She shakes her head. “Nope.”
When we arrive at the Wild Card, I hand the keys to the valet and open Evie’s door.
“I can wait down here,” Evie suggests as we walk into the casino lobby a few minutes later.
“You’re not waiting down here.” I meet Paz at the bank of elevators, and he hands me the silver tray.
“Are you delivering food?” Evie asks, looking at the tray.
“Something like that.” With my free hand on her lower back, I lead Evie into the elevator. I know she wants to keep us secret, but I don’t give a fuck who sees her with me. She’s mine. I want the fucking world to know it.
The moment we walk into the penthouse, little feet tap against the marble floors. “Tío E!” Jazzy yells out excitedly. I catch her with one hand around her waist when she jumps at me.
“Hey there, princesa. How are you?” I ask as I set her down on her feet again.
“I’m good. Daddy and Antonia are in the office. Want me to get them?” she replies.
“It’s okay. Can you do me a favor and show Evie where the kitchen is? She needs some water. I’m going to talk to your daddy real quick.”
“Sure, come on, Evie. We have lots of things to drink.” Jazzy takes hold of Evie’s hand before leading the way through the foyer. Evie looks back at me in question. I don’t need her seeing what’s under this silver dome.
I walk into Carlo’s open office, and he and Antonia stand. “You go into catering, Emmanuel? I didn’t know times were that tough,” he asks with a raised brow while eyeing the platter in my hand.
“I didn’t know you were a comedian,” I fire back at him, then turn to smile at Antonia. “Mrs. Bianchi, pleasure as always.”
“Emmanuel, nice to see you again,” she replies. She is always polite. Her father raised the perfect mob wife.
“Evie is out there with Jazzy,” I tell Antonia, knowing they’ve met once before.
“You brought Evie with you?” Carlo asks.
“Just making a quick pit stop. We were on our way to the airport but I wanted to deliver this,” I liebecause, well, I like to keep these fuckers on their toes. They do not need to know my plans to stay in town for a while. I set the tray down on his desk. “You might want to wait till your wife is out of the room before you open it,” I add under my breath.
“Babe, can you find out what Jazzy wants for dinner?” Carlo asks Antonia.
“Sure.” Antonia leaves the office and closes the door behind her. Not a single question.
Carlo pulls the lid back from the serving platter to find a dismembered head sitting on a bed of lettuce. “Artful,” he says, scrutinizing the face, probably trying to recognize the asshole.
“Thanks. I thought so.” I smile.
“Who was he?”
“Call the boys. Put 'em on video. I want you all to hear this.” I smirk, knowing Louie is going to be pissed I beat him to the guy.
Carlo calls Sammie and Louie on video chat. Sammie is the first to answer. “What’s up?”
“Emmanuel has something he wants you to hear,” Carlo says.
A few seconds later, Louie joins us. “Carlo?”
“Yeah, I’ve got Emmanuel here. He brought a gift.” Carlo then turns the camera around and shows them the severed head.
“Creative.” Sammie chuckles at the same time Louie asks, “Who is it?”
“Glad you asked. This is the guy who shot at Jazzy.” I grin. “Told you I’d find him first.”
“Did you get anything out of him before you decided to cut off his head?” Louie grunts.
