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“Sam, you’re with me.”
He follows me out to the Ferrari and swings into the passenger seat, with Dog reluctantly jumping into the back. I set a course for the Upper West Side. I have one more item of business to oversee tonight before heading to Ella’s place.
“Clean-up crew have finished.” Sam’s checking his messages. “Ella’s back home.”
“I know.”
He side-eyes me with interest, but for once he doesn’t comment.
“Santiago called.” I turn out of Red Hook and take a right back to the city. “He’s coming to New York next week, straight from Colombia.”
There’s a pause. “You think the old man’s quitting?”
“Looks that way. He confirmed it with Isabella a couple of hours ago.”
“Your father, too?”
“Ay, Dios mío!You say it like I have a direct hotline to him, but I expect so… This anti-trafficking taskforce means as much to him as it does Santiago. They run that show together.”
“Edier Grayson, former King of Shadows, and now the official ruler of the US Santiago Empire,” declares Sam, sounding impressed. “Will I have to start bowing to you?”
“Only if you want my fucking foot in your face.”
Now, it’s my turn to fall silent. I’m thinking of a kid who was told he was a worthless piece of shit for ten years, and who’s now on the verge of becoming the most powerful criminal in the US.
“It’s time you had your own territory, Sam.” I let this bombshell settle for a moment. “I’m giving you Vegas, if you want it?”
His next breath shoots out on a curse. “You serious?”
I nod. “Don’t give us an answer yet. Go home. Talk it over. Vegas is still eighty percent mafia-controlled, but that needs to change. Queenie just ‘completed’ on a new hotel complex for theHeliosbrand,and it’s right next to their flagship. I know how much you’ll excel at being the bad neighbor…”
He snorts loudly at this.
“There’s something else.” I pull alongside my main office, parking the Ferrari in front of his Vanquish. Killing the engine, I offer him a cigarette before sparking up one for myself. “It’s not in my nature to overshare, but I need you across something personal before you go.”
“I’m listening.”
I stare at the turning leaves on the sycamore trees overhead, taking a couple of lengthy hits of nicotine before continuing. It’s late September, but there’s barely any breeze. It’s like the whole world is holding its breath. “You were right.” Smoke comes hissing out between my clenched teeth. “El Alquimistaisconnected to my past. Someone’s not dead and buried. And I have a leak. Find out where I’m hemorrhaging information from and make it subtle. I want a record of anyone seen going in or out of Ella’s apartment block, bodyguards included.”
“And yours,” he murmurs, blowing smoke over his shoulder, as I turn to glare at him. “You think I didn’t know you had the place next door to her, Grayson? It’s stalking 101.” He grins wolfishly. “You should come talk to me about it sometime.”
“It’s complicated,” I grit out. “In the meantime, I need extra checks and surveillance on every singlesicarioin our crew.”
“I’m on it.”
Taking one last toke, I grind the cigarette butt into the palm of my hand, feeling nothing. “Isabella Santiago has an insider atEl Alquimista’smain plant in Suesca. We’ve managed to manipulate the time and date of his next shipment to New York. We believe he’s already in the US from several messages we’ve intercepted. We follow the product we get to him.”
“When?”
“Three months, if not sooner. It was originally six…but I’m not liking how things are playing out right now, so I moved the date up. This stays between us, Sam. Only four of us know, and we’re two of them.”
“And the poisoned dress tonight?”
“That was him.”
“So, he’s targeting Ella as well?” The concern in his voice makes me want to pound his head into my dashboard, but I’m grateful for it too. We all grew up together. Our shared history entitles him to give a shit and not incur my wrath, and I also know he’d take a bullet for her, no question.
“Does Santiago know what’s going on?”
