I leaned back, my pulse quickening. "You realize you’re confessing a murder to a federal judge?"
"I’m aware that I’m handing you all the evidence you need," Giorgia said, her voice dropping to a smooth, dangerous silk. "At least, the evidence for those I’ve marked for indictment."
"And the others?" I leaned forward, my eyes narrowing. "Are you simply going to exploit them until they’re useless?"
I watched as her hands tightened, her knuckles turning a stark, ghostly white against the mahogany of my desk.
"No, Woods. The others are gone. As I told you before, we do not tolerate behavior that deviates from our policy. Period."
"Did you liquidate the entire Outfit?" I asked, an eyebrow arched in disbelief.
Giorgia leaned back, crossing her legs with a lethal elegance that made the room feel smaller. "Let’s just say I’m a passionate advocate for the environment. I had to perform some significant pruning so the garden could flourish without parasites choking the trunks and branches."
"And the rotten fruit mentioned in your report?"
"Those are for you," she smiled, though the warmth didn't reach her eyes. "A way for you to make your arrests, and for me to have living reminders of what happens to anyone foolish enough to think they can pull a fast one on me."
"I’ll pass this on to the investigators," I said, maintaining my judicial mask.
"Pass it to Emma Harris specifically. Here is her contact." Giorgia slid a card and a flash drive across the desk with practiced precision. "By the way, I’d like to invite you out for a glass of wine. Somewhere private."
"I’m not available," I replied instantly, pocketing the drive. She was undeniably beautiful, a siren of the underworld, but there was no room in my life for distractions when my soul was still anchored to the only woman I truly wanted.
"Kelsey is a lucky woman," Giorgia murmured, her gaze lingering on me. "If I were her, I wouldn't have made the mistake of keeping my distance. I would choose to have you by my side every second, Megan."
I offered a small, bittersweet smile, fighting to keep my composure as the ghost of Kelsey’s touch flared in my memory.
"I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mrs. Fognini. But thank you for the information."
#57
“'Cause you're too sexy, beautiful and everybody wants a taste. That's why I still get jealous” Jonas Brothers
Icould kill Giorgia. I truly could.
The nerve of that woman—inviting Megan to dinner and then calling me to gloat about being rejected, all while lecturing me on the stupidity of letting my wife walk the streets as if she were single. Single, my ass. Megan Woods is, and always will be, mine.
Vanessa burst into the office, breathless. She’d been operating at a frantic pace ever since we initiated the move to D.C., coordinating teams across state lines while simultaneously spearheading the internal audit to uncover the embezzlement.
A month ago, the opportunity of a lifetime had finally materialized when one of the Supreme Court justices decided to take an early retirement.
It was a decision he made "entirely on his own"—a choice that had absolutely nothing to do with the private Caribbean island
I’d offered as a retirement gift.
"They're moving up the confirmation hearings," Vanessa announced, her chest still heaving. I raised my head, my eyebrow already arched. I wondered if my Kitty had heard the news yet. "They want the vote held in two months."
"February, then," I noted, my fingertips tapping a rhythmic, thoughtful beat against my temples. "Where do we stand with our internal cases?"
"The audit is digging deeper into the board members. We’re keeping our hands off their little scheme for now. We don't need them making our lives difficult until the move is finalized."
"And the company transfer?"
"Almost a hundred percent complete. The girls are dying because they can't tell Megs yet, but everything is moving according to plan. I’m actually thinking of asking them to marry me next year... on Cozumel."
"Are you sure about that?" I asked, a small smile tugging at my lips. "You're already picturing the giant family, aren't you? Three moms and five kids?"
"Yes! And a massive garden for them to run around in with a big dog named Bob," she beamed. Then her expression softened. "What about you, Kels?"
