My heart pounded even as a wicked laugh sounded down the line. “Had a feeling you were listening in.”
“Should have thought about that before you called me a ‘big lump,’” he snapped.
“I was just reminding you?—”
“We don’t need a reminder. If we’re allies, we’re allies. You don’t bring up shit like that without repercussions. You hear me?”
“I hear you.” The other woman’s amusement remained. “Tickled a sleeping tiger there, hmm?”
“Yeah, you did.”
“I wouldn’t hurt the woman who brought my man’s beloved niece home.”
“Then why threaten her at all?”
“Because I’m a bitch.”
“That we can agree on.” Dissatisfaction creased his expression, but he wafted a hand at me when no comeback was forthcoming.
Still shaking at the unexpected threat, I rasped, “Look, my family is low down the pecking order, Eva. Selective amnesia or not, you should be talking to Jennifer. She’s an O’Donnelly, for Christ’s sake.” I ignored Luciu’s scowl because, dammit to hell, she’d been Irish long before a Sicilian had married her! “What do you think I can do?”
“I think that your brother has Aidan O’Donnelly Jr.’s ear. I think that Jennifer, as much as she’s an O’Donnelly, is a woman and the Irish keep their women out of their business. Like I said, if I could have contacted Aurora, I would’ve, but this is better in all honesty. Aurora isCamorratoo. Martinez won’t appreciate them sticking their noses in yet. He didn’t even appreciate Hunter reaching out yesterday!”
“Are theCamorra,” I verbalized the word carefully because I’d never heard of the organization before, “in danger from the Albanians?”
“Aren’t we all? They’re chaos in the flesh.”
“I don’t understand how they’d be able to help you win the elections.”
“Because of their backers, of course.”
“Their backers?”
“Devere and the rest of the Albanians’ clientele.”
“PresidentDevere?” I yelped.
“Yes, Kitty. Our pedophile-in-chief.”
Sensing the tension in the room had shot up at her words, I hesitated. “What if I fuck up with the O’Donnellys? I’ve barely spoken to any of them before.”
“Then I’ll contact Aurora. But ask your brother. He’ll make the connection. Tell him to let O’Donnelly know that POTUS and his gang of black-balling numbnuts were behind Dead To Me’s attempted murder. That might speed the discussion up a notch.
“And remember, Kitty, you were the one who brought Beatriz back to us. That’s worth more than you can imagine to a man like my husband.”
Before I could ask if that was a warning, a threat, or a boon, she cut the call.
“PresidentDevere tried to assassinate Taube?!” I screeched.
Just as Hunter demanded, “What the hell kind of confession were you two talking about?”
FIFTY
KITTY
An hour later, after an indecently long shower, I found Stan in the bed we’d slept in before, taking up acres of space as usual.
“Your family does nothing by halves, does it?” Yawning, I flopped onto the mattress. “Meetings with MCs and mobsters one day, labor and treason the next!”
