Chapter 28
MIA
“How’s it going?” I ask, balancing my phone on my shoulder as I open the door to Leo’s office building.
“I’m a big girl, Mia. You don’t have to check up on me.”
“I know,” I sigh, pausing in front of the elevator and finding a wall to lean up against, “but this whole situation is my fault. They went after you because of me.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” she explains. “It could have been related to Vince somehow.”
She’s not wrong. But Vince’s body has been cold for weeks, so if they were going to go after Alice for information, why now?
Something isn’t adding up.
“Maybe,” I reply, quickly becoming entranced with the evidence board inside my mind. “But I’m allowed to worry about you, Alice. If anything were to happen to you or the baby, I’d—”
“Knock it off, Mia,” Alice snaps, reminding me of the harsh exterior my brother fought tooth and nail to break through.
“We both grew up in this world. We know the risks. I married your brother because I loved him and I did it knowing I wouldn’t get much time with him.
I was fully aware his problems would become my own, but I knew I was strong enough to handle them.
And I’m strong enough to handle this too. ”
She takes a breath, leaving me no room to respond.
“And if you don’t want your brother or that man you’ve become involved with to dote on you, don’t do the same shit with me. Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m helpless, Mia. I can still kick ass.”
It’s hard not to smile at her perseverance.
“You’re right,” I agree, accepting defeat. “Maybe I should be more worried about your hosts,” I say, attempting to lighten the mood and get myself off her shit list.
I’m rewarded with a dry laugh.
“Mari is an absolute angel,” she says, trailing off for a moment. “I haven’t met the brother yet, but if he’s anything like Leo, I’m sure we’re going to be besties,” Alice finishes in a sarcastic tone.
“I’ve only met him once, and I can promise you he’s nothing like his brother,” I say, pressing the call button for the elevator.
“Mhmm,” she hums unconvinced. “Well, I’ve got a whole lot of nothing to get back to. Let me know if you need any help with your brother’s case.”
“Okay,” I say, tapping my hand against my side. “Actually, there is one thing. Have you ever heard the name Marco Bellini?”
It’s a long shot, but without my resources at the NYPD, I was willing to try anything. Besides, Alice’s family is just as crooked as mine and just as deeply involved in the criminal underbelly of New York.
“I’m not sure why, but it sounds familiar. I think I might’ve seen it somewhere when I was going through Vince’s things for Dante. Let me check again, and I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks, Alice. Shout if you need anything.”
And just like a Russo, she ends the call without a goodbye, leaving the line dead before I can press the end button.
The elevator dings at that exact moment. I step inside, my mind a complete crapshoot of tiny details that fit together somehow, but I wasn’t quite sure how yet.
Hopefully Leo can help me make sense of everything.
I wasn’t planning on coming to see him today, but after getting my backup piece from my storage locker and a few other essentials, I found myself completely lost. And for some reason, I thought having Leo’s insight wouldn’t be a terrible thing.
When the elevator door opens, I follow the shiny marble floors to Leo’s office. I smile when I see Georgia sitting at her desk.
“Hey,” I greet her right as she rises to her feet. Then I notice she has a phone attached to her ear. “Oh shit. Sorry,” I mouth quietly.
Georgia taps a button on her phone with her perfectly manicured nail. “You’re fine, babe. That was just a delivery driver. I have to go down and meet him to sign for something, but Leo’s just in there bullshitting with Michael so go right ahead.”
I nod, watching her disappear around the corner.
I walk to the door, but just as I’m about to push it open, I stop dead in my tracks.
Leo’s voice cuts through the heavy wooden door, laced with a tense energy.
“I won’t risk her getting any more hurt than she already has…
She asked me if I knew the name Marco Bellini.
The second Enzo’s insiders caught wind that she was digging into his dead second-in-command, he’d start asking questions and figure out who she is. ”
My chest clenches
Pressing my ear closer to the door, I hear Michael’s response, which slowly inches the knife deeper into my gut. “…Sure, you can justify the suspension, but can you justify fucking up our plan…”
I stop listening after that.
Of course he’s the reason I got suspended.
I’m not sure why I’m surprised. I should’ve seen it coming.
But still, everything inside me cracks wide open, and I try to push through the hurt and focus on the anger. I latch onto it, the feeling so intense that I have to use Georgia’s desk to steady myself.
I carefully contemplate my next move—even though I’d love nothing more than to burst through that door and show Leo DeLuca exactly who he’s dealing with.
I’m not someone who needs to be protected. I’m someone he needs to protect himself from.
At some point I start moving.
My vision tunnels.
And all I see is red.
He took away the one thing I’ve been working toward for years, all for what? To protect me? As if I’m some helpless bystander in my own life.
“Careful.”
The unfamiliar voice snaps me out of my trance right before I collide into the stranger’s suit-clad body.
A hand reaches out to grip my upper arm, steadying me.
“Are you Mia?”
I look up and try to place the man in front of me. He looks familiar, like I’ve seen him before but haven’t quite met him.
