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It’s one thing to cover up your tracks, but it’s quite another delving into offshore accounts and burying your identity so deep that nobody will ever find it. I get the idea of an offshore account, but this is ridiculous. We have the best people in the business diving into this, and everything has come up blank.
“And if Rodríguez really is innocent in all of this,” Marco scoffs. “Then I would say, he’s a very good lawyer, but not a very ethical one.”
“Since when did any of that ever bother us before?” Dante quips.
“You’re right,” I agree. “But something about this stinks. I don’t care what you say, Rodríguez played innocent pretty well, but that doesn’t mean to say he doesn’t know something. Wasn’t he a little too quick to give us all the information? “
“The guy was shitting his pants,” Angelo says, rubbing his chin. “If he really is lying to us, then he’s more of a fool than I give him credit for.”
“We've been over this before, Angelo,” Enzo says, running ahead through his hair. “Any lawyer can set up a company through another company, and another without actually knowing who they’re dealing with. It might not be common practice, but it’s not unheard of.”
This is not what Angelo, or any of us, want to hear. Time is ticking. And we have to take control back of the city.
Word on the street in the underworld is that Il Diavolo has been making his move quietly for years, working through the ranks, picking up all the little guys society forgot about, and turning them into his foot soldiers. All of this was done behind closed doors. All of it was done to gain favor with people who have no conscience. And that makes him a very dangerous man. He has numbers, and what’s worse, he has loyalty.
“He’s bankrolling a big operation,” Dante says, looking just as worried as Angelo. “So he must have money from somewhere, and not just from the underworld, an operation like this takes years in the making. And it seems like he has a vendetta against the Medicis that runs deep. Maybe deeper than we ever imagined.”
Again, I see the strain on Angelo’s face.
It’s like the weight of the world is really on his shoulders. It can’t be easy, knowing there is a bounty on the Medici name, and anyone who comes into contact with us is at risk. I’m not glad Sage got attacked, obviously, but I’m glad she is now under my care. I’m not letting her go anywhere.
“It makes no fucking sense,” I say, shoving my hands in my pants pocket. “None of this does. He’s hidden himself even from his associates. He’s covered his tracks, but someone has to know who he is. If he’s not willing to come out and fight like a man, then he’s a fucking snake. And the only way to win over a snake is to take the head.”
“Easier said than done, brother,” Angelo says, his face grim. “But I do agree, we need to catch him at his own game. Come face to face and deal with it head on. We need to find something of his that’s precious to him and take it. If he’s human, then he has a weakness, and we’ll find it. We need to make him bleed. We need to make him understand that nobody is ever going to rid the city of the Medicis.”
Powerful words coming from the most powerful man in Boston.
“I can assure you, Vaughan and I are working as fast as we can,” Sloane interrupts, her coffee cup in her hands and Charlie snoozing in her lap. “But there are literally dozens upon dozens of company names, none of them registered or related to the other. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Sloane is one of the most brilliant hackers in the country, so if there is something to be found, she will find it.
“I know you’re working hard,” Angelo says. “We all do. I’m not taking my frustrations out on you, and if it seems that way, then I apologize.”
Angelo apologizing? Wow, he must be feeling feverish.
He has a fondness for Sloane, and he has since the day Rocco almost killed her. It was a case of mistaken identity, or rather, he didn’t expect the hacker who almost had Angelo killed to be a young woman who looks more like a librarian than one of the most dangerous minds in the continental US.Rocco also didn’t expect to fall for her and her little dog Charlie, who took to him straight away and followed him everywhere.
The FBI wanted to hire her too, as did Homeland security, but Angelo made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. And now that she’s moved in with Rocco and their fur babies, it seems she’s found her calling.
“Trust me, it’s just as frustrating for me as it is for all of you,” she grumbles. “I don’t like something getting the better of me.”
“Is that why you hand Rocco’s ass to him?” I chuckle.
The big guy only has a soft spot for her, Charlie, and the new puppy Bear. The rest of us get Mr. Fucking Grumpy 24/7. The only other time Rocco smiles is when he’s torturing someone and getting information that can help us.
“Someone has to.” She laughs.
“Don’t let him hear you say that.” Enzo laughs too.
“Angelo,” Marco says, his eyebrows knitted together. “The women are having lunch today at Flutes. I know it's within the casino, but we need to ensure that their safety comes first.”
“Keeping them locked up won’t help matters,” Angelo says, tugging on the collar of his suit jacket. “They have around-the-clock security, and anyway, they’re all staying at the casino until we find Il Diavolo. No harm will come to them if they listen for once.” He glances at Sloane. “Present company excluded.”
Sloane raises her eyebrows.
“Valentina decided to throw Mia a surprise baby celebration,” Dante goes on. “It would be kinda mean to tell them the party is off. They’re safe here, Marco.”
Marco doesn’t look pleased. Then again, Marco never looks pleased. He crosses one leg over the other and mutters to himself.
