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“That’s true, but you were working the night I got shot,” he argued. “You kept your mouth shut about the whole thing. You’re also Felix’s sister. The mob’s methods are very old, Piper. When they take out someone, they take out their entire family, too.”
“Mob,” I huffed out that word, shivers of fear running down my spine. “Jesus…”
“Look, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice coming out mellower. “I for one didn’t mean for you to get tangled in this mess.”
“Well, I did.” A bitter smile spread across my face. “I can’t believe this. I was just trying to do my job, and now you’re telling me that some mobsters are out to get me? This is unreal.”
“It’s as real as it gets,” he added, an expression of sorrow written all over his face.
“I need a drink,” I told him, shuffling off to my drink’s cabinet in the corner. Squeezing tears out of my eyes, I grabbed a full bottle of vodka and went to the fridge to get some ice. I filled up two glasses and offered him one, before seating myself on the couch. Without uttering another word, I gulped down the vodka, until the rocks nudged both of my lips. I heard them clicking together, Leo’s last words still echoing in my brain.
“It’s as real as it gets.”
“I should probably take off.”
His masculine voice snapped me out of a nasty thought process.
“Oh, no, Mr. Turner.” I stared at him with dead-serious eyes. “You’re not going anywhere. Not just yet.”
“If someone told me I’d been targeted by the mob, I’d need some time to myself,” he said, his voice steady. “That’s why I wanted to leave.”
“Are you sure about all this?” I asked, tension speeding up my tone. “Because it sounds like a stretch to me. I never harmed those people.”
“It ain’t a stretch. Not when it comes to the oldest mob families in New York,” he pointed out. “That’s how they’ve been handling things for decades. They’re not going to change now. Cesare and Matteo think I’m exaggerating, though.”
Holding the bottle over my glass, more of that beverage splashing onto the rocks, I had another question. “Why?”
“They just don’t want to believe this,” he replied. “They believe we’re the only ones in danger. I don’t think so. You should call that doctor Cesare threatened. The guy should hire bodyguards. At least, that’s what I’d do if I were in his shoes.”
“Are you even listening to yourself?” I asked, holding my glass just an inch from my chin. “You want me to call up a colleague of mine? Picture this, okay? ‘Dr. Baines, remember that huge guy who threatened you? He says you not calling the police could get you killed by the same people who shot his buddy.’ I bet that’s going to brighten his day, don’t you think?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Leo grumbled, slamming his own glass onto the table. Vodka spilling out and over the top of his palms, he sat down in the armchair across from me. “Dr. Baines won’t be around much longer, unless you warn him about what’s coming to him. Got it?”
“Yeah!” I blurted out, my eyes wider. “I just don’t know how I’m going to say this to him. I’m sure you understand it won’t be easy.”
I swallowed about half of my drink, vodka flooding my taste buds. The edges of those rocks sticking out from the surface of that beverage, I topped up the glass.
“I trust you,” he said, still not touching his drink. “You have a way with words. I’d probably tell him something like: ‘Pack up and leave town, doc. A bunch of wise guys will blow your fucking head off if you stick around.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” I told him and left my seat. I returned to the fridge for some more ice, feeling my knees a little shaky.
However, I wasn’t going to let that deter me. I had to stomach what had to be the most disturbing news I’d heard in my whole life. I couldn’t—and wouldn’t—do that sober. Honestly? I didn’t want to believe Leonardo. His story sounded too terrifying. I used to believe that the mafia was a thing of the past. That my city had somehow gotten rid of vicious mobsters. Yet, he had much more knowledge about the underworld than I did. He was part of that world, and I wasn’t.
25
LEONARDO
Drink.
Top up.
Repeat.
The same thing went on for hours that night.
Clearly, the bomb I’d laid on Piper was too much for her to bear. Question after question, she tried to find out more about the threat I thought she was facing.
Fine by me. She had no idea about any of the things I had brought up. It was like she was learning a whole new language. Words like “capos,” “henchmen” and “foot soldiers” were all Greek to her. And I had no problem explaining to her. Besides, I was one of the reasons why she’d been caught in this dangerous web.