He’s older. Hair laced with black and grey—the perfect salt-and-pepper mix. He’s undoubtedly handsome with his tailored suit and sharp jawline with clean facial hair.
“Do I know you?” I ask, taking a step back so he’ll drop my arm.
“No, but I’ve heard a lot about you from Leo. He’s a friend of mine on the council. My name is Adrian,” he says, his eyes heavily assessing me. “You look flushed. Would you like a glass of water? My office is right over there.”
I open my mouth to turn down his invitation, instantly feeling something off about him even though he looks harmless. But then I hear heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway, and I panic. “That would be lovely! Show me the way.”
I quickly follow Adrian to his office, tucking my tail between my legs like a coward.
As soon as we step into his office, which is slightly larger than Leo’s down the hall, I allow myself to take one steady deep breath before turning to Adrian and mustering up an excuse to leave.
“Oh geez, is that the time?” I ask, pretending to glance at the clock overlooking his desk. “I should get going. I need to get to work.”
“I thought you were suspended?” he asks with his back turned. The hair on my arms stands straight up.
“Leo told me,” Adrian adds, reading my mind. But that doesn’t calm the odd sensation stirring low in my gut. “He knows I have connections down at the precinct and was asking if I’d help get you reinstated.”
There’s no way Leo asked him that, let alone told him about my suspension.
Warning flags flare to life as I go to work scanning his office for anything that might seem off. Nothing jumps out at me. The place is a carbon copy of the other snake a few doors down.
“That’s very kind to do for someone you barely know,” I say, evening out my tone and forcing my lips into a friendly smile.
He turns around, his expression eerily similar to mine. The softness in his expression doesn’t match the sharp, deadly essence of his eyes.
“Leo has had nothing but good things to say about you,” Adrian smirks, walking toward me with a Crystal glass, half full of water. “He’s absolutely enamored with you.”
Enamored? He has to be joking.
I swipe my tongue against the back of my teeth, scrambling for the right thing to say next. I can’t let him know I’m suspicious of him, although I have no clue what I’m suspicious about.
“I’m surprised he told you about me,” I say, nodding as I accept the water I have no intention of drinking.
I raise the glass to my lips, tracking how his eyes follow the movement. I pretend to swallow before lowering it.
“You shouldn’t be,” he says, blinking slowly and pulling his gaze to a more comfortable level. “Are you feeling better? You’re looking less pale.”
His tone transitions into more sympathetic and less sinister. Much like Leo, he’s the perfect politician, and yet Leo never made me feel off like this.
“Yes,” I smile, setting the glass down on his desk. “Thank you for the water, but I should really—”
“I’m glad I bumped into you. I actually had a question about some upcoming legislation, and it would be helpful to have a Brooklyn native’s perspective.”
Another piece of information that isn’t public knowledge…does this man know who I am? Who I really am?
I keep calm. “Anything I can do to help.”
His smile deepens, clearly pleased with my answer.
“That man that was killed a few weeks ago caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. People are concerned about organized criminal activity having a resurgence. Do you think it was related?”
I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth, ignoring the chill gliding over me in one cool motion. It feels like I ran away from one monster straight into the arms of another.
“It was an isolated incident, and there wasn’t enough evidence to go off of,” I say. “Things like this happen. I don’t want to speculate, but it’s likely a mugging gone bad.”
Adrian hums softly, tapping his shoes against the carpet as he considers my response.
“A mugging,” he repeats. “That sounds very convenient.”
My nails dig into my palms.
“Convenient?”
“For whoever was involved,” he states, stepping closer. “It’s clean. Contained. Easy for the public to accept and move on.”
At some point, the smile slipped from my mouth and into a straight line. He’s baiting me, but it’s unclear why. “Not every case has a happy ending.”
“Very true,” he agrees, his eyes still trained on me. “Thank you for your input, Mia. I won’t keep you any longer.”
“You’re welcome. Let me know if you have any other questions,” I lie, already an arm’s length away from the door. I’ve been inching toward the exit this entire time without even knowing it.
“I will,” he adds. “And Mia?”
I pause in the doorway and slowly glance over my shoulder. “Yes?”
His perfectly polished smile greets me out of the corner of my eye.
“Be careful who you trust.”
It’s a loaded comment. Too vague to be a clear warning or threat. But it’s enough to make doing a background check on Adrian my number one priority after I leave this dreaded office building.
I don’t answer him before slipping out of his office.
Air rushes back into my lungs as I make my way toward the elevator, and just when I think I’m free and clear, another jerk almost crashes into me. But this time it’s the stranger’s fault because I’m fully aware of my surroundings.
“Sorry, miss,” he replies, his voice rough and uneven. He doesn’t give me a chance to respond as he stalks toward his destination.
Any other day, I’d nod my head and keep moving. We live in a city of accidental bump-ins. Most people are too interested in their own lives to pay attention to where they’re going. But this man piques my interest instantly.
Especially with the new medical sling securing his right arm.
And the fact that he walks right into Adrian’s office without so much as knocking.
Like he belongs there.
How convenient.