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I did? “You might have to narrow it down for me. The list of men I’ve killed is a long one.”
“El víbora,” he said, bringing back memories of the time I’d spent at the asshole’s compound, stewing in a sea of twisted fuckers and dead-eyed girls.
“Si,I did help kill that one. I can’t take all the credit, I’m afraid.” Greta had been there too. And Gabe Costa, younger brother to the don of the Costa family, had orchestrated it. In the end, just about every part of our alliance had taken part in bringing down that compound and the twisted fuckers inside it.
Antonio nodded like he was already aware of that. If he’d also known about my involvement, he probably was.
“I don’t know what you’re hoping for here. I’m not going to be able to find your mother or your sister.” It was the gentler way of saying the people he was looking for weren’t breathing air anymore.
“I know they’re dead,Signor,” he said. There wasn’t an ounce of emotion on his face. Either the man felt nothing or he was pretty damn good at hiding what was going on behind the mask.
I exchanged a brief glance with Vito to get his take on the guy.
Vito inclined his head minutely. He was willing to hear Antonio out but not ready to buy what the guy was selling just yet.
“Then what is it you want?” I asked him.
“What I want is a chance to stop even one man like him from tearing apart families likeEl víboratore apart mine. And I know that the legal way of trying to fix this shit doesn’t work. Your way does. I have no qualms with killing assholes, stealing from rich bastards. Anything you need done, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes to earn my keep and prove my loyalty.”
“How long did you work for Belemonte?—how long were youloyalto him?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t.”
“And yet you ended up working for Elio Bianchi with Belemonte’s Free Birds? Explain,per favore.”
“Brando, the kid you told to get his ass in school—his mother was cousin to my own mother, and the only family I have. When he told me what his father had him doing, I tagged along to keep the kid safe.”
It was plausible. I did remember this man positioning himself in front of the kid in Belemonte’s bar.
“But you do understand, from my position, it’s just as likely Bianchi has sent you here, hoping to infiltrate my family. There’s really no way for you to prove otherwise.”
“Si, there is. I know where Elio Bianchi is, and I’ll tell you whether you decide to take me on or not. You take him down, and then you’ll know I’ve got no ulterior motives here, none that I haven’t laid out for you plain as day.”
Well, that was useful. Or at least, it would have been if I hadn’t made a promise to Heidi.
“I’ll make no promises, but go ahead,” I said, nodding for him to continue. I wasn’t about to turn down the information.
“Bianchi’s been seeing this woman the past few weeks—a real rich bitch.”
The blonde from the photos I’d shown Heidi.
“She’s got a cabin at Cayuga Lake. That’s where he’s hiding.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, though I’d already made my decision. My gut was telling me this man wasn’t full of shit.
“Bianchi called my cousin shortly after you left that shitty bar,” he explained. “He didn’t give a fuck that the men he’d contracted had been shot or killed.” His features twisted with disgust. “He wanted Brando to meet him—at the cabin. I wouldn’t let the kid go alone.”
“What did he want with your cousin?” I asked.
“He gave him a note to deliver and said he was to leave it underneath the bench at GreenVale Park at midnight tomorrow night and walk away.”
So, Bianchi was trying to reach out to a contact.
“Where’s your cousin now?” I asked.
Antonio eyed me, his gaze suddenly wary. It didn’t bother me. That he was protective when it came to his family was a point in his favor in my books.
He sighed after a moment, then nodded. “I’ve got him locked down somewhere safe. I have the note though,” he said, slowly reaching into his pocket and pulling it out.
