I hold Vito’s gaze. “Any chance they tracked her from the building to here?”
“No,” he says immediately. “We scrubbed. Two car swaps. Different routes. No tails. I watched it myself.”
I nod. “They might figure it out, though. I heard them talking about us, too, in that hallway. ‘Cunti.’”
Vito snorts. “Clever. Never heardthat one before.”
“Right,” I say. “But that means they know we’re involved and that we have Elsa. They might track her here.”
“They shouldn’t, but we’ll take care of it if they do.”
I exhale through my nose and force my brain into the next steps.
“I want extra coverage,” I say. “Garage, elevator bank, and the street.”
“Already happening,” Vito replies. “Two outside. One in the building with the super. Cameras are on a separate feed.”
I nod once. Then I add, quieter, “No one comes to this door without my say.”
Vito’s expression shifts as he considers me.
“You’re serious about her,” he says.
I don’t answer right away. Because saying it out loud makes it real in a way that isn’t strategic. In a way that can be used.
“Something wrong with that?” I narrow my eyes.
“Not a thing.” Vito’s mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile. “She’s hot.”
“I know,” I say. “And mine.”
He laughs. “Just an observation.”
“Get out,” I mutter.
He laughs under his breath. Then his face goes serious again. “I’m going to check in with Gio.” He nods at the otherapartment door across the hall. “Then make a round. I’ll be nearby.”
I nod, then pause, because there’s one more thing I need.
“Vito,” I say, and my voice hardens. “If they come anywhere near here—"
His eyes go flint. “I know.”
Good.
I turn back to the door and step inside.
The apartment is quiet.
Elsa is exactly where I left her, standing in the entryway like her feet forgot how to move. But now she’s turned slightly, looking around with that lost expression she never wears in a boardroom. Like she’s searching for a script and realizing she doesn’t have one.
My chest tightens.
I close the door and lock it fully this time.
Elsa’s head turns.
“I didn’t think to thank him before,” she says, voice thin.
