DeLuca (Mafia Romance)

Mia

“I’m going to have to make a trip out to Chicago to talk to Mouse,” I said softly, kissing Carlo’s shoulder. He was awake. He always woke up before me, even in the middle of the night. Every time I woke up from a nightmare he was there, waiting to take me in his arms and soothe my nerves. Even though the nightmares were fewer and far between in recent months it was as if his body never got the memo.

“Mmm Hmm,” He mumbled into his pillow. It was early, the sun hadn’t even come up yet but I was wide awake. My mind was spinning, formulating my plan, going through the possible scenarios and outcomes.

“Unless you think I could just call him?”

Carlo groaned and rolled to his back, “No, the conversation needs to happen in person. Even if the phones aren’t tapped you need to be able to get a read on him in case it spooks him. Can’t risk him going to the cops.”

“Mouse wouldn’t do that,” I stated simply.

“Anyone is capable of anything. Just depends on the circumstance. Just because he’s your friend today doesn’t mean he couldn’t be your enemy tomorrow.”

“Okay, so when is the shipment set to come in?” There was no use in arguing Mouse’s loyalty to Carlo. He’d been burned too many times to have complete trust in anyone, even me.

And he’s right, you’re planning to go behind his back.

“Two weeks, but we’ll need everyone on board before the end of the week.”

“I’ll book a flight for Angelo and me for tonight.”

“I need Angelo here tonight, we’re going over new security procedures for the men and I can’t postpone. You can take Enzo.”

Shit! I couldn’t take Enzo with me. He’d never let me out of his sight and I needed to speak to Mouse alone. Angelo was my only option, he may be the head of security but he trusted me. Probably a little too much. Angelo was tough and could handle his own but I’d come to learn that he was more of a tech guy than the natural protector Enzo was.

“Mouse has never met Enzo, having him there might spook him. Do you need Angelo tomorrow?”

“No, that’s fine. You can book a flight for the morning and come back that evening. I don’t want to spend the night away from you.” He said slinging an arm around my middle and pulling me closer, effectively ending the conversation. Carlo

The clock on the wall read 8 A. M. on the dot. Mia was probably flying over Montana right now and I was sitting in my office kicking myself for not going with her.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

She needed to do this on her own, I remind myself for the hundredth time. It was her idea and she had to execute it by herself. She didn’t need me there holding her hand, and I had plenty to do while she was gone.

A knock at the door tore me from my internal debate.

“Come in,” I called out.

The door swung open and in walked a pixie of a woman dressed in ripped jeans and a superhero shirt. The buckles on her leather jacket and combat boots jingled as she stomped across the room and collapsed into one of the chairs in front of my desk. Frankie’s distain for professional attire used to grate on my nerves but I’d learned to accept her as she was. There was no use in fighting her on the subject, she knew what an asset she was and there was no way I was going to let her go just because she dressed like a teenager.

“What do you have for me?” I said in way of greeting.

“Hey boss man, nice to see you too,” she said as she tossed a thick file on the center of my desk.

I pulled the file closer, inspecting the contents. Page after page of documents, receipts, maps and pictures. All of the Kashnikov’s. “You got all this in a day?” I asked, overwhelmed with the amount of information she was able to gather in such a short time.

“What can I say? I’m the best.”

“And modest too.”

She simply raised an eyebrow at my comment, daring me to contradict her statement. I wouldn’t though, because she was right.

“Give me a rundown of what you’ve found,” I said changing the subject.

She settled back in the chair and tucked a leather clad foot underneath her before beginning. “It’s almost impossible not to leave an electronic trail nowadays and the Kashnikov boys have been busy. Ivan opened a strip club in Portland and they’ve both been staying at an upscale hotel in the downtown area. Vitaly has been flying under the radar more than his sons, I can’t pinpoint where he’s staying but I doubt it’s in the same hotel since there isn’t record of him. Previous records show that Vitaly is modest and low key, while his sons prefer to flash their money around. He’s most likely paying cash wherever he is. Their being careful not to be in the same place at the same time. The brothers are staying on different floors of the hotel and are almost never together. Boris doesn’t seem to be doing much of anything these days besides partying. His bar tabs are astronomical. I’ve included a list of places that have shown up numerous times on their credit cards, restaurants, clubs, and things like that. There’s also info on all the vehicles registered to either them or known associates. The phone records are in the back.”

“Thank you, I’ll let you know if I need anything else.”

“Sounds good, I’ll keep an eye on them and let you know if there are any changes in their daily habits.”

I nodded and turned my attention back to the file in front of me while Frankie let herself out.

The information she gave me was invaluable. Now I just needed to figure out how to take them out. Mia wanted revenge, as did I, but I had to think about her safety as well. If I picked them off one by one the possibility of retribution increased tenfold and I couldn’t risk her having a target on her back. I had to find a way to get them in the same place so I could take them out simultaneously and limit the blowback.