How much more do I need to know about Aricia? We’re both in our forties. We know things that we didn’t know when we were younger. It makes everything easier.
We take Michael’s new car and I find out that Luigi knows about this, which I don’t appreciate. I don’t want him to think that I’m a liability. Michael assures me that isn’t the case. Luigi might be the future head of this organization, but Leandro still rules for now…
“Are we making progress on Gino’s case?” Michael asks. I’ve been handling the situation with Gino. He got into a fight that ended badly at the behest of his father and we’re hoping he doesn’t have to end up serving time because of it. Leandro has funny boundaries with his children. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry what my father thinks anymore.
“The law firm is good.”
Michael hasn’t asked what hereallywants to ask, and I hate that I can tell. I wait for him to drop the bomb on me and in under a minute, he does.
“Are you still nailing the lawyer?” Michael grunts at me. I feel immediately defensive. I can’t blame Michael for assuming I don’t feel anything for her, because I haven’t had any deep emotional attachment to a woman since my early twenties. But I want to protect the connection I have to Aricia, even in the smallest moment of this conversation.
I haven’t ever had someone in my life that I genuinelywantto protect, so this is all very new to me and terrifying, considering every part of my life is dangerous.
“It’s nobody’s business.”
“I won’t judge,” Michael says. He’s right about that. His position as the underboss offersmemore potential protection as well. I don’t want to rely on him, but nobody survives in our world alone. Cosa nostra is filled with those sorts of unspoken rules.
“She’s not the lawyer on the case.” I don’t want to talk more about Aricia and expose her to more vulnerability. Michael doesn’t seem completely convinced to leave the topic alone.
“I can tell that you like her,” Michael says, smirking and making me feel like we’re teenagers again and he’s making fun of me for having a crush on a chick way out of my league. I know Ilookgood, but it’s hard to be in Aricia’s league when she’s fucking outstanding in every sense of the word.
“Michael…”
He barrels forward, like my older brother usually does. “Is that where you were tonight? Flora lied for you.”
My ears burn with embarrassment. I know Flora only wants to help, but I’m not a child and I’m not hiding Aricia. “I never told her to do that.”
“Sure. But maybe we should reward her for her loyalty.”
I don’t know if I would go that far. Flora’s loyalty should be her duty, especially since we’re keeping her from the fate that consumed Cosima and Angela. Leandro remains determined to keep the peace in Pittsburgh, so if she gets kidnapped and there’s a viable marriage claim, we won’t fight it. Flora’s position with me is precarious, which does lead me to doubt her involvement in drugging me.
We’ll find out when we talk to this girl, Lorena. Michael drives over to the questionable part of town with trash everywhere and powerlines slung low over the rundown buildings. Half the streetlights are broken, so the brightest light on the street emanates from the liquor store, which is somehow already open this early in the morning. He parks and looks around with visible disgust written on his face.
“This area is crap.”
“How long do we have to wait?”
“Not long.”
“How the fuck did you get this type of intelligence?”
“I put Flora to work. Haven’t you noticed her staying out of trouble recently?”Michael asks. I genuinely and perhaps foolishly believed that the experience shook Flora up on its own, but if a combination of things worked to suppress her urges to be a nuisance, I suppose I can’t complain.
Michael has the decency to provide a thermos of coffee while we wait. I can tell from the taste that Myra made it, since Michael never washes out his Thermos properly and I normallyhave to survive stake outs with the slight aftertaste of his dish soap. This coffee isgood.Very good.
The two of us sit patiently for a while. Michael doesn’t say much and neither do I. We were never the sort of brothers to talk more than necessary, but we got along better than Luigi and his twin brothers.
I finally break the silence when I see a massive bouncing orb of green curls and hone in on the woman with the incredibly garish hairstyle to find her matching Michael’s description.
“Lorena?” I ask him. But Michael, of course, already noticed. I already feel a sense of victory coursing through me.
“That’s her.”
She’s small and has her headphones on. Michael and I barely make an effort to stay quiet as we get out of the vehicle. Those headphones will make our job much easier. I always tell Flora not to walk around with those on in public.
“Gino’s apartment by the water is empty,” Michael says. “It’ll be easy to keep her quiet if you put a gun on her. We’ll take her down there.”
I grunt in response. It’s an easy enough plan. Within a few seconds, we close what little distance there was between us and our target. Michael grabs her, I use a weapon to keep her quiet and make sure nobody watches us snatch the chick off the street. Michael acts quickly with his hand over her mouth, so she doesn’t get a chance to scream and she’s smaller than the average woman, so if she makes any effort to fight back against Michael, it doesn’t affect him.
