"Very good, sir." The waiter gave a quick bow of his head before walking away.
"How is wedding cheesecake any different than regular cheesecake?"
"Chocolate-dipped strawberries," Jefferson replied.
"Ah."
"Sir." Ivan stepped forward and held out his cell phone. "Mr. Castellano is calling."
My gut clenched as Knox took the phone and put it to his ear. He nodded a few times before putting the phone on speaker and placing it in the middle of the table.
"You're on speaker, Mr. Castellano."
"Vinnie, please. We're all friends here."
"Vinnie, then," Knox said.
"I am sorry to be interrupting," Vinnie said, "but I've had some news I thought you all might be interested in."
"We're listening."
"It seems that Anatoli Brasov turned himself into the New York office of the FBI a couple of hours ago."
"Are you serious?" Knox asked.
I pretty much forgot to breathe.
"After divulging everything he knew about the sex trafficking business, including names, dates, and locations of his buyers and those he's sold, the FBI picked up John Stanton and took him into custody."
"Why would he do that?" Dalton asked.
"My understanding from Burke is that Mr. Brasov agreed to tell the FBI everything he knew as long as they promised protection for him."
"So, what?" I snapped at the thought that the man might get off scot-free. He deserved to spend the rest of his life behind bars. "Witness protection?"
"No, he doesn't trust witness protection. He said new identities can be bought. Mr. Brasov requested ADX Florence, which is a supermax federal prison in Colorado. He'll get no mail, no visitors, and only one hour a day out of his cell."
"Oh my god," Dalton whispered as he leaned into me.
I wrapped an arm around Dalton before asking again, "Why would he do that?"
"I really have no idea," Vinnie replied. "I merely called a few of my old friends who are still in the business and informed them of what Brasov and Stanton were doing and where. I have no control over what they might have done with that information, but ADX Florence might be the only safe place on the planet for him now."
My jaw dropped.
Knox chuckled. "Thank you for the information, Vinnie, but do you have any idea what happened to Stanton's daughter? She could still be an issue."
"Stanton’s and Brasov's finances were all frozen according to Burke. I doubt you'll see her again. Not only is she running scared from the people after Brasov and her father but she's also broke. She's going to be too busy to cause you any problems."
"How did you do all of this?" Knox asked. "It's only been a few hours."
"Like I said, I simply made a few phone calls."
I hugged Dalton when he started shaking. "It's over, baby. It's really over."
Dalton sniffled before raising his tear-rimmed eyes. "Does that mean you want a divorce?"
"No!"
