KADE
I stood outside the reception hall wanting nothing more than to go inthere and wrap Evelyn in my arms. I didn’t though, because I knew I needed to keep my distance. Stefanos and his enforcers could be anywhere and I refused to have Evelyn in the crossfire. I loved her too much to push her into my mess.
So far everything had gone according to plan in regard to Ricci. Machine had informed me that authorities had found Ricci’s body hunched over in his home office tied to a chair to make it look like he was tortured in his own home. Information about his “extracurricular activities” had been strategically placed so the police would find it.
I knew Ricci had the local police departments on his payroll, however I had more. One call was all it took to lead the mouse to the cheese, so to speak.
Machine clasped his hand on my shoulder. “We going inside,fratello?”
I shook my head. “Nah man, wehave work to do.”
I made it four days before I couldn’t take the war in my head any longer and called Evelyn.
The phone rang several times before her angelic voice filled my ear. “Hi.”
I smiled before responding. “Hi, princess.”
“Is everything alright?”
“No,” I answered honestly.
She paused. Before she could respond, I spoke up again. “Have dinner with me tonight?”
My request was met with heavy silence.
“Please, baby. One more chance,” I pleaded.
There was a pregnant pause before she exhaled. “Okay,” she whispered, so quietly that I also missed it.
A wide smile spread on my face. “Okay. Meet me at Carbone at 7:30. I have some things I have to wrap up before dinner. Does that work for you?”
“I’ll see you then.”
“Bye, princess.”
“Bye.”
I hung up the phone and felt a new surge of energy flow through me. Tonight was going to be the start of a new beginning.
I was wrapping up an email when my phone rang.UNKNOWNpopped up on the screen. Frowning, I picked it up. “Romano speaking.”
The sounds of gunshots made my blood turn to ice.
“Well, hello Mr. Ghost,” athickly accented male voice responded. The blood drained from my face. Stefanos.
“And this is?” I asked coolly.
“Don’t play games with me, Mr. Romano.”
“What do you want?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“You interfered with my business, so now I’ve returned the favor.”
Stefanos moved the phone away from his mouth to yell at someone in the distance. “Es suficiente! Leave him and get your asses in the car.”
Who was he speaking of?An unwanted thought crossed my mind.
“Your guard dog has a message from me. Fuck with my business again and this will look like child’s play,” Stefanos bellowed.
