“He doesn’t kill people for a living.” Dom leans against the counter, watching me. "And he knows more about this case than anyone. Plus, I vouched for you. That means something."
"That I'm not immediately getting concrete shoes?"
His mouth twitches. "Roman won't hurt you while I'm here."
The qualifier isn't reassuring. "While you're here?"
Dom steps closer. "I'm not leaving your side."
Despite everything, I believe him. It's crazy how safe I feel with a man I've spent years trying to put behind bars.
A sharp knock echoes through the safehouse.
Dom's hand brushes my lower back. "Ready?"
No. But I straighten my shoulders anyway. "Let's do this."
Roman Ginetti looks exactly like I expected, tall, imposing, with cold eyes that assess everything as a potential threat.
It’s hard to imagine him as a doting, devoted father and family man.
His handshake is firm but not crushing. "Agent Ricci. Dominic says you're helping us."
"I'm investigating corruption within the FBI," I correct, maintaining eye contact. "Our interests temporarily align."
A ghost of a smile touches his lips. "Temporary. Of course."
Dom clears his throat. "Let's focus on what we know."
I spread my notes across the table, grateful for something to do with my hands. "Based on the evidence we've gathered, someone at the FBI has been systematically targeting La Corona for years, using unethical and possibly illegal means.”
“Kidnapping isn’t illegal?” Roman quips.
I ignore him. “The pattern starts with Mrs. Ferraza, although I think we might consider it starts earlier with Umberto Vitale’s arrest and murder.”
“What?” Dom interjects. “Umberto wasn’t the victim of Blackwood.”
I turn to him. “How do you know? Someone arrested him. It wasn’t Blackwood, but it was someone in the Organized Crime Unit. Someone who tipped him off.”
Dom’s lips purse together.
“I suspect, and I think you do too, that it was your father who set him up. That he initially brought in Blackwood to get rid of his brother and frame Luca Monti. I think it’s possible that’s where Blackwood got the idea that La Corona could be brought down by attacking it from within.”
“Mother fucker. She is good,” Roman says, nodding at me like he’s impressed.
Dom rubs his temple. “It’s possible.”
The three of us go through the entire theory of what’s been happening, each sharing our own piece.
“Ernie was pissed that the Calabresi family wouldn’t make him like Sal. Sal wanted to bring down Marco and La Corona. Thought he could run it better,” Roman shares.
I look at him, realizing this was a piece I didn’t know. “Was that in the journal?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead he says, “We believe Ernie killed Mrs. Ferraza because she learned his and Sal’s plan, and tried to make it look like Marco was responsible.”
“The official report was a drive by,” I say.
Dom and Roman exchange a look.
