AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laughed. “Is this my baby sister giving me advice?”
She smiled; it was almost like the smile I remembered, but not quite. It wasn’t hardened, like time had a tendency to do. It was reserved, like there was something hiding beneath it.
“It looks like you could use the advice,” she mused.
No, what I could have used was a hard hit over the head, knock the damned crazy blonde right out of it. “I appreciate it, Leeri.”
“I told you, it’s Valeria now.”
I smiled. “Keep telling yourself that,” I said, hauling myself up onto my feet at the same time Greta spun around, presenting the back of that damn dress.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” Leeri said, standing up next to me.
“What’s tomorrow afternoon?”
She laughed stiffly, eyeing Greta. “I’ll stop by then and show you and yourfriendsaround Javier’s city.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, ruffling her hair and forcing my eyes off the damn blonde.
“Come on,” I said, wrapping an arm around Leeri’s shoulders.
“Where are we going?” she asked, though she moved along with me.
“Anywhere but here.”
Though, back to New York sounded like a damn good plan. Away from the slimy cartel and back to the club where I belonged.
***
It was well after two in the morning by the time I returned to the villa. After leaving Domínguez’s little reunion party, I’d walked around the city, missing the hell out of my bike.
Back at the villa, Gabe was still sitting on the plush, cream-colored sofa with the same laptop open on the coffee table in front of him. He must fucking hate this job, spending all his time in this box. The Costas and Lucianos may have worked well together, but that wasn’t normal. It would have raised more than a few eyebrows to find Gabe and Deo at thecapo’stable, working a deal together.
“You’ve got to be tired of sitting on your ass with the walls closing in around you, my friend,” I said, stopping just inside the wide living room.
Gabe shrugged. “All these jobs, they’re ninety-five percent research and surveillance, and five percent action.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve been at this shit for a while.”
Gabe nodded, typing something into the computer. “Five years.”
Five years of sitting and surveilling? Fuck. “You’re a better man than I,” I said, shaking my head.
Gabe sighed and closed the laptop, rubbing his eyes. “Sitting, surveilling, andsleep,” he said, hauling himself up. “Buona notte, amico.”
He left the laptop on the coffee table and headed down the hall to the only bedroom on the main floor.
Well, I might not have been sitting and surveilling all night, but sleep still sounded like a damn good idea.
I climbed the stairs, feeling every day of my thirty-five years. Leeri had that effect even back when she was a kid. Watching over her, worrying about her… it was a full-time fucking job.
At the top of the stairs, I walked right past Greta’s room.
She’s practically a kid. She couldn’t even drink legally two years ago. And don’t forget, she’s more than a little crazy. What happens come morning, dumbass?
All good reasons to keep on walking, but they all went up in smoke when a quiet sound slipped out her door.
My feet stopped moving, and I stood there listening, hoping like hell my ears were playing tricks on me.
