“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You have nothing to be sorry for.” She tips her head to the side. “Was he planning to take you for his wife?”
“I doubt it. I’m from a lower-ranking family, and he didn’t know he’d succeeded in knocking me up. He once mentioned he had his eye on a don’s sister, but he never mentioned names.”
“Fuck.” Cat rubs between her brows. “I bet it was Tullia. He’d do it to fuck with Fiero. He had a strong rivalry with Massimo and Fiero. Caleb too, but his little sister is way too young.”
“If it was Tullia, I’m doubly glad he’s dead. She’s so sweet, and he would have ruined her.”
“I suggest you don’t mention that part to Fiero. No sense in upsetting him now over something that won’t ever happen.”
“You’re probably right.” Though I’ll most likely tell him. I don’t want to keep any secrets from my husband. I feel so incredibly guilty I didn’t tell him all this and resolve the situation weeks ago. It was so selfish and stupid, but my fear was real, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. What Fiero thinks of me matters, and I thought he wouldn’t see me as mother material given the circumstances. That he wouldn’t want to touch me after he knew Cruz had. I should have given him more credit because that’s not who Fiero is. He’d walk over hot coals and take a bullet for me. I see that now. I’m determined not to make the same mistakes again, so from now on, I’m telling my husband everything.
“What happened after Cruz disappeared?”
“Dom was forced into helping the cartel drive supplies from Vegas to Miami now they’d lost the airline route. At this point, he was massively in debt to them again, but they said he didn’t have to worry about paying them back as long as he continued helping them. It’s why they kept letting him join poker nights. It served them to have him further and further in debt to them.”
“He was a disgrace to made men everywhere,” she hisses, perking her head up when the doorbell chimes. “That’ll be Lola. Let me let her in.”
I finish my coffee and check my phone for updates while Catarina lets her housekeeper in, but there’s nothing.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Cat says, dropping back into the chair beside me a few minutes later. “The Commission had spies in Miami. Several men were sent there to look out for Cruz and to find out what he’d really been doing in Miami. They were watching all the key players, and they infiltrated thesoldatirank so they could ask around, but they got nothing. How was Dom doing this and not being detected?”
“Because The Commission was only focused on key players and thesoldatiwere not involved. Dom kept them out of it, but no one was watching high-school seniors.” It doesn’t take her long to work it out.
“He was using Cesco?”
I nod. “It was Cesco’s idea. He recruited a few buddies at school, and they did it all. Ferried messages back and forth and met the delivery drivers on the border and drove the vans from there to the warehouses. No one was watching them, and they did it all in plain sight.”
“I hate to give either of those pricks any credit, but that was fucking genius.”
“Yep.” I gulp down some water. “Dom was finally wising up. After Cruz’s death, Fuentes told him of the deal Cruz made and said he’d offer the same deal to Dom. He said once everything was in place they’d write his debt off. He could be don, but it would be a don of nothing if the cartel was running the drug trade in the state. Dom had no choice but to agree. He owed them a fortune, and he knew they’d just put a bullet in his head if he didn’t comply. So, he was playing a long game, continuing to move drugs for the cartel using Cesco’s buddies—who are notmafioso, by the way. They belong to a motorcycle gang—but he was planning something. I don’t know the details because I was out of the country for months and I wasn’t privy to what he was scheming. Just that he was planning to double-cross the cartel in some way. Fuentes is way smarter than Dom, and it was only a matter of time before they killed him except Fiero got there first.”
“He killed him for you.”
I nod tersely. “This is all my fault. Fiero has compromised himself for me, and I need to make this right. This will be enough to exonerate him and Caleb, right? Dom was dirty through and through, and he betrayedomertaand our cause. Surely the board won’t hold his death against them when they know this?”
She stands. “I can’t imagine they’ll face serious sanctions. However, they still did this behind the board’s back, and that is the issue. Not the morality behind killing a man who betrayedLa Cosa Nostra.” She pulls me into a hug. “Thank you for trusting me with everything, and I promise I’ll do my best to help Fiero.” She releases me. “For what it’s worth, even if Fiero had known this, he still would have killed Dominic himself. He still would have faced sanction for not bringing it to the board.”
“I should have told him about the seriousness of the threat the cartel poses. It’s unforgivable.”
Her smile is soft. “They already know, sweetie. They’re making plans to replace the leadership and tackle the cartel. Knowing all the intricacies would have given them an edge, but not knowing didn’t make that much of a difference, so stop beating yourself up.” She touches my cheek. “I know it probably feels like you’re ancient because you have lived through so much in your twenty-four years. I felt the same in my twenties. But you’re still young, and you have coped incredibly well with everything thrown at you. Don’t criticize yourself for trying to protectyouand protect yourson. It’s not selfish to shield yourself when no one else was doing it.”
“Thank you for listening, for understanding, for helping.”
“You’re my family now, Valentina. We protect our family.”
I nod, choking on the messy ball of emotion in my throat. “I’ll write down the details of those warehouses if you have a pen and paper.”
She leaves for a few minutes, returning with a notepad and pen. “I’ll just check on Armis and let Lola know I’m leaving.”
When she returns, she’s wearing a fitted red jacket over her black dress, concealing the holster at her waist. I hand her the folded piece of paper, and she slips it in her purse. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you to your car.”
Cat raps on the passenger window of my SUV after kissing me on the cheek and watching me climb into the back.
“Donna Greco. Nice to see you.” Dino’s tone is respectful and bordering on awe.
“You too, Dino. I’m glad Fiero assigned you to protect Valentina. Take her straight home and watch out for tails.” She looks back at me. “I don’t trust that Valentina’s stepson won’t try to pull something. He has set all this in motion, and it makes me nervous.”
