He throws up his hands. “I’m not smearing anyone and I’m not killing anyone. I’m just saying, it’s a consideration. You don’t like what I have to say, don’t ask for my opinion.”
He’s right. I don’t like to admit it, but he’s right. “These background checks,” I begin.
He nods. “We need to go deeper.”
We always were on the same wavelength. I wish Jacopo was not so useful. It just makes him all the more infuriating.
“I want to keep it quiet,” I continue. “No one in the Family is to be alerted. You must be very discreet.”
“I could reach out to Angelo Messina. He’d have the contacts to find anything that was really buried.”
“No.” With the Morelli Don’s visit so near at hand, the last thing I want is to be indebted to his former Underboss. I intend to meet Luca D’Amato as an equal, not a supplicant. “Dig as deeply as you can, as quietly as you can. Then let me know.” It’s time to change the subject. “I had a call from Aldo Bernardi this morning.”
Jacopo pulls a face. “What didhewant?”
“He wants me at his son’s engagement party on Saturday night—the same one Teddy sent a message about.”
Jacopo chuckles, until I don’t. “Sandro,” he says. “Tell me you’re not that stupid. It’s an obvious setup.”
“If they kill me at a glamorous Hollywood party, they’ll have even more of a problem on their hands than they do now. I’m going. Perhaps it is time to move on from the old hatreds, to see where we could work with the Bernardis.”
“You don’tworkwith the Bernardis,” Jacopo says darkly. “You wipe them off the bottom of your fucking shoe.”
“Then I’m lucky I’ll have you along with me to point out what I’m stepping in.”
He laughs again, but it’s mirthless. “No way.”
“I’m not politely requesting your presence, Jacopo. I’m telling you that you’ll be there.”
It doesn’t go down well, but in the end, he agrees. And once again, I want to ask him:what were you doing here on the day of my father’s murder?
“There something else?” he growls, when he sees me hesitating.
“No. We’re done here.”
“Going to that party is a bad idea, Boss,” he throws over his shoulder as he heads to the door. “A bad idea.”
He’s probably right.
CHAPTER36
TEDDY
I don’t hear backfrom Miller.
After twenty-four hours with no response, my resolve broke down I and texted him again:Did Jack get the message through?
I got no reply, and every day away from Redwood Manor, I’m feelingworse, not better. I feel worse every time I remember kissing Alessandro, touching him…coming for him.
Even Mom notices that something’s up, and starts in on me again about getting a job. If she knew how muchCute Crimsbrought in, she wouldn’t bug me about getting a job. But then again, if she knewCute Crimswas still live, I’d be in big trouble. I’ve moved the site now, so paid members still have access, so I still have cashflow, but to maintain that cashflow, I needcontent.
And at the moment, I have nothing. I’m not going to share anything about Alessandro,obviously, but since Ciro Castellani was murdered,Cute Crimshas been nothing but Castellani gossip. A blurry photos of some Bernardis, which is all that’s sitting in my inbox right now, isn’t going to cut it.
A ping alerts me to a new DM, and I check it out, hoping against hope that it will be decent content from one of the members. But it’s just Pepperoni_lover checking in.
Pepperoni_lover:hey how did that tip about PacSyn work out?
It takes me much longer than it should to remember what the hell he means. Oh, yeah: Pepperoni_lover is the guy who first sent me down the rabbit hole. It was his tip about Alessandro meeting PacSyn that sent me to the warehouse in the first place. I actually feel a rush of gratitude toward him.
