“You’re nineteen.”
“Almost twenty,” she counters. “You do whatever you have to do. I’m going to do what I need to do. By the way, I’m taking the upstairs guest room.Ciao.”
I watch her saunter away, while Maximo looks like he’s going to have an aneurysm. Obviously their debate is far from over.
Well this is certainly a turn of events. “She’s probably safest if she stays here. Don’t you think?”
He shakes his head and sighs. “No, because I don’t trust anyone to watch after her. Nero buys loyalty with fear. None ofmy men are immune. If he wants her, he’ll come for her, and it will be hell to stop him.”
He has some serious trust issues. At the same time, I can’t blame him.
Then a thought strikes me. I shift in my seat. “Do you think he’s already here?”
Maximo’s brow furrows. “He could be. He would want to tear us down before claiming Julianna as his prize. I know how he works. He’s ruthless and methodical. So yes, he could be the one behind all of this. If that’s the case, he’s sent soldiers to do his dirty work. If we had encountered the man himself, we’d be dead. Nero never misses. He doesn’t stop until the job’s done.”
I push down my rising fear. “Sounds like we have ourselves a new suspect.”
“Yes. An extremely powerful and dangerous one.”
God have mercy on us.
CHAPTER 49
Maximo
The time for collecting information and waiting for answers has passed. I must protect my wife, my sister, and the rest of my family too. This morning I sent a message to my father, letting him know that Julianna’s safe for the time being. I also gave him a heads up about Nero.
After my exchange with him, I sent all the relevant information to each don. The Casellas, Rizzos, and Valentes needed to be in the loop, so they may protect themselves in case Nero believes them guilty by association. But I also warned them not to trust anyone else with this information. Nero has spies everywhere.
With that in mind, I decide to do some digging of my own. Is Julius dead, or did he fake his own death? So far, no one’s privy to the truth. But I’m done sitting around and talking about it. Which is why, after this meeting with the council, I follow Lazaro. If he leads me to Julius, great. If I find out he’s Nero’s spy, even better. Of course if he’s innocent, then I owe him an apology.
I tail Lazaro for a while. He seems to be heading toward home. I suppose I could call myself paranoid, as he may be justas much of a target as the rest of us. But today I’m called to follow my hunch, no matter how small.
When he reaches his street, he drives right past his house. My interest piques. Adjusting my hold on the steering wheel, I follow him with more determination and pay extra attention to our surroundings.
Lazaro follows all the traffic rules like any good citizen. We head into an industrial area across the Hudson, where he drives into a construction site, and disappears into a concrete tunnel. Instead of following him inside, I pull over and park away from the entrance.
Gravel crunches beneath my soles. I draw my gun, keeping it low as I venture into the dimly lit tunnel. I don’t hear any engines running, so Lazaro must have cut his, he could be anywhere in here. As I search for him, my gaze zeroes in on the two trucks parked up ahead and off to one side. They look all too familiar—like they belong to me.
I check them out for a moment, keeping my awareness cast far and wide.Motherfucker. Both of these trucks were stolen while transporting counterfeit goods. Lazaro himself called to tell me about these disappearing. Seems like he knows right where they’ve been all this time.
Footsteps alert me to someone coming, and I hide around the side of one truck. Two men stop at the back of the other truck and open the rolling door.
“Let’s get this one unloaded,” Lazaro says to the other man. “Split it equally. We have two buyers.”
“Yes, sir.”
He’s been busy. If he stole these, then I can only assume he’s also responsible for everything else. He’s a fucking traitor.
That brief exchange is all I needed to hear. I step out of the shadows with my gun raised. Without any further warning, I shoot the guy standing beside Lazaro. He never sees it coming.
My underboss, who I fucking trusted, spins around to face me. He holds up his hands. “This isn’t what it looks like, boss.”
“Bull shit,” I snarl. “You’ve been playing me since I got here, haven’t you?”
“I’d never do something like that, Pontrelli. Let me explain.”
I smack him with the side of my gun hard enough to knock him out cold. Bending down, I disarm him before calling my men and giving them our location. Lazaro has a lot of fucking explaining to do, but not here. I glance around. I want to question him somewhere more secure.
