He’s thinking along the same track. “Could be coincidence.”
“Could be a lead. And it’s all we’ve got.”
He pulls his own phone out of his other back pocket and starts searching for something. “I’ll book a place out there for a few days while we look around. A little further out, though. What do you think, Harvard? Can you survive that long out of Manhattan?” I just shrug. “Finish up your business and then turn off your phone.”
I open my email to reset my Out of Office message. Before this week I didn’t even know where that messagewas. “Papa’s gonna freak when the office can’t get hold of me,” I grumble.
“Nah. He knows the Morellis are handling you. He’s been told no phone, no email for the next few days. You get an actual vacation, Harvard. Whaddya think?” Whatever my face looks like, it’s obviously not the reaction he was hoping for. “Well, shit, I can leave you here in this box while I go solve this thing myself, if you prefer.”
“Of course not,” I growl. I slide off the counter and inspect the pizza. “You got pineapple on half?” I say, surprised. “I thought you hated pineapple.”
“Me and any self-respecting New Yorker. But you said you liked it that one time.”
I don’t even recall talking about pizza with Nick. But he does. For a second I get all choked up again. Before I can weep all over the pie, I look at him. “You really like me, huh?” I add a sly grin to take the edge off the tease, but it’s starting to hit me now.
Nick Fontana actually gives a fuck whether I live or die. And maybe a bit more, besides.
“I like you okay,” he grunts. “Don’t make it weird.”
“How is it weird to like the person you’resleepingwith? And whisking away on a beach vacation under the nose of a Mob Boss?” It’s not so funny when I remember that part. “Seriously, Nicky, is Luca going to lose it when he finds out?”
“Nah.”
“You’re not a convincing liar.”
“He’ll lose it at me, not you,” he tries, and I’m hungry enough to just let it go. Ididskip lunch, after all. I peel up a slice and move back to the couch to eat it. Nick follows a moment later, but not before I hear him give a sigh.
“Is it even safe to be seen in the Hamptons?” I ask after I’ve quelled the ravening beast that is my stomach at the moment. I think seeing Nicky again has made me even hungrier.
“We’re not gonna be hanging around, that’s for sure. I found a place in Montauk we can maybe stay. That’s a half-hour buffer from Villa Alessi.”
I give a shiver. Coming back to New York has meant I’ve beenalmostable to forget about that night, and just focus on managing the outcomes. Or maybe not forget, but at least pretend that it was something that happened to someone else.
Heading out to Montauk might seem like our best shot, but I can’t shake the feeling it’s just as dangerous for us there as it is in the City.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Nick
Carlo looks so hesitant about Montauk that I almost rethink it myself. Almost. But it’s the only lead we have right now. We finish up the pizza in almost-silence, and then Carlo sits back with a satisfied sigh as I clean up the pizza box and put it near the door to take with me when I leave. Because there’s no way I’m staying here tonight. I fucking hate this windowless safe house. It makes my skin crawl being locked up in here, even if Idohave the key.
There’s an online entry for a beach house in Montauk that used to be offered as a private vacation rental, but which is currently unavailable due to renovations. There’s still a cell number attached to the entry, so I call the owner and convince him to let us stay there. It doesn’t takemuchpersuading, since I offer double the normal rate, cash up front. Carlo still hasn’t moved from the couch when I turn back to look at him. He’s just watching me.
“All set,” I tell him, and start gravitating toward the door. “We’ll leave early tomorrow.”
“What about that Tramonto guy? He’s going to notice when I’m gone.”
“I’m gonna tell Tramonto to fuck off and forget about you tomorrow. He’s from my crew; he follows my orders. And he knows better than to get involved when he doesn’t have to.”
“If the Boss finds out—”
“The Boss won’t find out, and if he does, I’ll cover for Tramonto too. I’m not letting my guy take the fall for me, if that’s your worry.” Carlo gives his thinking frown. That’s not good. “Listen, I’m gonna head out.” The frown changes to outrage, which isn’t much better.
“Whoa, whoa—you’releavingme here? Alone?”
“You won’t be alone. Tramonto’s out there if you need anything.” Carlo’s look of disgust says even more than his mouth usually does, if that’s possible. “I’ll be back first thing, like I said. Real early. You go to sleep now, it’ll be like no time at all—”
“I’m not a child, Fontana.”
