Chapter 17
MIA
I’m in Leo DeLuca’s home.
No, his lair.
That’s a much better description for the Bruce Wayne-like interior surrounding me, like I’m about to find out that Leo is Batman any second.
I push the obscure and frankly nerdy thought aside to focus on his confession. “You have your drink; now it’s time to hold up your end of the bargain for once.”
He chuckles at that, taking a long sip of his drink. My own drink sits in my hands untouched, the ice clinking off the sterling glassware. I hate scotch, but I can barely keep my eyes open, so I take a deep breath and shoot it back, grimacing at the way the liquid burns sliding down my throat.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone shoot $2,000 worth of scotch before.” He smirks.
I roll my eyes and set the glass on the table hard enough to hear a satisfying clink. “It tasted more like ten dollars. I think you overpaid.”
He chuckles again, making my skin tingle with the same satisfaction I experienced this morning. I cross my legs and lean back.
“You were saying?” I ask, swallowing a yawn.
“First of all, I didn’t have to blackmail Vince,” he says, setting his own glass across from mine.
“Once I decided Enzo Caruso had to go, I needed to find someone who wanted the same thing as me but wasn’t important enough for said person to snitch on me or pull out at the last second.
I needed someone that wanted something money or power couldn’t sway. ”
I furrow my brows, sinking deeper into the soft leather. “What do you have against Enzo Caruso?”
There are a million other questions pressing against my tongue, but I need to play it safe.
Political corruption is at the very top, but I could sense Leo’s disdain for Enzo as soon as we stepped into the man’s orbit.
I’m surprised the boss man couldn’t sniff it out, but that’s what happens when your ego is too big to care.
His posture clicks slightly as he adjusts himself on the couch. If he’s fighting sleep like me, I can’t tell because he looks as fresh as he did at the beginning of the day.
“It’s a long story—one that you don’t need to know for the plan to work.”
“Ugh,” I groan, letting my head fall back on the couch cushion. “I’m a detective. Motivation is the biggest key in any investigation. Of course I need to know,” I sigh, picking my head back up as I feel my eyelids fluttering closed.
“Tired, Tesoro Mio?” he asks with a sly grin.
God, I hate Italian men.
“Not too tired to tell you to fuck off,” I snap, attempting to sit upright, but failing miserably as I sink back into the luxurious leather. It doesn’t help that it smells like him. “Fine. Don’t tell me then. But hurry up and give me something useful.”
“As you wish,” he winks, causing something unsettling to stir inside me.
“I was already in Caruso’s orbit. It was the first phase of my plan after realizing how much he likes corrupting politicians.
But then I realized that I was never going to get close enough to get any real information, so I needed an actual inside man.
After doing some digging, I started hearing some rumors that your family had just as much reason to hate Enzo as I did, yet the Russos were dutifully working for him.
Now I know they didn’t have a choice, and Enzo has basically been forcing other crews to rely on him for a while.
He’s attempting to form a monopoly in the underbelly of New York. ”
I stare down at my hands, remembering how broken we were when our mother was dying. Dad was already struggling to keep things afloat, and that was the last domino that made everything else tumble to the ground. He had no choice but to work for Enzo even if it killed him inside.
“So, how’d you get Vince to agree?” I ask, forcing him to move things along.
“You’re very impatient tonight, Emilia,” he says, his pupils darkening.
Somehow I find the strength to roll my eyes, causing him to laugh. “It was easy to get your brother on board. He’d just gotten married and was looking for a way out. I think you inspired him in some ways.”
“Me?” I question, my entire body perking up. “I thought you didn’t even know I existed.”
“I didn’t,” he answers boredly. “He always talked about a family member getting out. Never mentioned you directly. But now that I know you, it makes sense.”
“Right,” I reply, my voice dropping to a barely audible whisper. Most days I was able to bury the hurt of Vince’s death. The promise of finding justice for him kept me going, but once it’s over, I know the pain will catch up to me.
Leo goes silent. When I look up, his facial features are soft, and his mouth is curved in a slight frown. It might be the sleep deprivation, but he looks concerned.
A nagging feeling aches in my chest and something wiggles loose.
“I wish he would’ve had the chance to experience life away from the outfit.
I always knew he’d make a good dad and Alice—fuck, I need to go see her,” I say, feeling a multitude of regret and sadness line my tear ducts. “It’s not fair.”
