Santino vibrated with brief, quiet amusement. “Well, I don’t disagree with that.” He fell silent for several seconds.
No one spoke. No one moved.
Reiko wasn’t sure anyone breathed.
“Armando,” Santino finally said, “help Joey through the garage. We’ll talk around back. You and Luca will stand guard and if he proves ‘dumber than shit’, we’ll dump his corpse in the city sewer for laughs.”
Reiko watched, uncertain and minorly uncomfortable, as Joey lowered his arms and allowed Armando to maneuver him appropriately.
When they were out of sight, Santino relaxed his grip of her and turned around. “You can go back and wait in the house if you’d prefer,” he said. “This might take a minute. But in case Joey’s got good reason, I need to hear him out.”
She nodded her understanding. The whole idea of packing up her apartment had been sudden to start, so delaying it another half hour or so wasn’t itself upsetting. She dropped her gaze for a moment to where their loosely linked hands hovered between them. “I think … I would rather stay with you.” She looked up again, tightened her grip, and finished the thought. “And you should consider locking your gate if you’re worried about traitors.”
His lips lifted, though there was something off about the grin, and he dug out his phone as he pulled her to walk with him backup the steps they’d only half climbed down. “Funny thing about that. The gate has guards and everything.” He swept his thumb over the screen and put the device to his ear.
Reiko attempted to smile a silent ‘thank you’ to Luca for getting the door, but as always, he kept his gaze averted.
“When I tell you to lockdown the property, that doesn’t mean you take the opportunity to grope every asshole looking to come talk to me,” Santino barked into the phone. “It means you fucking lock. It. Down. So that I can step out my front door without worrying about surprise visitors rushing up at me. What’s so hard about that?”
His lecture paused for a few moments, presumably while whomever he spoke to defended their choices, but their movement continued at a calm-but-steady pace. And it occurred to Reiko she had only seen the back of the property from the veranda attached to Santino’s—their—bedroom.
He really did need to give her a proper tour.
Santino clicked his tongue in the way he did when he disapproved of what he was hearing. “Put Gio on.” His next pause was shorter. “You’re in charge for the rest of the shift. The next person you let through those gates without my say-so is the one who gets you all a one-way trip to the bottom of the Mississippi. Fucking remember that.”
They came to a full stop on the inside of the glass patio doors. Reiko could see Armando pushing Joey into a deck chair off to the side.
Santino shoved his phone away and exhaled harshly, then cracked his neck.
Thoughtlessly, she threaded her fingers through his and reached around to rest her free hand over his chest. “I know they shouldn’t have let him in. But maybe he’s not like Nico. Maybe he’s here with something important to say, and you’ll be grateful he got through.”
Santino flexed his fist around her smaller hand and bent sideways, kissing her temple. “Maybe,” he rumbled. “You sure you wanna be part of this, either way?”
She drew a steadying breath. “I’m sure. Eyes wide open.”
Chapter sixteen
Eyes Wide Open
Santino liked Joey, hedid. The twenty-six-year-old was rough around the edges but a good soldier. He had a tendency to get into fights, so he was better suited to dangerous jobs. That was why Santino had tapped him for Chicago. And rumor had ithe’d been a pain in the ass to keep mostly off his injured leg since getting home.
None of those things meant Santino would forgive the guy if Joey had turned on him.
If he was, in any way, about to pose a threat to Reiko.
Santino questioned his own sanity even as he dropped himself into the deck chair he’d moved directly beside hers. The backyard was safe from external threats, but there was nothing between them and Joey save a couple of feet and open air. If Joey hadn’t gleaned the enlightenment from his experience under the De Salvo’s tender love and care that he claimed to have, the scene could go all manner of bad.
Armando and Luca hovered on the periphery, ready but out of the way. Armando, of course, knew his job well. Luca was proving to be a quick study.
Joey glanced briefly at the standing pair, carefully kept his gaze from wandering too far in Reiko’s direction, and cleared his throat. “Is, uh, I mean—”
“You’re the one who wanted to talk.” Santino sat forward, legs spread and elbows resting on his knees as he laced his fingers together. “So, talk.”
Joey swallowed hard. “It’s okay to talk in front of…?”
“My fiancée. Yes, Joey.” Santino watched as Joey’s eyes widened, darted for a heartbeat in Reiko’s direction, then dropped to the concrete. “So that you understand the full scope of things,” he said, “consider your enlighteningenlightened.”
Joey nodded, squared his shoulders, and lifted his gaze again. He kept his focus on Santino and held himself still in his seat. “Chicago was intense, Boss. But I get it, I think. I get why you did what you did, when you partnered up—or whatever—with them. That guy’s on another level.”
