“No,” he says, his tone flat. “And do you know why?”
“Hmm… Nope.”
His exhale is easily heard and my smile widens. “I received a disconcerting message from you in the middle of the night,” he says, every word succinct. “Would you care to explain it?”
“I’m going to need you to remind me what it said. Last night was wild, bro.”
There it is, the sound of Tristano grinding his molars. So satisfactory.
He clears his throat. “Yes, let’s revisit your bout of insanity. ‘I think I found the one woman whose pussy is the holy grail and I’m going to marry it. As Indiana Jones would say, I’ve chosen wisely.’ Does that sound familiar?”
I can’t prevent some of the mirth from spilling onto my tone, and I’m one breath away from dying because of asphyxiation, due to laughing so hard. Fucking around with my brothers is my favorite thing.
No, sex is. But screwing with the Silvestri men is a close second.
“I remember now,” I say. “And it’s true. My fiancée is everything I could ever want in a woman. For starters? She’s so fucking hot. And secondly, she’s flexible. You know I’ve always wanted someone who can put their—”
“Rafael, shut the fuck up.” He takes a deep breath and from the length of it, I can tell he’s trying not to lose his temper. “I want you to be serious, because at this moment I am close to killing you. Now, stop being a fuckboy and tell me the truth. Are you really engaged or is this another one of your ploys for attention?”
My amusement morphs into irritation faster than a single blink. “You’re so fucking righteous. Can you tell me what heaven is like, since no one else is good enough to get there?”
“It is very…bright.”
I snort, taken aback. “Was that a joke? Like an actual funny, ha-ha?”
“Perhaps.”
I shake my head in wonder, even though he can’t see me. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Neither did I,” Tristano mutters. Then he returns his voice to a normal volume and I’m curious if he intended for me to hear that comment or not. “Rafael, no more games. What’s going on?”
“We need to have a family meeting when Maximus gets back from Europe. Carina Nardone arrived at my door last night, offering to sell out her father in exchange for the protection of the Silvestri name.”
Tristano is quiet for so long I almost fall back asleep. “Interesting,” he finally says, drawing out the word.
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”
“Both you and Nardone’s daughter will present yourselves at my house tomorrow morning at nine.”
The line goes dead and I stare at my phone in surprise for a second. Tristano is not prone to rudeness, but then again, I’m sure I gave him a lot to think about. He believes he’ll be prepared to meet Carina and that she’ll behave like all the other women associated with the crime syndicate.
The look on his face when she proves him wrong will be priceless.
Since Carina is still sound asleep, I make a couple more calls. The first one is to Mike downstairs, so he can create a fictitious rental agreement for Carina, as long as all the other things necessary to make it appear as if she’s lived in my building for several months.
The second phone call is to Danny, my tech guy. I give him explicit instructions concerning Carina’s phone, as well as the other two she confiscated last night.
“My fiancée took pictures of the men who owned the phones. I want those included in the final report,” I say.
“Will do, boss.”
“Oh, and another thing. I need you to find her digital fingerprint. There are some dangerous places she’s been looking into, along with people she’s been dealing with. I want all of it erased. Completely.”
The rapid succession of keys being clicked at an unbelievable speed bombard my ear. “Yeah, boss, I see what you mean. She’s definitely playing in a sandbox that’s full of quicksand. So to speak.”
“Can you handle it?” The very idea of anyone linking her to the sabotage is a death warrant and she may not be fortunate next time an enforcer locates her. “I need to know.”
“It’s going to take me some time to follow every trail, but I can do it.”
