“Have you even looked?”
Mario was not being helpful.I couldn’t help but needle him.“I had your list.Perhaps you got something wrong?Maybe ask your wife?—”
That was all it took.I smiled as Don Manca reined Mario back.Then he addressed me, “Have you asked your woman if she knows where that pig is?”
“I doubt she knows.”If she did, she’d probably steal one of my guns and hunt him down.
“Did you ask?”
While obvious, it wasn’t the right question.“With all due respect, Don Manca, she doesn’t need anymore nightmares.”
He measured his next words carefully.“You must take care of those.”
Oh yeah, I would.“It’s at the top of the list.”
“Good.Call Alfonzo.Remind him you are not only trained to be left-handed, but you are also right-handed by birth.”
That would be a mean trick.Reminding anyone that I was Don Conti’s blow-by was a matter for lab technicians and lawyers.Convincing them I’d inherited his ruthlessness?I didn’t even want to acknowledge that let alone broadcast it.
Moreover, failing to kill Johnny Porciello was undermining my reputation.He had to have friends helping him, or a safe place to cower in.Somewhere, someone in his background held the key to his downfall.Too bad I killed all those men.One might have talked.
But they were a good place to start.They had associates, friends, neighbors.
And I had bait.
Lovely, sensuous, delicious bait.
“You’re insane.”Ellie squared off against me with the kitchen island as a battlement.
“It’s one bet.”And I’d be there as her backup.
Her eyes narrowed.“Do you have any idea how much that man lost on me last time?”
I snatched a slice of bacon from a plate she’d set on the counter.While I chewed, I calculated where Vincent’s demarcation between business and problem would lie.“Forty-grand?Sixty?”That would put a dent in the monthly profit.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.You just hate that I know you, the real you.”I couldn’t help it my eyes dipped to her chest.Those delectable treats were encased in lingerie I’d bought, then covered with a thin steel gray sweater knitted from the finest cashmere money could buy.The garments hugged her, shaped her, and drove me absolutely rabid with envy.
“Has anyone ever explained to you how much oxygen treeswasteon you?”
That was a good one.I stared into her eyes.“You love me.”
Her face turned pink.“I’m never gambling again.Think of a different way.”
“You won’t like the other way.”I didn’t like it.She’d hate it.
Her eyes spoke of my death.“Don’t underestimate me.”
I shifted in my seat.“Okay, it involves going door to door and begging his friends for information on where he is.Your cover story is that you’re desperate to find out why he dumped you, and you want him back.”
Her upper lip curled.
“Told you.You hate it.”
“It’s a good plan, but not me.I’d go door to door asking where he is so I could murder his ass for being a dumb shit and cheating on me before the wedding.”
“We’re trying to avoid getting associated with his demise, remember?”
