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Romeo, Dad, and I had done some deep dives into Ace and his crew. We’d found out the basics, but without help from Remy, there was no way we were going to get as much information as we needed. And every single lead we’d followed had come up empty. The house we’d been sitting in front of turned out to be nothing connected to Ace. It was a dead end, just like everything else had been. Which was why even though today was my auntie Rosa’s birthday and Lorenzo was throwing a huge-ass party for her, I was going to take my opportunity to talk to Lorenzo—to tell him my theory.
And with Dad and Romeo at my side, I was hoping he’d listen. If he didn’t…it didn’t bear thinking about because I knew deep down that if I had to walk away from this—from my family and everything I’d grown up in—for her, I would. I’d made the mistake of letting her go once, and there was no way in hell that I would do that again.
Right now though, I needed to focus on the task at hand and the fact that the mansion was full to the brim of Mafia members. It wasn’t just the Beretta Mafia that was here, but other factions of The Enterprise too. Uncle Luca—Auntie Rosa’s late husband and Lorenzo’s father—set up The Enterprise so that all the Mafia families in the state wouldn’t be constantly fighting. It had worked, until one of the members, Gio, had tried to break out and in the process hurt Bailey.
Now though, things were calm…for them.
It soon wouldn’t be though because whether Lorenzo approved it or not, I was going to Ace in the next state over. I was done trying to bide my time. If the evidence wasn’t there, I’d go straight to the horse’s mouth.
“Raf!” I spun around at the sound of Sofia’s voice, just able to catch her as she threw herself at me. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in months!”
She squeezed me and I squeezed her right back. Lorenzo’s little sister—my cousin—had been the only girl in the family growing up, so it made sense that she was the most protected. Yet even she had gotten hurt underneath all of our noses.
So what did that mean for Peyton? She had no protection at all.
Fuck. I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“You good?” I asked Sofia as I pulled away, smiling down at her. I’d always been good at being able to mask my feelings, probably something that came with learning how to analyze people by their movements and actions.
“I’m good.” She hooked her arm through mine. “Ma wants to see you.”
I laughed, allowing her to lead me through the crowd and into the dining room where Rosa was situated, bossing the caterers around. “Are you sure you put enough salt in this?” She picked up a spoon, tasting what looked like pasta sauce, then pulling a face. “I knew you wouldn’t do it right.”
“Ma,” Sofia called.
“One minute.” She waved her hand at Sofia, not bothering to look at her as she directed her words at the caterer. “Go outside, across the main lawn, and you will come to another house. There’s a man sitting outside, let him know I sent you and he will hand you thecorrectsauces.”
“Ma,” Sofia admonished, letting go of me and marching up to Auntie Rosa. “Tell me you didnotuse Dante and Navy’s house to cook food when Lorenzo paid for caterers!”
Auntie Rosa huffed and rolled her eyes. “Of course I did. These people don’t know how to cook! Besides, mine is always better so…” She trailed off, shrugging, then finally noticed me. “Rafael!” She shuffled over to me, faster than I thought possible, and wrapped her arms around me much in the same way Sofia had. “I’ve missed you.” She placed her hand on the side of my face, raising a brow. “Your ma misses you too.”
My stomach dropped at her words. “I know.” I’d had every intention of going and seeing her, but I’d been so occupied over the last few weeks with doing intel that if I wasn’t crashing on my new sofa—the only piece of furniture in my new house that was way too big for just me—then I was out following leads with Dad or Romeo. “Did she come today?”
Rosa shook her head, her eyes saddening. “Maybe one day she’ll make it back here.”
“I’m sure she will.” I smiled down at her, the both of us knowing the real reason behind all of my mom’s pain and anguish over the years. I didn’t want to stand here thinking about the past though, not when I had my future to take into consideration. Which reminded me… “I’m gonna go find my dad.”
She nodded, a pleased look on her face before she spun around, tasting more of the food while Sofia tried to wrangle her out of the dining room. It would never happen though, not with Auntie Rosa. Cooking authentic Italian food was her passion.
Grinning at the pair of them, I then left, heading back into the main section of the mansion, searching for my dad. When I hadn’t found him inside, I ventured outside. The lawns were packed with tables and even a gazebo with a dance floor beneath it. It looked more like a wedding than a birthday.
There were too many people for me to do a quick scan around and be able to find them, so I pulled my cell out, shooting a message off to Romeo to ask where he was. His reply was instant, so I stowed my cell away and headed toward the back of the lawn and closer to the house Dante and Navy lived in.
Romeo was there, along with Lorenzo and Dad, Aida was by Lorenzo’s side and Bailey by Romeo’s. Tension built within me the closer I got to them, my stomach swirling with emotions that I couldn’t place. Something was off, maybe it was knowing that we were going to talk to Lorenzo about everything today. He wouldn’t be happy with what we’d been doing—digging around without his permission—but the way I saw it, we didn’t have a choice.
“Hey,” I greeted them all, joining them mid conversation.
No one answered me, and that was when I realized Remy was there also, looking sheepish as hell as his gaze met mine. “Sorry, Raf,” he murmured.
“Sorry?” I frowned, looking to Dad and Romeo for answers, but neither of them looked at me, they were too intent on watching Lorenzo. “What for?”
“I didn’t find anything on Peyton’s cell.”
The blood drained from my face, my fingers tingling as I turned to Lorenzo.He knew.“I can explain,” I began, holding my hands out in front of me.
“Explain?” his rough voice asked as his dark eyes turned their focus on to me. “Explain how you’ve been doing intel on people that you didn’t have permission to follow?” His jaw locked, a sure sign that he was majorly pissed off. “You went behind my back.” His voice got a little louder, gaining the attention of the people next to us.
“I know,” I started. “But—”
