But Owen wasn’t sure exactly when or how the Italians were taking the drugs. In the course of his investigation, he found out that Mancini was in South America, visiting the same country where Owen’s drugs came from. That obviously wasn’t a coincidence.
So, Owen spent the last two weeks digging into what the man was up to. In the end, he hired a private investigator, and now he was sitting at his desk, reading the man’s report.
He had to admit that he was surprised by the information within. Mancini traveled to South America to meet with some of his own men that had been there for two months. Considering that his mafia was so much smaller than Owen’s, he never would have expected the man to deplete his own numbers further by sending a dozen men to another country.
But it paid off for the man. His shipment was missing because those bastards stole it on that end, taking it from the boat before it even left for Misso City. He was reluctant to give Mancini credit for anything, but his men taking the drugs without the cartel knowing was almost impressive.
Of course, he wasn’t going to let it happen again.
Picking up his phone, he called his contact down south. Alonso picked up on the third ring, his voice horse.
“This better be important,” he said in lieu of a greeting. Owen knew that the time difference meant that it was the middle of the night there.
“It is,” Owen said. “It’s about my missing shipment.”
“I told you, I’ve sent another one. It’ll arrive next week.”
“Not that. I figured out what happened.”
There was a moment of silence and when Alonso spoke again, his voice was much clearer. “Tell me.”
“The Italians stole it from you. Mancini has a team in place on your end and they stole the drugs fromyou.”
Owen knew that wording it that way would piss Alonso off, and that was his plan. If Mancini stole from him, the cartel didn’t give a shit. They got more business when Owen placed another order. But for the Italians to steal from them directly…that was a sign of disrespect. Mancini sent men into their territory and messed with their business.
“You don’t have to worry about that happening again,” Alonso said, his voice deadly. Owen knew that the cartel would not only increase security, but Alonso was a ruthless son of a bitch that would put any of Mancini’s men he found in the ground.
It was too much to hope that Mancini himself would be stupid enough to stick around in South America long enough to get caught by the cartel, but it looked like the Italians had made themselves another enemy.
It was a small win, but Owen would take it.
* * *
Almost a month had passed since the first time he slept with Ruby, and he’d never felt so strongly about a woman. He’d opened up to her in ways that he’d never opened up to anyone.
With her, he didn’t feel like he had to put on a show and the tough, no-nonsense leader of a criminal organization. There was nothing to prove.
He’d never even considered bringing a woman to meet his mother before, but as he walked down the hallway to her apartment with Ruby at his side, he wasn’t allowing himself to overthink it. His mom was always asking him about whether he had a woman in his life, and now he did. It would make her happy to know that. He had a suspicion that she worried about him being alone.
He knocked twice and opened the door to his mother’s apartment. This time, she was sitting in the living room area, relaxed in the recliner with a book on her lap. Her white hair was wrapped in a scarf and there was a mug of hot tea at her side.
“Surprised to see me?” he asked when she looked up and met his eyes.
“Not at all. ItisTuesday.”
Tension that he didn’t realize he felt bled out of him as he realized that she was having a good day. She remembered what day it was.
“I am a little surprised to see that you’ve brought a guest,” she said, turning her attention to Ruby.
“Mom, this is Ruby.”
“I knew it,” she said, rising slowly from her chair. “I’ve seen a change in my boy lately, and I justknewit had to have something to do with a girl.”
Owen groaned, but Ruby just laughed. “I’m perfectly happy to take credit for the changes you’ve seen. Now, what are we reading?”
Ruby sat on the loveseat while his mom settled into her chair. Before long the two of them were discussing the mystery novel that his mother was reading, which it seemed that Ruby was already familiar with.
It did something funny to his chest to see the two of them clicking so easily. Like it was expanding somehow, making room for emotion that was unfamiliar to him. Happiness? Affection?
