“Cops.” Johnno sounds strained. “Dozens of them, Gio. We picked them up on a camera we left behind, just in case.”
“Behind where?” Luc straightens beside me.
“The Asante compound.” Johnno sounds grim. “It’s not a completely clean site, not yet. We had fires burning for two days before we could even send the first cleaning team. We watched them for a few hours, hoping they’d fuck off. But they’ve put a damn cordon up.”
Fuck.
Luc is already pulling up his phone, dialling. Stefano answers on the first ring. “What is it?”
Luc’s voice is clipped as he explains. Cat’s voice comes over the intercom, sounding livid. “There were hundreds of people in that compound every day. None of us are in the system. They have no reason to look in our direction – not to mention they know fuckingbetter.”
We pay them enough to look away.
“I’m in the system.”
We all stop at Stefano’s short words. “I was an asshole teenager. Salvatore left it on my record.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I say finally. “Cat is right. Someone not in our pocket caught wind of a fire and poked their noses in. This is nothing we can’t sort out.”
“Or someone pointed them in our direction.” Pure ice coats Cat’s words. “Someone who’d like to see us dead – or in for twenty to life. Care to bet on who?”
“You think Matteo broke Omertà?”
“Youdon’t?” She sounds disbelieving. “Of course he did. He saw an opportunity to pin us and took it. Like Dante said, it’s nothing we can’t sort out, but it will slow us down and that’s the last thing we need. We need their eyes away from us, or we’re sitting fuckingducks.”
I scrub my hand over my face. Gio leans over the phone, Luc holding his out so they can all hear.
Dom speaks next. “If he’s trying to pin what happened at the Asante compound on someone, pushing the cops in that direction, it’s a shot in the dark at best. Stefano, you’re most likely to catch the heat for it if your prints come up on a search.”
“Stay here,” Cat says immediately. “We can work on it – fix it before it becomes an issue.”
“No.” His voice is hard. “I go where you go.”
“Stefan—,”
“Not a discussion,” he says shortly. “I’m not leaving your side, Cat. If they come after me, we’ll find a way out of it.”
“Johnno,” Gio says shortly. “Keep a watch on the house, if they leave it, or security is light, get in there and make sure they don’t find a fucking thing.”
“Sure, boss.”
“Take Rocco with you.” I glance down, my fingers flying across the screen as I message him. My enforcer can move faster than anyone I’ve met. If he doesn’t want to be seen, he won’t be.
“No problem, Dante.”
Gio gives me a hard stare as the call ends. “Tell memydamn enforcer didn’t just take an order from you.”
“Enough.” Dom sounds frustrated. “We all know this is most likely to be a trap for Cat. She’s the one he wants.”
“Don’t even ask.” Her voice is hard. “We’ll manage it, Domenico.”
25- Caterina
Islip into the small bedroom about an hour before we land, unzipping the holdall and laying the clothes out on the bed.
Stripping out of the linen trousers, the white camisole that’s better suited for the Sicilian sun, I change into the supple black leather trousers, pulling them up and over my waist. The scarlet red blouse – one of my favorites – goes on next, the deep v-neck showing only a hint of my scar when I move. The edge of the ruined crow’s wings stand out more clearly at this angle.
The black heels follow, red soles flashing as I slide my feet into them before tugging my hair into a tight, high ponytail.
