Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
MASON
W hat the fuck is wrong with me?
I see the number flash on the screen and I know right away it’s Enzo Moretti calling. I should be excited because we have another chance to get some info, enough for a warrant. I can time it all out perfectly and go in when I know he’s away, taking evidence before he has a chance to warn family to go in and cover their tracks. I’ve been working my whole career for a big bust like this, something that will make world-wide news and can stop a shitload of crime.
Yet, the urge to tell Mira to decline the call bubbles up inside of me. Her eyes go wide and she picks up the phone, looking at me for a millisecond before answering.
“Hey you,” she says into the phone, smiling so Enzo can hear it in her voice. She puts the phone on speaker and I come over, moving without a sound.
“Hey, babe,” Enzo replies and Mira makes a gagging motion and rolls her eyes. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. You know, you’re so different from the other women I’ve gone out with.” That line earns another eye roll from Mira, but she doesn’t miss a beat.
“Oh wow, really? I feel like I’m just one of the girls.”
“You’re far from it. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before and it’s crazy because we’ve only gone on one date.”
And now Mira is pretending to stick her finger down her throat from the over the top love bombing. “Oh gosh,” she says with a giggle. “You really know how to make a girl feel special.”
“What do you say we continue this and let me take you out tonight?”
“Mhhh, I would love to but I have plans with my sister tonight.”
I give her a what the hell look and she swats at the air. “What about Saturday night?”
“I think I can rearrange my schedule and make that work. I’ll text you a time and place and you can text me some photos of what you think you’ll want to wear.”
She giggles again. “Like my dress or something else?”
“Ohh, baby, how about both.”
“Matthew, you know my rules. I need you to help me stick to them because I’m feeling tempted to break ‘em.”
“Hey, now. I crack under pressure.”
“Good to know, good to know.” She turns, smiling as she talks to really sell what she’s saying. It’s odd, watching someone I’m very attracted to flirt with someone who’s not me. It’s a turn on in a way, and now my mind is going to what she would wear under her dress.
Maybe nothing.
It would be quite the happy surprise to stand behind her and slowly unzip her dress, my fingers gracing her smooth skin as I pulled the zipper down. She’d reach up and push each strap off her shoulders one by one and it would fall down to the floor in a fabric puddle around her feet, leaving her standing there, naked in front of me.
Blinking, I shake myself and reach into my pocket for my own phone, pulling it out so I can make a note of anything important. The phone is bugged, and everything Mira does will be recorded. I shouldn’t tell her. It would go against protocol. There’s always a chance someone in her position could change their mind and let the other person know what’s going on. Granted, she could do it in person where I have no way of knowing too. But not telling Mira something like this feels wrong.
I keep enough secrets in my line of work that I don’t lie when I don’t have to. I don’t sugar coat shit and it makes me come off as gruff sometimes, but I don’t care. It’s tiring having to keep a mental tally of the truth versus fiction, even when I’m withholding the truth for other’s protection.
“Try not to miss me too much,” Enzo says.
“I’ll try. Should I say the same for me?’
“I already miss you, baby.”
“Hmmm,” she says through her smile. “I’m looking forward to Saturday then. Text me details?”
“Of course. Behave yourself in the meantime.”
“I can’t make any promises.”
“Ohhh, you’re killing me, princess.”
Mira giggles. “My boss is right outside the door. I gotta go. Bye-bye.” She ends the call and lets out a breath. She’s good, but I can see this is rattling her a bit. She’ll be fine , I tell myself. Diego and I will be there, keeping her safe, and if we get what we need to proceed with the investigation, she can be done.
But will Enzo let her be done is the better question.
“I don’t know, man,” Diego says, taking a swig of his beer. “I feel like we’re toting the line a little too close here.”
“Ah, come on,” Evan, one of buddies on the police force, chimes in, throwing a dart and just missing the bullseye. “We’re not gonna let anything happen to this chick.”
“That’s not all I’m worried about. I promised the wife we’d start trying for a second baby. I can’t lose my job.”
“They won’t fire us,” I tell him. “They’ll be thanking us.”
