11. Collins
ELEVEN
COLLINS
I listened to Miceli speak the whole time.
My stomach knotted and rolled. Brooke was a mole.
Which meant she was telling someone about what happened in the house.
Worse, she could’ve been telling someone about me.
Shit. I need to get out of here. But go where?
Miceli’s house was the safest place we’d been in almost a year.
The minute I stepped off his property in my vehicle, alone, it would be game over, especially if Brooke was spilling info about Miceli’s business to someone who might want to see Kyle and me dead.
We were fucked.
“What do you think she said?” I licked my bottom lip, trying to hide the tremble in my hand by lifting the mug of coffee to my lips.
“I believe she told Alphonso Tripoli I would be at the gala so he wouldn’t go,” Miceli stated. The disdain in his tone sent a shiver of dread down my spine.
“You know who killed your wife,” I murmured, staring at him. “Like for real. That’s what you’ve been up to.”
“Among other things,” he shrugged. “I have something else I’ve been looking into as well.”
“Oh?” As soon as the single word left my lips, I knew I was in trouble. Miceli’s dark brown gaze landed on me, pinning me in place. Under that heated gaze of his, he could lay me bare without even trying.
“I have a working theory about something, but I know if I say anything, it’ll cause more harm than good.
I am biding my time, hoping I don’t have to play that card.
” He knows. He knows the truth, and now, if I don’t tell him, he’s going to, what?
Fire me? Kick me out? Turn me in? Kill me and put an end to my misery?
“Miceli, I...”
His phone rang at that moment, and he cursed under his breath.
Holding up one finger, he stood abruptly and exited the room.
Saved by a call. I deflated in my seat, shaking like a leaf, so close to spilling my guts while also feeling like a caged animal.
I needed to get out of there, but I doubted I’d be able to move without Miceli trying to stop me.
I also needed to tell Kyle what I’d learned.
“What? Are you certain?” He exhaled roughly before cursing.
“No. Touch nothing. I’ll call Ellory, and he’ll send someone he trusts from the department.
Yes, yes, I know. And Frankie?” He visibly relaxed, but not by much.
“Good. Tell him to stay there and not to leave until Ellory arrives. I’ll be there shortly.
” He ended the call, then gave me a sour look.
“I’m sorry. Something has come up. I need to leave. ”
“Think that’s wise?” The words left me before I had time to think about what I was saying.
If what he’d told me was true about Brooke, whatever happened since he returned to the house could be a setup.
“Seems a little too perfect after you’ve learned the truth, don’t you think?
Whatever’s happened?” I finished my coffee, forcing myself to act like whatever was going on had been no big deal.
He frowned. “Your point has merit, but the person at the center of the issues has gone missing. Murdered, is my guess. I’m thinking her usefulness came to an abrupt end.”
I tensed. Murdered. Brooke was a lot of things, but death... No, she didn’t deserve it, no matter if she was a shitty person or not. “Shit.”
“Indeed.” Miceli blew out a breath. “I have to go. Ellory and the police will arrive at the scene soon. Would you mind too terribly staying here tonight? I don’t want Rocca being alone. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
I nodded, unable to look away from the man standing in front of me.
This man who’d killed dozens. Rose through the ranks as the Table’s hired killer.
Now, he was afraid for his daughter’s safety after a woman he’d slept with had been kidnapped or at least deemed missing.
“Sure. I’ll have Lucas join me, and we’ll watch over her. ”
“Thank you.” He stepped in front of me and bent down to where I sat.
Miceli braced his arm against the couch before brushing his lips across mine.
“There is still more I want to tell you. Until then, be on your guard.” He kissed me again, the bitterness of coffee mixed with bourbon, setting me on fire.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, wanting more of this man.
My muffled moan was met with a groan from him. “You are too tempting, Ms. Attwood.”
“Same could be said for you, Mr. Daidone.” I smirked.
He left without another word.
I don’t know how long I sat there staring at the tray of danishes and coffee after I called Kyle.
He didn’t ask any questions when I told him Miceli had left, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
Were we getting in too deep here? I snorted.
We were molded by the deep end. Even if my father was only an accountant for the families, this was our life.
I was going to have to tell Miceli who I was.
