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All questions that I have to sort out soon because war is on the horizon. It’s nothing but rumors right now of who would dare to steal one of Seamus Gallo’s shipments so brazenly. Seamus apparently hit the roof when he found out, and left the men guarding the shipment dead for their incompetence. Now, he’s out for blood, trying to figure out who it was, and plotting their deaths.
Which is exactly why I need to tread carefully. I’ll be under intense scrutiny, which is why I can’t allow this one tiny woman to be a distraction.
Still, I don’t move as she walks into her apartment building, having returned home from the library. I look over at the clock, estimating it will be about an hour before someone arrives with food. She gets groceries delivered every day, and it intrigues me. Most would get it once per week, but not this girl. Just another piece of the puzzle.
As she disappears inside the building, I have to hold myself in place, hands gripping the steering wheel tight. I want to climb out and follow her inside, get answers to all my questions. But I have meetings and things that need to be done. Soon, I’ll be making some decisions about this woman that is constantly on my mind.
I start my SUV and drive away. I have half a mind to bring one of my fancier sports cars, wanting the smooth handling, but I don’t need to stand out. No, I want to watch her without someone spotting me. Especially those that I don’t want to see me.
As I head home, a plan starts to form in my mind as my frustration mounts. This woman has far too much control over my life. And it is going to stop now. Sure, the ideas in my head are far from what a sane man would cook up, but no one has ever said I was completely sane. And by the time I pull through my gate, the more and more I like this idea. First, though, I need to get everything in place.
When I get to my office, Dante is waiting for me, sitting behind my desk with a smug look on his face. While I know he’s doing it to piss me off, to test me in his own weird way, I pull my gun out and point it at him, holding his gaze. He doesn’t flinch, and he doesn’t lose his smug smile, the cocksucker. Family or not, I’ll kill him for daring to pull this shit. Climbing to his feet he says, “Shoot me and you won’t have anyone to deal with your bullshit on a daily basis.” Then he rounds the desk, so confident in the fact that I won’t kill him he doesn’t even try to protect any vital organs.
I lower the gun and secure it at the small of my back, pissed at myself that I won’t pull the damn trigger. It’s because if I kill him I’ll have to train someone else, and I don’t have time for that right now. Though, maybe I could put him out of commission for a little while…
I push that thought aside, reminding myself we have much bigger things to worry about right now. “What’s the word on Seamus?” I ask, sinking into my chair, pinning Dante with a hard glare because it’s tilted back more than I like.
Again he gives me that smirk but then his face gets serious and replies, “Word is that he’s raving mad and the fact that no one knows anything is pissing him off even more.”
“Any suspicion on us or on our rat?”
Dante shakes his head. “Our planting of evidence against the Russians seems to be convincing and that’s where they’re focused. I’ve also heard some rumblings that he’s planning on hitting the Russians soon.”
I bite back my own smug smile. Things are starting to come together, and a hell of a lot faster than I thought. Perhaps Eion has figured out a way to keep him off our tail, but I fully expect Seamus will get wise at some point. I have to hope that it’s not right away so I have more time to get things in place before the impending war begins. “Good. Keep your ears open. We need to be ready in case they start asking questions.”
“There are also some other interesting rumblings,” he adds with a sly look. “This time about the De Luca family. It seems that the brothers are not seeing eye to eye lately on the matter of expansion. Giovanni wants to spread into New Jersey and the rest of the state, while Leonardo wants to stay put. Word is he’s content with how things are. He has his territory well under control, and it’s making him lots of money.”
This wasn’t exactly new news considering how much those two fight. The De Lucas are notoriously private, and if it wasn’t for the moles I have in place, we’d be completely in the dark where they are concerned. Still, even my moles only know so much. Leonardo is paranoid on the best of days. Hell, word is he killed his second wife for mentioning something offhand about her day that he took as her telling secrets that she shouldn’t have. Now, he is on his third wife, and she is young and far more shrewd at how the games are played. At least, she is a bit better at hiding her affairs anyway. “And Giovanni is starting to sound more serious about his beef with his brother on this?”
Dante nods. “There’s talk on the streets that Giovanni wants to split from his brother completely and start his own territory and empire. But he needs to get approval from Leonardo as the Boss to do that, and no way is Leonardo going to allow Giovanni that option. He wants him under his thumb, and Giovanni knows it.”
“Which means that there’s a good chance Giovanni is going to either fall in line, or he’s going to do something stupid. Like try and overthrow his brother.” I give a soft laugh. “And he’s stupid enough to do it.”
“I can’t see Leonardo letting it happen. And once his sons get involved it will be game over for Giovanni.” On that we are in agreement. Leonardo’s sons are well known to be as brutal as their father, and they’ve been ingrained in the family business far too long to let their uncle or cousins come in and screw it up. “But there are also some rumblings that Giovanni has been speaking with one of the Sicilian families about backing him if he can separate from his brother.”
I know many of those back in Sicily, and a few are in my back pocket should I need them, but they are old school. Unless I have something to offer them, they won’t even think about stepping in to anything on this side of the Atlantic. I frown, as I mull it over. “So what does he have that they want?” I wonder aloud. “He has no empire, and no daughters to force into marriage, and I doubt that he would be willing to spill any family secrets for fear of reprisal from his brother.”
“The rumor is for a marriage,” Dante told him, leaning forward.
“Probably Lorenzo and one of their daughters.”
“There are some smaller, quieter rumors, that either Giovanni or Leonardo have a secret daughter they’ve kept under lock and key since she was born,” Dante finally admits.
I keep my expression unchanged, but I lean forward, arms bracing on the desk. Now this is information I need to have, because something like this, something possibly hidden for so long, could be the exact thing I need to gain the upper hand.
“And how reliable are your sources on this?”
“Enough, I won’t discount it. I have our guys looking into it, but so far there are no records of a girl being born to any member of their family. They are a family of boys from all we’ve gathered. Perhaps there was a daughter, but she was hidden away because she wasn’t Leonardo or Giovanni’s?”
I shake my head. “If there was even an inkling that this child didn’t belong to her father, she would be dead.”
“Leonardo killed his second wife,” Dante points out. “He could have killed the girl at the same time if he thought she was the product of an affair.”
“Possible,” I concede. “And Giovanni is enough of a bastard that he would use a dead baby as a bargaining chip to get what he wants. And then he would find someone to play the role if it came to it.”
“Still, I don’t think we should discount it.”
“Keep on it and let me know if you find anything. This kind of information could be useful if we can figure out the truth.”