“All this bullshit red tape is only slowing things down,” Evan goes on and I nod, agreeing with him. “Let’s trail the fucker tonight and see if we can get anything we can use.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Diego huffs. “I think his objective is to bang that chick. Not that I can blame him. She’s hot.”
“You’re married,” I shoot back.
Diego chuckles. “Protective, eh?”
“Your wife is psychotic,” I remind him and he laughs. It’s a joke between the two of them, and Diego fully loves his wife’s crazy side. The three of us are at a bar not far from the fancy-ass place Enzo is taking Mira tonight. She texted me that she’s on her way and has already been outfitted with an earpiece and wire.
One thing we haven’t quite been able to figure out is where Enzo fits into the Chicago family. He’s relatively new to the area, having come here from Miami only a few months ago, where he lived a rather outlandish playboy style life. Maybe he was summoned by his father for bringing too much attention to himself. Maybe he’s finally ready to prove his worth and take a place in the higher ups. I can’t be sure, but one thing I’ve realized is that he doesn’t seem to travel with any sort of protection, which leads us to believe he’s not quite as important as some of the other players in the game.
Once Mira is almost to the restaurant, we head out and get into a van we have parked nearby. I can’t risk Enzo seeing me again and while it kills me not to know what Mira looks like tonight, this is how we’d typically listen in.
“How’d you get away with getting us this for the night?” Evan asks then shakes his head. “Never mind. Better I don’t know.”
“You and me both,” Diego says under his breath. He knows I said we were checking out a lead, I just didn’t go into detail. I settle in and put on headphones.
“Checking in,” I say into the microphone. “Can you hear me?”
“Yep,” Mira says back. “Now shut up so I don’t look like I’m talking to myself.”
Diego and Evan laugh and shake my head at them. Enzo is already there and he greets Mira.
“Thank you,” she says and I assume he pulled out the chair for her. They chitchat a little about their day and Enzo asks Mira how her sister is doing. Right. She said she couldn’t meet last night because she was going to her sister’s. She does have a sister, and she posted an Instagram story with her nieces last night.
“It was good. My nephews are the cutest.”
“Oh yeah? Are they young?” Enzo asks, his voice a little echoey. I turn up the volume and do a little adjusting, trying to block out the background noise.
“Six and four,” she tells him, which are the ages of her nieces. She’s good at this, keeping details close to home so she’s less likely to forget. It sounds simple and easy but people are surprised how quickly they slip up, especially when they’re under pressure. The date goes on and it would be a total drag if it wasn’t for Mira carrying the conversation. Enzo forgot that Mira is a vegetarian when he ordered an appetizer, and then again when he tried to order dinner for her.
The guy’s an idiot and has no idea how lucky he is to be on a date, even a fake date, with someone like Mira Martin.
“Everything okay?” Mira asks, getting all of our attention. Diego motions for Evan to listen in. He grabs a headset.
“Yeah,” Enzo replies. “Business call. I gotta take this.”
“Oh, okay, of course.”
We hear a chair scooting out and then nothing.
“Talk to me, Mira,” I say, wishing I could see what’s going on.
“He got a phone call,” Mira replies softly. “On a different phone. He has two.”
“Did you see who was calling?”
“No, but it had a seven-three-three area code, so someone local. And yes, I’ll try to dig but not obviously, Agent Mulder.”
“Like I’ve never heard that before.” I smile, aware of the looks I’m getting from Diego and Evan. A few moments silently tick by before Mira says he’s coming back.
“Everything all right?” Mira asks.
“Yeah, yeah,” Enzo replies. “Just some family drama.”
“Oh. Your parents? You said you’re an only child, right?”
Enzo hesitates. Did he forget the story he made up? “Right. I did say that. And yeah. My parents are always in my business.” His tone has shifted and I’m going to take a stab that he’s confessing something right now.
“Keep this going,” I tell Mira and put one hand on the headphones, pressing it against my ear so I can hear better.
“Ugh, that’s so annoying. Are they bugging you about being single?” She laughs. “My mom asks me all the time if I’m going to give her grandchildren.”
