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His smile widened. “Remember, the city has eyes and ears everywhere. Keep that in mind," he cautioned, his voice trailing off. “And I know for a fact that there’s a certain cop hot on your tail. And if I’ve heard stuff, I can almost guarantee she has.”
I scoffed.
“What cop?”
“Her name is Annabelle Betrami,” he said, taking a deep puff of his cigar. “But I have put her on a little bit more of a complicated case.”
“What case is that?” I asked, my gaze narrowing. I could tell he was up to something. Captain Russo always had something up his sleeve. Whether it had to do with me or not.
He smirked. “The Francis Lasiter case.”
My jaw clenched.
Francis Lasiter was one of the most recent men I’d ordered to be killed.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that she was assigned that case. “I thought you assigned that to someone else,” I said. “She wasn’t the fucking detective on scene that night!”
Captain Russo chuckled. “How else am I supposed to protect you?” he asked.
“I keep close tabs on the good cops — the ones who are focused on taking down crime. I can’t afford fuckups, Luca .”
He took a puff of his cigar and walked closer. “You were fucking up, sleeping with a cop without even knowing it ”
“And so you got her to work a case I was part of!?” I slammed my hand on the bar. “Why? To fuck with me?” My legs shook with adrenaline. “I’m not the man to fuck with,” I warned.
His demeanor was oddly cool as he waved his hand in my face, a trail of smoke in its wake. “I am setting up Betrami for that murder, Luca,” he laughed. “I was trying to save you from yourself.”
“So, you’ve known she’s been here the whole time?”
He smiled evilly. “I also had Daddy Dearest take a hike upstate for a deal when I had his right-hand man set up your meeting at the warehouse.”
“So, you’re the reason she got shot?” I shot.
He shook his head. “I didn’t know she was going to get shot, but I was trying to prevent you from forming an alliance.”
“What fucking business is that of yours? I pay you.”
“You may pay me, Luca, but our agreement is to not get caught.”
“How would this have played into you getting caught?” Enzo snarled, grabbing Captain Russo’s arm roughly to whirl him around to face him.
“You don’t know the tenacity of Annabelle Betrami!” he hissed, putting out his cigar on the bar and flicking it at Tony’s feet.
I watched Tony’s demeanor shift. His fists ball. That was his family’s bar, and no one disrespected it the way Captain Russo just had.
I shot Tony a warning glance. As his friend more than a keeper.
He was allowing us to use his bar.
We owned the apartment above.
Not his bar.
And I had agreed to keep all this shit out of here. But, desperate times…
“You were scared she’d find you out?” I asked. “So instead of coming to me, you decided to take everything into your hands?”
I was starting to wonder how much Captain Russo was playing me.
