Chapter 29
DANTE
The second my phone starts vibrating against the bathroom counter, I already know it isn’t good.
Nobody calls me this late unless something’s gone wrong.
Leigh’s eyes lift toward mine immediately through the steam-filled shower while I continue thrusting into her slowly.
I kiss her deeply, trying to ignore the constant vibration of the phone.
“Just answer it,” she mutters against my mouth before pulling back slightly. “We can finish in a second.”
I let out a frustrated breath before finally stepping away from her.
Cold air immediately hits my skin as I step out of the shower and wrap a towel low around my waist before grabbing the phone off of the counter.
Faris.
I tighten my grip around the phone for a second before finally answering it without taking my eyes off of her. “What.”
“Get down here,” Faris says immediately. “Now.”
My jaw tightens. “I’m busy.”
“I don’t care. We have a situation involving the Genovese family.”
Leigh notices the shift in my expression immediately.
“What happened?” she asks quietly once I pull the phone away from my ear.
I drag a hand through my wet hair slowly before answering. “I need to go.”
Her expression hardens instantly after that.
Because every time the FBI enters the conversation, so does the possibility that I’m about to betray her somehow.
“I’ll be back later,” I mutter while leaving the bathroom.
“Mm,” is all she says.
This version of Everleigh Genovese only exists when she’s scared somebody’s about to hurt her and it just made a reappearance.
Rain slams against the windshield the entire drive downtown.
Once I walk into the precinct, a few agents glance up, but nobody says shit.
Faris is standing near his office when I finally spot him. His sleeves are rolled up, tie loosened, expression irritated enough that I already know this night’s about to get worse.
“Took you long enough,” he says immediately.
“You dragged me out at midnight. What do you want?”
He tosses a folder onto the desk beside him. “We’ve got a kid calling up here nonstop asking for somebody to arrest Marco Genovese.”
That makes my brows furrow instantly.
“Marco?” I ask. “Why the fuck would anybody care about Marco?”
Faris leans back slightly against the desk afterward. “Because apparently some guy named Finnic Lawson is accusing him of raping and killing his girlfriend.”
Everything inside me immediately stills.
“What?” I mutter.
He grabs the file before opening it again. “Girl’s name is Maya Torres. Twenty-two. Found dead three nights ago.”
“No,” I say immediately. “Marco’s a fucking addict and a disaster, but he’s not aggressive enough to do something like that.”
“That’s exactly what I said.” He agrees.
I drag a hand across my jaw slowly. “So why the hell is this kid Finnic accusing him?”
Faris flips another page inside the file. “Because apparently he started asking around after her death.” He looks back up toward me. “And somebody told him Marco followed her home the night she disappeared.”
My eyes narrow again. “Who told him?”
“That’s the interesting part.”
Faris shuts the file. “He says the information came from a bar on Tenth Avenue.”
I let out a quiet scoff instantly.
“The fucking bar the Russians frequent?”
Faris nods once. “Sidorov establishment.”
I stand there silently while piecing it together inside my head.
The Sidorovs are stirring shit up.
Not just inside the warehouses anymore either.
Now they’re dragging police attention toward the Genoveses too.
They’re smart. Very fucking smart actually.
Because while Gabriel focuses on protecting his family from the FBI, the Russians get room to move however they want underneath all the chaos.
“They’re distracting us,” I mutter.
Faris watches me carefully. “That’s what I think too.”
I stare down at the file again.
Marco is unstable enough that people would believe almost anything about him.
That’s exactly why the Sidorovs picked him.
He’s an easy target.
He’s the perfect way to fracture the family even more.
“They want the cops focused on the Genoveses,” I say quietly.
Faris crosses his arms loosely afterward. “Question is why.”
I already know the answer.
Because the second mob families start fighting internally, territory becomes vulnerable.
My jaw tightens again.
If the Russians are willing to frame Marco Genovese for rape and murder just to create pressure..
This shit’s about to get a lot uglier.