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“Wouldn’t their club president be confused about why you’re not just communicating through burner phones? You clearly don’t need a real live person to carry messages back and forth. Couldn’t you just have told him the truth?”
“You know what business is like, we all play our cards close to our chest. I told him we think Don Diavonte might have bugged our house and vehicles. Diego might have also mentioned that I want my fiancée far away from the powder keg that’s about to explode when we take over. Their club president swore to assign you round the clock protection and keep you safe.”
“Jesus, you and Diego have thought of everything. So, I’m to communicate back and forth with you like any good fiancée would while I’m visiting with your sister who betrayed the mob. I’ve got to think up false information about the club for you to pass onto Don Diavonte, and look for real intel on the don that the Slayers might have to give to you? I’ve gotta say, Nicco, this doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.” My head was just about ready to explode. It sounded like I was living in some unholy mash up of The Godfather, Easy Rider, and a Cold War spy thriller.
“Don Diavonte believes that women are peripheral to what goes on in our world. He would see Sophia as a betrayer that we cannot associate with. However, my fiancée visiting with her lifelong friend will be seen as an attempt by our family to get her back in the fold, while netting him intelligence about what’s going on with his enemy that he wouldn’t otherwise have.”
“Using your fiancée to snoop on an enemy while trying to manipulate his sister to betray her marital vows is completely messed up.”
“Yes, according to our way of thinking it is messed up. But the old timers would find forgiveness for a woman if she abandoned the man who led her astray and earned her way back into our family with the right kind of penance. They see women as gullible, weak little puppets who are easily led astray. It’s just the way old-school mobsters think. They like to believe that if you raise your children right, family will be the thread that always pulls them back in the end.”
“Well, it sounds pretty damn sexist and an outdated way of thinking to me,” I responded irritably.
“I agree, as do my brothers. This is one of dozens of reasons that Don Diavonte has outlived his usefulness. We need a changing of the guard, fresh blood capable of making better decisions. In order for that to happen, my brothers and I cannot be caught communicating with the enemy. It would earn us immediate execution. I’m not going to lie to you, this is a touchy situation that could very easily spiral out of control. The danger is for us, not you, though, because the Slayers have sworn to protect you, come what may, just like they did Sophia and Eleanora.”
“Oh, Nicco, are you sure you want to do this? It sounds really dangerous. Your odds of winning a mob war against Don Diavonte are not good. Sophia would be devastated if anything bad happened to you and your brothers. Truth be told, so would I.”
Nicco ran a hand through his hair, messing up his neatly arranged do. “We’ve been thinking about this for years. Now is our chance. In a nothing ventured, nothing gained world, we’re just not willing to continue sitting on our hands.”
I nodded, though not fully understanding where his head was on this one. Since his mind was made up and our objectives aligned, I went with it. “What will I tell the Dark Slayers when I get there? Is there a code word or anything that I need to use?”
“Diego spoke to their club president in person. They will understand why you’re there.” After a brief pause, he continued, “Naturally, our phone conversations will not be private. Both myself, the Dark Slayers, and Don Diavonte will have access to everything you do and say on your phone as I’ve been instructed to put spyware on it—obviously, our don only thinks that he has access.”
“What about a burner phone?” I asked.
“No good,” Nicco said. “We can never be sure who’s listening in—what with high tech listening devices and spyware. Even with the best security in the world it’s always best to assume that someone may hear. Capisce?”
I thought he was being paranoid, but I nodded my agreement.
“Good girl. Because we need to be able to communicate safely, I’ve come up with a list of code words you can use to communicate what’s going on. I’ll warn you ahead of time that it’s a complicated list. I need you to memorize it and then destroy it. It’s the only way to ensure our communication is actually secret. Do you understand?”
I whispered, “Yes,” as the full magnitude of this situation finally hit me.
Nicco and his family were asking me to turn traitor against the mob in exchange for their protection and the hope that they turned out to be better shot callers than Don Diavonte. And I was agreeing to it because my back was against the wall, and this was my only chance to avoid a lifetime of staying on the run or marrying a man I despised.
Chapter 3
Mason
Storm had joined me back at the hospital once he’d returned from running his errand and we finally made it back to the clubhouse around three a.m. Corey was stable and out of surgery, Jav was going to stay with him until he woke. It had been a long day and I decided to get a few hours of sleep before we planned out an interrogation for the mobsters that managed to survive the attack against us.
I slept like the dead for once and woke up to my alarm buzzing so much my phone almost slid off the nightstand. I was tired as hell, but four hours of sleep would have to be enough, because we had work to do.
I jumped into the shower and let the hot water flow down my sore back. That always helped loosen up the tension. The last twenty-four hours had been absolute shit. Several of my club brothers had been injured and one almost lost an arm, all because some big city mobsters had an axe to grind with our club.
We Slayers were used to defending our territory from rival clubs and gangs. We had considerably less experience mixing it up with mobsters. Although they had come at us a couple of times, Storm had always found a way to trounce them in the past. I had a bad feeling that our luck was about to run out. That meant everything was riding on the interrogation taking place this morning.
Storm had discovered I was good at getting information out of people and that’s why he asked me to join their team this time. Interrogating enemies was dirty work that nobody enjoyed doing. Unfortunately, it had to be done for our club to survive.
I climbed out of the shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs to get coffee. Evie jumped in front of me the minute I hit the bottom of the stairs.
“Hi, Mason. What are you up to this morning? Do you want some company?”
I stepped around her and mumbled, “No, I do not want company this morning. And my plans are none of your business.”
“Why are you being rude to me when I’ve been nothing but nice to you?”
I kept walking and she followed, clearly wanting an answer to her question. When I stopped at the coffee pot, she was standing so close I didn’t have room to make my coffee. I gently elbowed her aside. “Look, Evie, I don’t have anything against you personally, but I need you to understand that I’m not looking for an old lady.”