I knew after this crazy incident. The tap on my shoulder by Kyle brought me out of my thoughts. “Hey. Sorry if I woke you.”
He shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.” He sat down beside me. “What’s going on?” Kyle scrubbed the back of his head. The bleach job and hair cut was exactly what he needed.
“I think Brooke is dead—kidnapped for sure,” I murmured, still unable to look away from the tray Miceli had been carrying.
He stared at me. “What? Are you serious? Wait, are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” I said, swallowing around the anxious lump in my throat. “That’s where Miceli was off to.”
“So, he chose her over you then?” Kyle wasn’t trying to hurt me. Not one bit. It was a question. I hadn’t told him about the video or what Miceli said about the woman, other than things weren’t always as they appeared.
“No. He chose no one. However...” I lowered my voice to a whisper, almost afraid of who might listen in. “She was selling information to the Tripoli family about Miceli.”
Kyle’s head snapped back. “Are you serious?”
“As a fucking heart attack.”
“There’s a chance she’s said something about you too, isn’t there?” Without even having to tell him everything Miceli and I discussed, he’d figured it out on his own. “We should go.”
“I thought the same,” I said with a sigh.
“But where? Anywhere we go right now puts us in danger. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of running and looking over my shoulder.
I’m tired of not having anything because of whatever happened with our father.
” Rumors about him stealing money were just that, rumors.
I’d never believe daddy would be so careless or money hungry.
Something else happened and the only person who could figure it out was Miceli, since he was on the inside.
“This is all so messed up,” Kyle hissed, fisting his hair. “We’re trapped. The second Miceli finds out who we are and what we’re doing here, he’ll sell us out.”
I didn’t think so. From everything he said and his demeanor, I’d say he hates them about as much as we did.
“No. He’s after the person who killed his wife.
At least, that’s what he confirmed tonight.
Us telling him the truth might make his job more complicated, but he’ll have to listen to reason. Maybe we’re after the same person.”
“Would you listen to yourself?” Kyle snapped. “We don’t know who killed our parents. Police think it’s tied to his shady work, which means the families are probably under the microscope too. Have you ever stopped to think Miceli is caught up in this, too?”
No. Not after what I’d learned about the company—his company. “He didn’t use daddy’s services. Ever. He has an accounting department within Daidone Holdings. What I do know, though, is that several of the other families trusted daddy and something terrible happened.”
“Yeah, dad took their money!” Kyle quipped, jumping to his feet.
“You can’t believe that, Kyle.” I exhaled hard. “There was no reason for him to steal. He was being paid more than we could spend. What exactly would daddy get out of taking their money?”
“Security? Blackmail? I don’t know,” my brother grumbled, sitting back down. “We’re the ones who were hurt the most in this situation. We’ve lost our money, our freedom. I got shot. You live with the memory of finding me and them. Jesus, Stephanie. We’re royally fucked here.”
“Shh... Keep your voice down!” We were, and we weren’t. “I think I should tell Miceli. He needs to hear the truth from me. If he kicks us out, then at least we know the entire Table is corrupt. We could go to the police and tell them we were hiding because you were hurt. There are options for us.”
“We won’t make it that far. You know it, and so do I.”
He had a point. It was the reason we didn’t stick around or go to the police.
The minute someone found out we were alive, we’d be killed.
There were no ifs or ands about it. “What do you want to do? If we run, we’ll always run and eventually we’ll be killed.
If we stay and never tell the truth, we risk eventually slipping up and revealing ourselves. ”
“Fuck.” He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “I fucking hate this. I want my life back. I want my friends. I want to be normal.”
So did I. “I don’t think we ever will be normal again.”
He gave a humorless chuckle. “Yeah, thought you might say that.”
“I’m sorry, Kyle,” I whispered, tears blurring my vision. “I thought I was doing what was right in this situation. We’re fucking screwed here.”
He wrapped his arm around me. “It’s not your fault. You did good. You’ve kept us alive and me from getting sick. We need to come up with a foolproof plan. Something we can implement at a moment’s notice. Just in case.”
I agreed. Should something happen to Miceli or should Brooke’s loose lips, since she was taken, reveal anything about us being in Miceli’s home, we needed to run. I wouldn’t risk Rocca being hurt or her losing her father because of us. “Do you have any ideas?”