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“Nothing,” I muttered, but he just gave me the side eye until I relented. “It’s stupid. Nico moved out all of my stuff and ended my lease on my apartment.”
The sounds of the city waking up slowly intruded on our silence. Paolo didn’t say anything and I felt the back of my neck heat up. It felt like he was judging me.
“I know it’s dumb to get mad at him for it-”
“I get it,” he said quietly. “He already took away a lot of choices for you. Doing that was something you wanted to do once you’d made the decision.”
I stopped walking and stared at him. Holy shit. He actually did understand. “It was the last attachment to my old life, andheclosed it out. I didn't get a say. I didn't get to move on,hemoved me on.” I scrubbed my hands over my face.
Paolo nodded in confirmation.
A smile spread over my face. “How do you know so much about women, Paolo?” It was no secret that Nico’d had no clue why I was pissed. I knew if he explained it to Luca the goon would be equally confused. Paolo, though, he just seemed to understand.
Paolo shrugged, but grinned. “I had a daughter. You remind me a lot of her.”
I blinked hard. Comparing me to his daughter was so sweet. I knew he missed her.
He looked away and started walking again. I caught up and shoved my hands in the front pocket of my sweatshirt. “I wish I could’ve met her.” We fell silent as we strolled. It was a comfortable silence, though. It felt like I’d known this man my whole life.
“We all know pain in one way or another. You, me, Nico, Luca… We all have that in common.”
I wondered who Luca lost, but it seemed wrong to ask Paolo to spill that secret.
“Give the boss a break.” I looked over at him and rolled my eyes. “He’s that way because from a young age he’s had to be. Otherwise, the streets would have swallowed him whole.”
“How much do you know about him, Paolo?” As close as we were becoming, we still had a long way to go until we really knew each other. It surprised me to realize I wanted that, though. I wanted to know the man who’d wormed his way past my defenses and had me starting to fall for him.
A smirk was his only answer. Everything. He seemed to know everything about everyone.
“Want to get some breakfast?” he asked. “There’s a great place not far from here.”
“Um, absolutely,” I said.
“Let’s go get the car. We shouldn’t leave it parked on the street.”
We turned and walked back to the Maserati. There were a few people walking past and they eyed the black, shiny, beast as she sat there soaking up the early morning light that was beginning to peek through the buildings. I definitely should’ve driven something else. If Nico’s car got jacked he’d be pissed at me.
“You going to tell me more about your boss over breakfast?” I asked Paolo as I slid into the seat.
He laughed and walked away to get into his own car. I’d give him ten minutes before he started to spill the beans. I knew how to interrogate a man after all.
Chapter 36
Dante
“Yo, Romano, hold up!” I looked over my shoulder as Reeves waded his way through the busy hallway in order to catch up.
“Hey, John. What’s up?” I was suspicious. John Reeves usually went out of his way to avoid me. He was also almost always late to muster and yet here he was, twenty minutes early and flagging me down.
The detective’s eyes darted around the hallway and he jerked his head toward an empty interrogation room.
I followed him in and watched in amusement as he checked to make sure the camera was off. I didn’t know why he was feeling so paranoid today, but I intended to find out.
“What can I help you with?”
He held his hands out and made a lowering motion. “Not so loud.”
I rolled my eyes and sat on a corner of the table nearby.
