13. Miceli
THIRTEEN
MICELI
Ellory entered the house minutes later. The file he had in his hand was thick with paperwork.
He hadn’t been kidding when he said he had information for me.
I motioned for him to follow me to my office, weary from the day’s activities.
My mind was on Stephanie and her brother and the fact I’d almost lost them.
This shit needed to end today.
“You look like hell,” Ellory said, while I closed the door behind him.
“Feel it too.” I crossed to the liquor cabinet. “Can I get you a drink?”
“The scotch this time.” He glanced at me. “I’ll tell you about my day if you tell me about yours first. I wasn’t being an asshole. You really look bad. What the hell happened?”
“Stephanie was almost kidnapped today,” I said, pouring both of us a drink.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Ellory muttered, then whistled. “She finally opened up to you. Do you know who tried to take her?”
Crossing back to my desk, I handed him the glass and nodded. “Yes, there were three. Two of Tripoli’s men and a wannabe.”
“Fuck.” Ellory took a healthy swallow of the expensive, single malt scotch, then exhaled roughly. “Do you know who?”
“Hector Alonzo and Carlos Zamora. The third man is Javier Benítez.” The overwhelming rage spread through my veins. “Javier was one trying to make a name for himself with Tripoli.”
Ellory shook his head. “Well, you will not like what I found then.” He opened the file without placing it on the desk in front of me. “Before I show you, I don’t think Stephanie had any clue.” He retrieved some of the paperwork he’d collected and placed it in front of me. “Theo Hollis was FBI.”
I laughed. Full on, doubled over, causing my stomach to hurt, laughed. Of course, now it made sense. Theo wasn’t stealing money, someone found out he was a Fed plant. None of the families would like the fact they’d been infiltrated by him. “Who was he looking at?”
“From the documents I’ve been able to gain, only two. Tripoli and Valentino. However, he did work with others from the families. The Tumino family, which I doubt he’d find anything on them. Kira runs a tight ship. The Salvatore family, Delmonico, and Sperlinga families, too.”
“How many, not including Kira, are dirty?” I had an idea, a slight chance to make this right after everything Stephanie had endured.
“All of them. From what I can gather, Salvatore has taken a foothold in the skin trade industry. Delmonico and Sperlinga are running drugs. Tripoli and Valentino have the hitmen the other families can hire for contract work since you left the game. Then there’s you.
” Ellory gave me a pointed look. “You’re a slippery son of a bitch.
I can’t quite place what you’re using your company for.
I know it’s a front, so don’t lie to me. ”
I grinned, staring at the man over the rim of my drink.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you, Ellory.
I don’t want to clean up the mess, nor lose a friend.
” I dabbled in money laundering, real estate, and a few other things.
Most of Daidone Holdings LLC was on the up and up, but there were parts I concealed.
Another reason I kept everything in-house.
I didn’t need nosy FBI agents snooping around, trying to tear my company down from the inside.
Ellory shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t. Though I suspect our business arrangement would end.”
I hummed in agreement. “Then, let’s not press the situation or our luck.” I finished the whiskey in my tumbler. “Do we know which family figured out Theo was FBI?”
“I believe both did,” Ellory replied. “I can’t say for sure without asking them questions. Obviously, however, it would coincide with why Tripoli tried to take Stephanie and Kyle. Or tried to kill them before, at the murder scene.”
“Loose ends,” I replied. “Makes sense. Who else knows, besides the two of us, that Theo was FBI?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t suspect his family knew—his wife, Sylvia, being the exception.
The story is a fake as far as I can tell.
Tripoli and Valentino used it as justification for killing Theo.
I’ll go a step further to say the FBI hasn’t said a word either to keep someone safe who might be undercover within the family ranks. ”
Exposing Theo for what he was made more sense than telling a lie about him stealing money.
What angle were Alphonso and Ricardo Valentino playing at?
They had to know the FBI would be on their asses.
Did they really believe they were above the law?
Could I be wrong in my assessment of the situation?
Was the assassin sent by a different family to frame the Tripoli and Valentino families?
