“Still waiting for the thief to show up.”
“Perhaps the bait isn’t as appealing as you thought,” Jack suggested.
“It’s similar enough to what he’s stolen before.” I scowled at him. “The more I looked at it, the more I could see at least some semblance of a pattern. He doesn’t want to get caught, so he never hits the most highly guarded warehouses.”
“Do you think he’s one of our own?” Jack asked thoughtfully.
The thought had occurred to me three thefts ago. I shook my head.
“I compared everyone’s shifts and schedules. Not a single man had all the nights off that the thefts occurred. Unless it’s a team, which I can’t see being that worthwhile, it’s not one of ours.” Though sometimes it seemed like the thief had insider knowledge, which was why I’d thought of it. “I also looked into all our men—no one is in need of money for any reason.”
The DiNardos took good care of their own, but I had checked to make sure. Being too trusting could be a Family’s downfall, especially when it came to certain blind spots. We were family, but not all family members were built the same. And sometimes, people made bad decisions for those they loved, but all our men were accounted for, no one had a sick relative they couldn’t pay a doctor for, no one was in gambling debt, no one had a mistress they couldn’t afford…
There was literally no reason for it unless one of them was doing it for the thrill. But even then, the schedules didn’t work out, and I couldn’t seetwopeople being dumb enough to risk the don’s wrath for the thrill of it. That was playing a deadly game.
“Hmm. It might explain why the thief hasn’t shown up now,” Jack suggested. “He’s too busy guarding one of our other warehouses.”
That was a thought that made me want to pound my head against the wall. I groaned, scrubbing my hands over my face. Even sleeping during the day, I wasn’t getting enough rest, and I knew it. The stress over both the thief and Clara was keeping me up.
“Just… shut it.”
Following my request, Jack sat in silence with Tomas and me for at least two minutes before he started talking again.
“Clara came by for lunch today. Hailey said she asked about you. I didn’t tell Hailey that you’ve claimed her.”
“Why not?” It wasn’t like she wasn’t going to find out eventually—at the very least, the wedding would clue her in.
Even in the darkness, Jack’s smile gleamed bright.
“Because I want to watchyoudo it.”
“She’d take it better coming from you.”
“That’s why I want you to do it. This way, she won’t be mad at me, and I get some entertainment.”
I snorted. “You think she won’t be mad at you when she realizes that you’re not going to stop me?”
“Why does it matter?”
Both Jack and I jolted at the unexpected question, and I turned to look at Tomas. He was watching us both, a perplexed expression on his face. Well, as much of an expression as he ever got, but he did seem confused.
“Why does what matter?”
“If Gio wants Clara, why does Hailey get a say?”
“She doesn’t,” I muttered while Jack laughed.
“Happy wife, happy life,” Jack said. “I’m just trying to keep my wife happy so she doesn’t murder me in my sleep.”
Now, it was my turn to laugh. Hailey had come into her own as Jack’s wife, but I doubted she’d ever had a violent thought in her life. She was a gentle soul who wanted nothing more than to help others, and while she was getting used to being able to boss certain men around, Jack was never going to be one of those men. But I respected him wanting to keep her happy.
I’d be the same with Clara once she was my wife, though, of course, there were some things she’d have to stop—namely, constantly going out dancing with other men.
Tomas looked back and forth between Jack and me, as if he was trying to figure out if we were joking or not.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “It’s not like you’re ever getting married, right?” Both Jack and I laughed. Tomas had quite the reputation when it came to the ladies—he fucked like a bull but always at their places. He never brought one home or around theFamilias. A family man he was not—he’d likely be a loner all his days.
“Even my mother has given up on him,” Jack said, shaking his head. “The last girl she introduced him to, he just stared at her for five minutes before she finally gave up and walked away.”
