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“This isn’t a democracy,” says Jack firmly. “And you’ve got to give up this idea before it gets out of hand.”
He turns to Sandro as well now, and we both wait for him to make a judgment.
“Jack’s right,” says Sandro, finally. “We cannot be involved in something like that. Not even to secure Bernardi’s trust. You’ll need to find a way to get out of this, Julian.”
“Andwarn Roxy,” Jack goes on in a dangerous voice. But he looks at Sandro, not me.
Sandro shrugs. “She is a dead woman who forgot to stop breathing. If Aldo Bernardi wants her removed—“
“If you assholes won’t do it, I’ll go warn her myself.” Jack shoots out of his chair and is halfway to the door before Sandro calls him back.
“Alright, alright,” Sandro says. “Take off your armor, Jack. She doesn’t need your white knight routine just yet. Listen to me: running off to warn her will only blow Julian’s cover, and I don’t want that, either. Nor do you. So we need to think this through a little more. Find a way to placate Bernardi and keep the target safe as well.”
Jack seems slightly mollified, coming back to sit next to me, though he sends me an irritated glance. I think he may regret his support for my infiltration of the Bernardi Family.
“Well?” Sandro says. “Ideas?”
“We put her in a safe house somewhere,” Jack offers grudgingly. “Or...fake her death.”
“I think Leo Bernardi, of all men, can tell the difference between the dead and the not-dead,” I point out. “Although I suppose if he wasn’t in the vicinity...” I think it over.
Jack’s bright blue eyes search my face, hopeful but with a hint of unease. His fingers are spread on the desk, body tensed as if ready to spring into action. The silly sausage really seems tocareabout this C-level actress.
And I think, too, of what Jack said to me the other day. AboutshowingI can be trusted. Having my friend’s back.
“What sort of woman is this Roxanne Rochford?” I ask him. “Is she the type to get hysterical because a Mob Boss wants her dead?”
“She’s a tough cookie, but she’s been scared for a while, if you ask me. And anyone under threat of death is going to have a few inconvenientfeelingsabout it, Julian. But she must’ve gone into this engagement with her eyes wide open, and she’s handled herself okay in some…pretty nasty situations.”
“Then we bring her into it,” I say. “We let her know, give her protection and an easy out. I’ll manage Leo’s expectations, not to mention his old man’s.”
Jack’s relief is momentary. “She’s pretty keen on keeping a high profile,” he admits. “She might not go for it.”
“Most people tend to take Option B when Option A is death,” I tell him. “Haven’t you found that?”
He just sighs and looks at Sandro. “Well? What do you think?”
Sandro is still at the bay windows, watching us carefully. He gives a half-shrug to match his half-smile. “I think it’s nice to see some cooperation in this Family after all this time. Alright. If Julian thinks he can keep the Lion in the dark, then I will grant Ms. Rochford our protection, at least while Julian is working the Bernardis.”
“And after,” Jack says stubbornly.
“Oh, they’ll have far more important things to worry about than Roxanne Rochford when I’m done with them,” I tell him. “Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours, Jack.”
With Sandro’s approval, Jack and I leave to make arrangements. As we reach the foyer, Jack catches me by the shoulder, eyeing me warily. “You sure about this, Julian? That you can get Leo to believe you?”
I give him a smug grin. “Jack, I can assure you, Leo is putty in my hands.”
I’m a very convincing liar when I want to be. But Jack seems to really need this, and I want to make him happy, so I tell him what he wants to hear. Perhaps if everything goes well, he’ll trust me.
I offer to go myself to speak to Roxanne Rochford—I know the woman, after all; we’ve attended various parties together, and there was that little adventure with my mother’s necklace—but Jack insists on doing it himself. He seems to think he and Miller Beaumont will be more persuasive than I would be. I suppose he’s right. I don’t have much patience, after all. I’d be more inclined to knock her out and drag her away than argue the logic of it.
But that means it’s up to me to form a workable plan to deal with Leo, and that might just be the more difficult task.
Leo...
It’s like he’s taken up permanent residency in my mind, a constant presence I can’t shake. I can’t stop thinking about those strong, ink-riddled hands, the way he threw me around like a rag doll. I get hard just thinking about it. But it’s not just the physical attraction. Leo is a surprisingly complicated man. He’s dangerous, but not in a way I’m used to, not justgenericallydangerous.
He’s dangerous to me, specifically.