“FBI has to know the truth. What they don’t know is the who, correct? ”
“True.” Ellory nodded. “What are you thinking?”
An idea percolated within my mind. Turning over everything would expose me to the FBI and put eyes on my business.
Killing Tripoli and Valentine would do the same.
However, if I sent tips to them, including the information about my wife’s murder, perhaps I could keep my hands clean.
“Kill them.” I shrugged. “That’s my first instinct.
Unfortunately, the investigation is too hot and killing them would send hounds sniffing at my door.
I don’t need the unwanted attention.” Nor would I risk Stephanie.
The minute she popped up alive and well, Tripoli would send his men to kill her again.
Although... “Do you have anyone in the FBI that you can trust?”
Ellory tapped his chin. “I know a few people. Why?”
I wasn’t sure how Stephanie would feel about it, but we could use her as bait.
Lure the families out with their hit men.
Then take down their ring. When the dust settled, I would take over the table and set the future of the Table on the right path, or at least a better path than it was on now.
“Find out if you can get them to meet with us. Tell them I have information they’re going to want. ”
“What about Stephanie?” Ellory prodded. “What do you want me to say about her?”
“Nothing yet. Let’s see if the agents will nibble on the little information you give them.
If they’re willing and you trust them, we’ll go from there.
” The crazy idea had several ways it could blow up in my face.
The risks, though, didn’t outweigh the rewards.
I wanted to watch Alphonso and Ricardo fry for their transgressions.
Bonus, if they made it to prison, I had a few people on the inside desperate to clear their names with me.
Showing loyalty would go a long way to make amends.
Ellory stood. “I’m not telling you what to do, Miceli, but you should run all of this by Stephanie first. After today, she might not want to be a pawn in this vicious game all of you have been playing.”
He had a point. Stephanie had already been through enough.
When I told her the truth about her father, it could be the last piece that tore her apart.
Of all the things I suspected about her father, being an agent wasn’t one of them.
The man made millions working with the Table.
I half suspected he enjoyed his job more than he did being a part of the FBI.
The ripple of consequences from his actions would be long lasting and would touch everyone within the Table for years to come.
I couldn’t concentrate on that part. I had Stephanie and her brother along with my Rocca to consider and protect.
“I’ll talk with her. In the meantime, get the information from your friend.
If it comes down to it, we’ll do an organic reveal of the Valentino family then yank the other players off the board one by one from the shadows. ”
“I’ll be in touch.” Ellory left, shutting the door behind him on the way out.
I eased back into my chair, closing my eyes.
It was barely after six, and I was exhausted.
The day’s events were stressful. The mind numbing fear I experienced with Benny’s frantic, though steady call after he’d cleared the scene, could only be compared to when I lost my Rosalina.
The safest thing for me to do was hand Stephanie and her brother over to the FBI and let them deal with the rest. Yet, the idea of never seeing her again ripped apart what was left of my heart and soul.
What was I going to do with her? Did I keep her, claim her as mine?
Or did I let her go and hope, when the dust settled, and I became the head family for the whole of the Table, she’d be able to lead a normal life?
Indecision warred with lust and yearning.
In a perverse way, I wanted to keep her and show her off as a reminder of what happens when Il Malocchino collected on his debts.
Put the fear of retribution and death back into those who’d gotten careless around me.
I had gone soft over the years and, with the murder of my wife, retreated into the shadows, a broke shell of the man I once was.
“Miceli?” Stephanie stepped into the office.
I hadn’t even heard her open the door. Her hair was adorably tussled, her cheeks still blotchy from crying.
As she leaned against the frame, she fiddled with the hem of her overly long shirt, almost as if she wasn’t sure if she should stand there in my doorway.
When she tucked her bottom lip between her lips, her heavy-lidded gaze locked with mine, I had a feeling whatever happened between us, this would change the whole dynamic of our relationship.
I only had one question for myself.
Did I want it to?
“Yes?”
“I...” She frowned, drawing those delicate brows of hers together, as if she warred with herself, not sure why she’d come to me or if she should have.
“Come inside,” I said, deciding for her. “Close and lock the door behind you.”