I loved working here. I loved the people Thomas and I had surrounded ourselves with. There wasn’t a better crew around to help solve cases, and some of them didn’t mind stepping over the line of legality to make shit happen…especially Bear.
I was damn proud to call ALFA Private Investigations mine and the guys around this table my dysfunctional and slightly fucked-up family.
Before the meeting ended, Ret’s phone started vibrating nonstop and dancing across the table. “I have to take this,” he said, excusing himself from the room.
Ten minutes later, when everyone had gone back to their offices, Ret walked back into the conference room with a huge, shit-eating grin. “Found the fucker.”
I rubbed my hands together, ready to go get his ass right now. “Where is he?”
“He’s been frequenting a club in Jacksonville called Forbidden a few nights a week and has been there the last two weekends.”
Thomas tapped his pen against the tabletop, leaning back in his chair and swiveling from side-to-side. “I can’t believe he’s still in Florida.”
“He must not have heard about my trip to Taboo. When should we head out?”
“Let’s get our ladies and head up there Friday. We may have to be gone a few days until he shows up. Is that okay, Thomas?”
“Wait.” Thomas straightened, and his face grew serious. “You’re going to take Izzy again?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. We need the ladies with us to maintain our cover.”
He scrubbed his hand down his face, pinning me with his gaze. “I don’t like it.”
“Have I ever let anything happen to her?”
Fuck, I killed a man for her. Rebel deserved that bullet to the head for messing with my family and trying to hurt Izzy. I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant keeping her safe. His death should’ve weighed heavy on me. Taking a human life was supposed to be a life-altering thing, even if it wasn’t the first one I’d taken, but his death meant nothing to me. I felt no remorse or sadness when his light was extinguished.
“I trust you. Just be careful. If there’s any sign of trouble, get the fuck out.”
“I’ll be there with them, Thomas. Nothing will happen. I know the owner of the club, and we’ll be in good hands,” Ret stated, holding the back of the chair at the opposite end of the conference table, oozing with confidence.
But if I was being completely honest, a man like Matías should never be underestimated. I knew how quickly shit could go south, and the last thing I’d ever do was put my wife in a situation she couldn’t handle.
Izzy
Trace randown the hallway outside my bedroom, giggling as Grandma chased him. I sat blissfully relaxed in my bathtub, not worrying a second about the kids. Mrs. Caldo knew how to get the crew in check, but just like my ma, at times, she just let them run wild.
Her being here the last forty-eight hours had been a godsend. My ma didn’t have any complications during her biopsy, and the doctor seemed fairly confident that it wouldn’t come back malignant, but we wouldn’t know for sure until the lab had studied the sample and given the all clear. Until then, I wouldn’t be able to fully relax, knowing there was a small chance that my mother had cancer.
I didn’t have any early morning appointments at Inked, and I took the opportunity to pamper myself a little. It was a luxury I didn’t often have with three young boys running around the house and getting into Lord knows what while I closed myself away from it all.
I had done it once, and Rocco ended up with a broken arm when he and Mello were playing tag on the staircase. I learned my lesson that day, after spending seven agonizing hours in the emergency room until they put a cast on him. They gave him pain meds to make him feel better, but I was the one who really needed a Xanax after the experience.
I closed my eyes when Trace’s scream trailed off, and Mrs. Caldo’s footsteps on the staircase grew light. I could get used to this life. She cooked and cleaned, even though I begged her not to, and she made me wish that James would agree to hiring help around the house. He’d give me some song and dance about letting strangers into our home, but I swore the man just liked my cooking a little too much.
That was my failure. I never should’ve let him know I could cook. I should’ve been like Suzy. The woman was basically barred from the kitchen unless Joe was feeling particularly daring and let her try her hand at a new recipe—which always ended up being an epic failure. I could’ve had a chef or we could’ve eaten out every night, but I had to ruin everything by showing him I had mad skills in the kitchen.
My phone buzzed, but I ignored it. There was nothing that couldn’t wait while I relaxed, enjoying the last five minutes I had in the bathtub before I had to drag my ass into Inked to interview Kat.
It buzzed again, and I groaned. I should’ve turned the vibrate feature off so nothing would interrupt me. I glanced at my phone and saw a text from my sister-in-law, who was still freaking out about the very possibility of Kat coming to work at Inked.
Max: She’s too pretty.
I rolled my eyes and slid down the back of the tub, almost putting my entire head underwater. What’s wrong with my sisters-in-law? Having another woman at Inked was a good thing. They were acting like every woman in the world wanted to steal their man. News flash…they were not that amazing.
I should know.
I’d spent more years of my life with my brothers than any of them had currently been in a couple. Joe, although I adored him, was broody and bossy as fuck. Mike was a goofball with a huge heart, but he was too much into his body and how veiny he could be for my liking. Then there was Anthony. My favorite and the biggest asshole of them all. I think I loved him most because he was usually too busy with his own shit to get on my ass about little things like the other guys. Thomas…well, he was older and had been basically MIA with the DEA since I was a kid. He and I weren’t as close, but he never once told me what to do. He knew I wouldn’t listen anyway.
