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“Any of the other children showing signs of being unhappy with their father?” I ask carefully.
Eion snorts. “We’re Irish, Mr. Armani. We’ve got hot-blooded tempers, and we don’t mind fighting. Seamus and his kids are no different. All of them have had a tiff at one point or another. Lately, things have been quiet, but with our fight with the Russians, it could be that anything they are pissed about is on hold until it gets sorted.” His lips pull up in a small smug smile. “Seamus is fucking pissed as hell, and the Russians have decided to get even. Even struck one of our businesses the other day, killing a few men and taking some of the money and guns stored in the basement.”
“And the Russians haven’t insisted it wasn’t them?” I ask, though I’m not really surprised. The crazy bastards will take credit for any damn thing, which is exactly what I’m counting on.
Eion arches a brow. “They’re crazy fuckers. Honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t taken it as an invitation for all out war and taken out Seamus, but they probably have some kind of grand plan they’re trying to make work.”
That tracks, and I’ve already prepared for such a thing. “Fine, then we don’t have to wonder if there are any disgruntled family members that might be thinking of colluding with the De Lucas for a takeover,” I summarize.
“There’s been a rumor going around about the De Lucas having a secret girl somewhere in the family,” he remarks, watching me. “Could it be that he’s going to meet whoever is watching over her and then using Seamus’s daughter’s name as a ruse so it’s not suspicious?”
“You assume those rumors are true?” I ask, my mind sharpening at the mention of Gia. More and more people finding out about her isn’t something I want, but I’m prepared for all possibilities. Dante was careful, so there is no way of tracing her back to me unless one of my men opened their mouths. If they value the lives of not only themselves but their families, then they’ll make sure to keep them shut.
“Don’t see why not. Those De Luca fuckers are just as batshit as the rest of us. But I imagine if they are hiding her away, she’s probably ugly or has some sort of disability or impairment. Otherwise, why would they not have married her off by now?”
It infuriates me to hear those words coming out of his mouth, but I stay calm and keep my expression completely blank. I shrug and reply, “Not my concern if she is. All I care about is you finding out the information I want.”
“I’ll get on it. See what I can dig up.” Then he stands and leaves the room without another word, leaving the picture behind.
Dante and I don’t speak until we’re back in the car, and he asks, “What do you think?”
I narrow my eyes slightly. “I think Seamus might be either getting brave or stupid and using his daughter as a ruse, but at the same time, it could be that he’s using this as a way to test Eion. See if he notices that one of the kids has slipped into enemy territory.”
“Do you think Seamus and the De Lucas agreed on the space and agreed to leave the girl alone? We don’t involve children, so it could be plausible.”
“Hmm, yes, I suppose. Still, I don’t like missing pieces, and this feels like something big. Something they were all hoping no one would notice.”
“Or they’re getting brazen and letting you know they don’t care if you or anyone else knows they’re working together or have a truce,” Dante points out grimly. “We are larger than them on their own, but if they merge, whether by force or marriage…” He lets that hang between us.
“To do that would be an invitation for war, and we all know that no one wants to do that here. And we have our own allies we can call should we need them.”
“Still, doesn’t sit right with me that this is happening and our men never caught it.” His eyes go hard and cold. “I’ll be seeing why.”
“Good. And check where the rats are from the other families. I want to make sure none of them are in any places they shouldn’t be or feeding information to them.” It’s no secret we all have moles and rats in each other’s organizations. But we also make sure to utilize them smartly
“I’ll look after it personally,” Dante answers.
We just make it onto our street when my phone rings. “Speak,” I order, impatiently.
“Nico,” Giovanni De Luca says briskly into my ear. I still, but calmly wait for him to start talking. “You know, I thought your father taught you better manners than this,” Giovanni scolds me, clearly irked I’m not showing him the kind of respect he feels he deserves.
“Well, my father is dead, isn’t he, so I’m sure you can see how well that turned out. What can I do for you, Giovanni?”
I can all but feel his anger coming through the line, but he manages to hold himself back as he says, “I’d like to arrange to speak with you. Neutral territory, of course. Perhaps this evening if you’re not too busy doing whatever it is you young men do nowadays.”
The thinly veiled insult doesn’t go unnoticed, but instead of calling him out on it, I reply, “That depends on what you want to talk to me about. And if Leonardo wants to speak with me, then why is he having you do his bidding? I thought you two were above that.”
My own subtle dig doesn’t go unnoticed either, and the ice in his tone makes a smug smile pull at my lips. “My brother is dealing with some family business he needs to give his full attention. Of course, I’ve offered to handle things as needed to keep from overburdening him. We have some family business he needs to give his full attention to.”
“Well, I hope everything is alright,” I say with mock concern.
Giovanni can see right through it, but still says in a completely fake sympathetic tone, “I’m afraid his daughter has gone missing, so I’m sure you can understand how that would leave him a bit preoccupied.”
If he’s trying to be subtle about trying to gauge if I know about her, he’s failing miserably. “I had no idea Leonardo had a daughter,” I say, letting a small inkling of surprise enter my voice. “And congratulations to Carmen, since I didn’t know she had a kid.”
Giovanni snorts. “No, she’s not Carmen’s daughter. She was his second wife’s. He’s been taking care of her, and sent her off to some of the best boarding schools in Europe. But she’s disappeared, and of course, you can imagine he’s putting all his focus into finding her.”
“Of course. I’ll have my men keep an eye out and let you know if we get any information of course,” I assure him.
