“Why the hell are you in here?” I ask low enough so nobody else can hear.
“It’s a damn mess,” he says, running his fingers through his hair.
We walk over to the picnic table, and I glare at a couple of guys, who get up to give us space.
Lorenzo chuckles and shakes his head. “I guess if I have to be in jail without bail, it’s good to have you with me. Speaking of which, why are you in here?”
“Money laundering.” I scoff. “Shit’s never going to stick. You?”
“Bribing a public official. They’re saying I bribed one of the councilmen to get the waterfront expansion approved.”
“And Michael couldn’t get you out on bail?”
“Nope.” He sighs. “And of course, as I was being arrested, my sister and her husband showed up. She had texted me last night, asking to meet early so I could show her around the office. She was beside herself, freaking out, but he almost seemed smug about it. I know she cares about him, but something feels off about him.”
“Fuck, Russo. You didn’t see my text?” I scrub my hands over my face. “Henry Thomas is a dead man …literally.And the man your sister married had stolenhisidentity.”
“What the fuck?!” He reaches into his pocket and then curses again. “I forgot … the officers confiscated my phone. Does she know? Did you tell her?”
“How the hell would I tell her? I don’t even have her number. I texted you, but then I was arrested, and I’m guessing you didn’t get it because you were being arrested at the same time. It’s almost as if …”Holy shit.
“What?” Lorenzo prompts.
“It’s almost as if someone wanted both of us behind bars. It can’t be a coincidence. Your sister comes home, bringing some guy we don’t know, using a fake identity, and we’re both arrested on the same day?”
“Shit. But why? If it was this Henry guy’s doing, I could understand having me arrested. I’m her brother, but why you?”
I snort out a laugh. I love my best friend, but sometimes, the guy is oblivious.
“Russo … think hard. Why would someone wantmebehind bars?”
He swallows thickly, and then his eyes lock with mine. “Because if you’re in here, you can’t do shit out there.”
“Ding, ding, ding. And we both know, if I were out there right now, I’d be doing whatever was necessary to take care of whoever put you in here.”
“So, what do we do? If it is Henry, he’s out there—with my damn sister. And Hillary too. She was a mess when I was arrested, in tears. What if he gets to her too?”
I don’t give a fuck about Hillary, but I don’t tell him that because regardless of how I feel about his gold-digging fiancée, Lorenzo cares about her.
“We don’t know it was him,” I say, trying to calm him. “But the guard is going to get me a phone from Dominick soon, and I’ll relay all this to him. If it is her husband who put this shit in motion, we’ll handle it.”
“Antonov,” the guard yells, nodding for me to go over there. “Special delivery.”
He hands me the phone, earbuds, and a charger, and I nod my thanks.
“Can you try to text my sister?” Lorenzo asks.
“Yeah.”
He types in her number and hits Send, but after several seconds, the message bubble switches from blue to green.
“Her phone is off.”
“Fuck!” he barks. “I need to get out of here. What if he’s done something to her?”
“We’ll handle it,” I promise him.
I shoot a text to Dominick, voicing it so Lorenzo can hear and because it’s always easier.Hey, Lorenzo is in here with me for bribing an official. Both of us got denied bail. I need you to do a couple of things for me: Look into Michael. I think he’s been compromised. And get Daniella away from her husband.