I bow my head again as Leo rises to his feet and walks toward me.
Perfect, shiny black shoes fill up my line of sight. It almost makes me smile as a single tear drops off the bridge of my nose and onto the toe of his shoe, disrupting the smooth surface.
Soon the space next to me shifts and I’m forced to blink my shame away as Leo sits next to me. He reaches out to comfort me, but at the last second he pulls his hand back like he just came close to touching a live wire.
And I’m thankful for that small bit of reprieve because I’m not sure what I’d do if he touched me right now.
“It wasn’t a part of the plan for him to die. If I would’ve known—”
“Stop,” I say, cutting him off and wiping the moist residue from my cheeks.
“Don’t do that with me. If you’re nice to me, I—what I’m trying to say is I really don’t need an explanation or a half-assed apology.
I know that you didn’t pull the trigger and that’s enough—really.
What I need you to do is tell me the truth,” I say with a heavy breath. “That’s all I want.”
Leo doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he pulls his emotional support drink to his lips and lets his lips hover near the lip.
“Fair enough,” he sighs, the weight of the couch dipping between us.
“Vince was collecting information for me. Mainly evidence of money laundering through the Caruso’s restaurants and clubs, shipping routes, shell companies, and even a list of bribed officials.
Basically, a map of Enzo’s operation and this,” he says, tossing a small rectangular shape onto the table, “had the last pieces of the puzzle.”
I stare at the flash drive as he continues.
“Vince was supposed to give it to me the night he died. We met in plain sight at Ristorante Ottaviani because that’s where he usually met up with the Caruso crew when he’d work a job for them.
He showed up, but he was on edge and told me he wasn’t ready to give me the information yet.
He wanted to know that his family would be protected if anything went south.
I got frustrated and told him to fuck off. ”
He pauses with a heavy look on his face.
“After I left, I regretted it almost immediately. I tried to get a hold of him to smooth things out, but he wouldn’t answer his phone. That’s when I went back to the restaurant to find him, and he wasn’t there. I even had Michael check a few other places, and nothing.”
My stomach sinks as I wring my hands together. “You went looking for him?”
“Yeah.” Leo nods. “By the time I got word he was at the Velvet Room, he was already gone. I only knew about the body being moved because I had Michael keeping tabs on Dante.”
He really didn’t have anything to do with Vince’s death.
Something I knew deep down but didn’t want to admit because that would mean he might not be the monster I want him to be.
But those confusing feelings don’t last long. There’s also a fresh steaming pile of frustration to fill the void. I’m still not any closer to finding Vince’s killer.
“Do you think it was Enzo?” I ask, turning toward him and tucking my legs underneath me. I lean my head on the couch cushion and watch him carefully between slow blinks.
He bites his bottom lip as he contemplates his answer. I find myself whisked back to our moment at the club and how he claimed my mouth. I wonder if he kisses everyone with that much passion.
“I don’t,” he says with a coy smile.
“Shit. Did I say that out loud?” I ask, too tired to hide my embarrassment.
“Yes,” Leo replies, his hand reaching out and delicately tracing circles on my calf. If I wasn’t so exhausted, I’d like to think I’d kick him away. “But even if you didn’t, it’s written all over your face, Anima Gemelli.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he whispers, giving me a lazy smile, “but to answer your question, no, I don’t think Enzo or anyone on his crew killed your brother. If he got wind that Vince was planning something, he would’ve gone after Dante too.”
“I don’t know why that’s comforting.” I yawn, feeling the sweet release of sleep tap my shoulder. I should really get going.
“Because you’re a smart woman and you know it’s a death sentence trying to take down a man like Enzo Caruso.”
“So, you’re willing to die then?” I ask, my head nodding forward. I lose my balance entirely, but before I can fall, Leo catches me.
“Why would I want to die when I just found you?” he whispers as his eyes connect with mine.
My brain attempts to process his words, but exhaustion seeps in. The room fades around me, and the warmth of Leo’s body is too intoxicating to push away.
“Please stop being sweet,” I mumble, my eyelids growing heavy with each second.
He chuckles, pulling me into his chest. Everything is fuzzy, but I swear he murmurs the next sentence against my hair. “Go to sleep, Emilia. You can go back to hating me tomorrow.”
I don’t answer. I just peacefully drift off and curse myself for letting my guard down around Leo DeLuca.