“What about the prosecutor?” Montgomery had a sly smile on his face.
“I just don’t know yet.” Which was the truth.
“You can’t keep her, Alex. She’s not a puppy in the middle of the road.” Sinclair was already laughing.
“I know you love strays, but you don’t do well with them. You need to feed and nurture them, give them attention,” Montgomery teased.
“Are you suggesting I’m selfish?” I tossed back.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. That, and you tend to destroy anything and anyone who gets close to you.”
My brother was serious. Maybe it was true, but I had my reasons and in my mind, they were justified.
Fuck his warning. She was a problem that needed to be handled. I’d never been known for protecting those I considered innocent. Why now? Why her? The real question was whether there was a chance she was exactly who she’d tried to lead me to believe or a simply a pawn in a game. With my teeth gritted, I rubbed my jaw, unable to keep my mind off her long legs and lips that I wanted to consume.
Everyone but me laughed, but Jaxon was eyeing me closely.
“Spit it out, brother,” I told him.
“You don’t think she’s working with whoever was responsible for killing Pops then setting you up for another fall. With you and Pops out of the picture, the territory would be ripe for a takeover.”
“Russo killing his own son would be brutal even for him. We have another player.” I’d already had that thought, which annoyed me since I didn’t want to believe Catherine was anything but what she appeared.
“Maybe this has everything to do with the Barishnikoff Bratva.” Sinclair eyed me carefully.
“Or the two cartels sniffing around,” Montgomery added.
“Maybe. And maybe the tooth fairy flew down from her perch. We don’t jump to any conclusions,” I said, taking a gulp of my drink, although I’d been known to do just that. Today the smooth liquor did nothing to calm my anger. Even though I reflected calm, my rage was blinding and bloody, deadly to anyone who crossed me. Those who knew me well described the moment before I acted as the calm before the storm.
They were right.
The beast was about to be unleashed, which meant someone would die. Maybe more. What had occurred with both our father’s death and today’s incident had taken planning. What did they say about things coming in threes? I wasn’t going to sit around and wait to see if that happened. Everyone, every crime syndicate in the south and along the east coast, every member of law enforcement and even the general population of Louisiana were waiting to see my first steps as the new mob boss.
“We see what rolls out of the soot and debris. Then we act. As far as the woman, I’ll handle her myself. Until I decide otherwise, she’s not to be touched under any circumstances. Understood?”
Sinclair was grinning like this was a date. It was far from it. I was furious and would discover everything she had to tell me one way or another.
“Fine, brother. Just be careful that she doesn’t take more of your attention than necessary. This is a perfect situation for our uncle to use to try and gain loyalty from your father’s Capos. Some are old school and believe he should be the rightful leader.”
“Was that something you heard from our Consigliere, Sinclair?” It sounded exactly like something Jacques Cornwell would say. He knew the Capos much better than I did, although the two closest to my father had been around the family for years. They’d seen all the children growing up.
“He might have mentioned it. You should talk with him. He might prove helpful in ensuring Armand won’t pull a coup.”
Now I laughed. “Let him try. And I plan on talking to him. He must know who our father met with.”
“We’ve had soldiers scouring the street,” Sinclair added. “There’s nothing out there. You’d think there would be given Lorenzo’s death.”
Footsteps drew my attention, Jarvis walking in a few seconds later, eyeing me cautiously.
“What is it?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” he said and I’ll be damned if he wasn’t grinning.
“What?”
“Your… guest managed to escape.”
My jaw went slack. How in the hell had she managed to get out of the room? The only operating windows in the room were in the loft and unreachable without a ladder. Even then, she’d need to scale the building. Doable, but tough in heels and a skirt.
