I shake my head. “I’m just curious, Uncle,” I try to insist. I curse myself inwardly for even speaking, instead of just walking out of the room. “Why don’t you take the deal they offered? Carmine might be willing to arrange it. He doesn’t know that we had any part of the incident last night.”
Eivor looks at me with an uncertain gaze. “They can’t offer me what I want. What I need to bring this family into being the most powerful family in Italy, no, the world.”
I’m beginning to understand what’s going on.
My uncle is losing his fucking mind.
He thinks being the most powerful mafia family in the world is possible. More so, he believes it’s good for the family, what the family needs.
I realize that I can’t rationalize with him, not right now anyway.
My hands ball into fists, but I try to loosen up, and I smile at him.
“I’d better get working on making that dream come true,” I tell him.
He pauses and then laughs softly. “I should never doubt you. You’ll get this sorted, I know you will.”
I leave his office, and my face immediately falls. I pass my sister Rose in the hallway on her way to his office as well and she looks concerned.
“What did he say?” she asks me.
“He wants me to clean up the mess,” I say simply. “I’ll have no trouble.”
Rosalie squints at me. “Sure. How did it even get messed up in the first place? No one has told me that.”
I shrug. “I didn’t have a choice but to jump in. It would have been suspicious if I was nearby and one of the guards saw me but I wasn’t on his back.”
She nods. “I guess that makes sense, but…oh forget it. Just, let me in on your plan for Carmine. I want to be a part of something besides bait for men,” she insists.
I ignore the lump in my throat. “Got it.”
I text Carmine from one of the burner phones.
Where are you?
I wait for a response. I know where he is. He’s at home in the library, but I need to know if he’ll tell me the truth about where he is. I need to know that I can actually trust him. It’s kind of ridiculous; I’m the one who betrayed him. But how can I know that he won’t turn around and do the same thing.
After our night together, I’m pretty sure he won’t, but I know better than anyone that I can never be too careful.
I’m sitting at a coffee shop because I can’t sit at home pretending I’m planning something I’m not. I should go talk to Carmine in person, but now I’m wondering if someone is trailing me. I wouldn’t be surprised if my uncle had someone watching me now. Besides our usual guards.
I look down as I finally get a response.
At home. Stalker. What do you want?
I can’t help but smirk at his words.
With my thumb hovering over the screen, I press the button to call him. It rings several times before Carmine’s voice finally sounds over the other end.
“You know, you could just come over if you miss me that badly,” he tells me, his voice low and slightly teasing.
My smile grows. “Someone is flirty,” I mumble, keeping my voice down. “This is serious though.”
There’s a pause. “What’s going on?”
I sigh. “I need to tell you in person, but I don’t know if it’s safe for me to come there. Did you find all the bugs I told you about?” I sip my coffee slowly and pretend like my conversation is totally casual.
“To be honest, I don’t know…” Carmine trails off. “I have a business meeting in Greece in a few days. Volos. Can you meet me there?”
