I wasn’t doingthat.Mario had to be fuming right now, which explained his brusque greeting.This needed to be nipped in the bud.“Where are you getting that idea from?”
Mario’s low curse rumbled in the background.
“Who are you with this morning?”Don Manca demanded.
Busted.“Ellie.”
That cursing wasn’t as quiet now.
“I can explain?—”
“Taci!”
The urge to continue talking and ignore Don Manca’s command was strong, but I was still very much their pawn.
“Alfonzo Conti-Messina tells us his favorite piece of ass is in the hospital.She was at Ellie’s home early to drop off clothing you purchased for her.”
In the background, Mario uttered the word, “lingerie” as if it were a filthy word.
I held the smile from my response.“Sì, I replaced what was damaged.You said hospital?”
“Damaged?”Mario must have approached the microphone because his voice was clearer.
“Yeah, Pornstach broke into her house last week and cut up her underwear among other things.And since your wife kept the stuff she bought for the trip?—”
“Leave my wife and her clothes out of this.”
I laughed.He had it bad for Ellie’s sister.I addressed Don Manca because Mario had his head up his ass.“Will thegigapull through?And more importantly, why didn’t Alfonzo call me first?”
“You’re sleeping with Ellie?”Mario was uncharacteristically unfocused.
Don Manca overrode his question with one of his own.“The woman was badly injured, but is not dead.You can guess why he did not contact you.I’m certain you are smart enough for that.Do you know for certain it was Porciello who broke in?”
“Oh yeah.The dick left his juicy calling card all over her mattress.I moved her here with me the same day.Tell Mario, he owes me for four nights of interrupted sleep because she gets nightmares every damn night.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to sleep with her!”
Mario shoved that stick back up his— “Excuse me?Who was it who married a woman he stole from less than an hour before the wedding?”
“Ragazzi!”Don Manca’s dressing down shut us both up.“Porciello is a problem.One you were sent to Chicago to correct.Why haven’t you done so?”
The long answer was that I was distracted, foolish, and sidetracked by one very beautiful, very frightened woman who owned my heart.The shorter answer was even more embarrassing.“He is slippery.”
Silence.
I filled the void.“I believe the cops are looking for him.That’s not on record, but there is an agent watching the bar every night.She thinks he’s going to try make contact with Ellie.”
“Which he did.Twice, as of this morning.”
Don Manca didn’t know this, but technically, it was three times.At least this morning, Ellie wasn’t home.“That’s why she’s with me.”
“That’s the only reason?”Mario asked.
“Nipote, cease.”Don Manca was a wise old bird.He could have sent any of his men here.Or sent more than one man with me, so I could deal with the Conti issues without distraction.But like the wicked Filonzàna, he spun a larger web.“This agent has a name, no?”
If this call was monitored, saying it might trigger an investigation.“I’ll pass it on, along with any information I have about our problems.”There were many.Ellie’s ex was an annoyance, but fixable with the right circumstances.The other issues were much more headache-inducing.Starting with the fact that Alfonzo cut me out.I hadn’t even been in town one week and he’d dismissed me.And that was on top of cleaning up the betrayal in the organization’s ranks.Surely, he’d heard a rumor about that by now.I needed to teach him how to respect the Left Hand.“Then, I’ll find out where Porciello is holed up.”
So much for spending a fine morning in bed with Ellie.
