frenchie and her friends. If he’s been strutting around free all this time, he won’t be after tomorrow. That’s still a win.”
“Assuming you deliver the diamonds,” Bane announced, falling in step with us.
I whipped around. “Where did you come from? And where were you listening?”
“From a good spot to jump in and break his neck when he pulled the knife on you.” Temper leached into the answer. “But you were incredible, Kenzie. And you, Sienna. Handled him without a problem.”
“What can we say?” Sienna returned. “Sunny hired a couple of pros.”
“Who might fail,” I said as what I agreed to sunk in. “What if I can’t get the diamonds? I have no clue where they are or if they’re still in the arcade. If I go in there demanding seven million’ worth of jewels, so I can seal a deal with a Merchant enemy, Ryker will hand me a bullet in the brain instead.”
“You’ll need Sunny on this one.” Bane drew ahead to the street corner and waved down a cab. “He’ll know what his crew does with a score.”
Bane was right. I dialed Sunny as we climbed in, and vaguely explained the situation, mindful of the whistling cabbie.
“He knows who caused all the trouble for your sister six months ago, but he won’t tell us unless he gets something in return. Three weeks ago, his friend lent you something. He wants it back.”
“What’s the something? I stole a lot of shit three weeks ago. Cough when I say it. Vintage Porsche Roadster, a Cézanne, a Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1951...”
My mouth fell open at the list of screamingly expensive items Sunny’s gang helped themselves to. Ryker gave me an inventory list along with the shipment information, but it was written with general descriptors: French painting, vintage car, 1951 bottle of wine.
Holy hell, how rich is this man?
“—diamonds.”
I coughed.
“The diamonds?” Sunny repeated. “Athena recovered those in a smash-and-grab job. The guy, Ira Hansen, was a slumlord, running a drug business on the side. He hoarded hundreds of thousands while his tenants lived without heat, working locks, or electricity. Naturally, that scum and Vito are good buddies.
“Athena raided the place, emptied it of everything we could fence, and split the money between the tenants. After we took our fee, of course,” Sunny added. “Your boy doesn’t run a charity.”
“Of course.”
“I have no idea how he got his hands on those diamonds. Each one is worth about thirty-five thousand dollars. They’re big-time for a wannabe drug kingpin like Ira. My guess is he stole or blackmailed some rich bag for them.
“I’m telling you all of this because unless Ryker and the guys are changing the rules in my absence, the diamonds should still be in the arcade.”
“They wouldn’t have sold them? I can’t say what happened to them since I saw them the other day.”
“We don’t know where they came from—only that they don’t belong to Ira. For all we know, he did blackmail them off an innocent person, or murdered a jeweler to get those diamonds. Until we know how hot a score is, and the possible blowback if we sell them, they’re kept in the safe. Like I said, that’s where they’ll be unless Ryker is making up his own rules.”
“What safe?”
“The one in our office.” Sunny said this like I was pretending not to know what he meant.
“I don’t know about any safe in our office.”
“Really?” He chuckled. “Ryker, the cagey prick. Course he didn’t tell you. There’s a fortune stashed away in there. Not to worry, Angel. I’ll tell you where it is and how to get in. Step one is vitally important.”
“Okay,” I said, gripping the phone. “What do I do?”
“First: come home, proceed to take off all of your clothes, and ride my dick till it pops like a piñata. The rest of the instructions will follow.”
“Goodbye.”
I hung up on his guffaws. Sole Bellisario was incorrigible. I was also starting to believe he was psychic. The man predicted I’d fall for him, let him worship my body every night, and he’d put a ring on my finger. He was three for three while I was still figuring out how he and the Merchants became my whole world so fast.