“If you want children, I can help with that.”
My lips curve into a smile thinking about Mira wanting to gag after hearing that line. “It is a fun thought. Is that what your parents are pestering you about?”
“Not this time.”
“Oh,” Mira says and pauses, waiting to see if he’ll go on. He doesn’t. “So what are they on you about?”
“Business,” Enzo says shortly. “They own a bakery and called to complain about a mess in the kitchen.”
“That you made or no?”
“Not this time, but they tend to put the blame on me.”
“Aww, Matt,” Mira says and I imagine her reaching across the table to put her hand on his. She’ll probably circle her thumb against the pulse point on his wrist too. “If I didn’t know better I’d swear you're the middle child with an older golden boy brother and a little sister who can do no harm.”
Fuck, she’s telling the truth: Enzo is the middle kid and his older brother is his father’s right-hand man and his little sister, Kate, hangs out with their cousin, Bianca, getting into clubs and bars that she otherwise wouldn’t be permitted to step foot in since she’s only seventeen.
“I give off middle child vibes?” he asks and then they both laugh.
“Hey, I do, too. But I have an older sister and a younger brother who can do no harm. I love my sister, but she’s little Miss Perfect in my father’s eyes.” I know that’s a lie, but it’s a good one. She’s mirroring herself to Enzo’s real life, making him feel closer. Damn, she really is good.
Enzo orders another drink and they carry on the conversation. Mira tells him how overlooked she felt growing up and how even now she feels like her family looks down on her.
“I can relate,” Enzo says, clinking a glass down on the table. “You gotta take it to extremes to show you’re worthy.”
Silence fills the airspace and I inhale, waiting for Mira to talk. “What kind of extremes?”
“The kind that lets them know you can take care of shit.”
“With the bakery?”
“Yeah. It’s a cut-throat business.”
“I’m sure there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that regular folk don’t know about,” Mira goes on. They start talking about something else, and Enzo seems a little agitated the entire time, rushing through dinner but ordering two more drinks.
Finally, the bill comes, he pays, and he tells Mira they should “get outta here”. It’s another nice night and it’s going to be rainy the next few days, as Mira pointed out, so he says they should take a walk. A phone rings as they get outside and Enzo mumbles something we can’t make out.
“More problems with the bakery?” Mira asks a full minute later.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Oh, good. Where…where is this bakery? Maybe I can grab a muffin in the morning sometime.”
“It’s too far for that.”
“Oh, okay.”
Fabric rustles against the wire. “Don’t cross your arms,” I whisper to Mira.
“I do have to go take care of business,” Enzo starts, “but I have some time. Let’s go to my place.”
“It’s okay,” Mira rushes out. “I want to take our time so let’s do it next time.”
“Don’t be a buzzkill,” Enzo says and my blood instantly starts to boil. “I have some time to kill and I’m stressed. Don’t you want to help ease my stress, baby?”
“The guy’s a fucking creep,” Diego grumbles, shaking his head. “Can your girl handle this or do we gotta get her out?”
“She’s not my girl,” I shoot back. “But she’s got this.”
“Let’s walk this way,” Mira tells Enzo and everyone in the van holds their breath, waiting.
“Isn’t that them?” Evan asks, pointing at one of the cameras.
“It is,” Diego answers and I look over. There are cameras on every side of the van, and Mira knows roughly where we are parked. Is she walking this way on purpose?
“Do you need to answer that?” Mira asks just so we know his phone is ringing again. “Sounds like you have a real work issue going on.”
“Nah. I’ll call them back,” Enzo tells her.
There’s about a second and a half glitch between the live-stream audio and the camera footage.
“Matt, let’s slow things down,” Mira says and then the mic picks up more rustling or fabric. I blink, heart rate spiking, when I see Enzo step in front of Mira.
His hands land on her waist.
Oh, fuck no.
“Matt,” she says in protest and brings her hands up, trying to push him away.
“Come on, baby.” Enzo steps in and I’m already pulling my headset off, ready to jump out and take the motherfucker down. Because no one touches Mira and gets away with it.