“Jesus, fuck. You three scared me to death,” he huffs. “You okay?”
All three women are pink-cheeked and fighting back grins.
“Yes, baby. I’m so sorry. We got carried away.” Shae stands and tries to rock the baby back to sleep.
“We’re fine, I promise,” Azzurra chimes in.
Rina stares at me with wide, guilty eyes, and her lips pulled between her teeth. The secret is definitely out of the bag.
Renzo shakes his head. “Absolute lunatics acting like they don’t know the danger they’re in.” His mumbled words carry back to me as we return to the office.
He drops into his desk chair. I sit opposite him and meet his level stare.
“You’re the closest thing I have to a brother since I lost my own,” I offer quietly. “I would never disrespect your sister or recklessly hurt her. Things just sort of … happened. No, I didn’t say anything, and I’m sorry for that. I love her, and if she’ll have me, I want to marry her.”
His chest expands on a long, deep breath. “Well, fuck. That was unexpected.”
“You’re telling me.” I lean back in my chair and rub at the scruff on my jaw. “I can hardly believe it myself, but that’s where we’re at.”
His eyes narrow a fraction. “I suppose she could have done worse.”
Relief coaxes a smile from me. “You willing to keep me around as your brother-in-law?”
“Yeah, that could work.” The levity between us dries up as worry deepens the creases on his face. “Before that happens, we have to end this threat, though.”
“Agreed,” I say somberly and get out my phone. “The team covering a place called Feathers and Fur has noted the same couple of guys coming and going. Not Pasha, but suspected to be his men. I think this is it. I’m picking up a floor plan from city records while I’m out today. We could be ready to raid tonight, if you’re on board.”
His face is grim. “I’m not rushing into this, D. Let’s see what I hear from the Genoveses before we make any decisions.”
I have to swallow back the argument that perches on the tip of my tongue. In my opinion, the time for patience is over, but he’s my boss, and I have to respect that.
“There’s one more thing I wanted to talk about.” I adjust myself in my chair, unsure how what I’m about to say will be received. “Did you know Kristi Kirkland told Terina that Craig was killed because of her?”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“I’m afraid it’s even worse. She told Terina about the quarters, saying Craig was being extorted to keep her safe.”
“That’s not what happened at all.” He slams his fist on the desk.
“I know, man. But she didn’t know that. She went to the cops and saw the crime scene photos.”
“Jesus Christ,” he breathes.
“She’s been blaming herself. I explained the truth. I hope you’re okay with that. I know you said you didn’t want her to know, but?—”
“You did the right thing. I had no idea she thought that. I mean … she asked one time early on if there was more to it, but that’s it. She never said anything else.”
“We haven’t gone over it too much, so I’m not sure why she didn’t say more to you. All I know is what she’s told me and what I’ve looked into. That mother-in-law of hers is a real piece of work. You know she had prostitution charges brought against her?”
“Jesus, you’re a font of good fucking news today,” he grumbles. “No, I didn’t. We did a check on the son, and he was clean. It didn’t occur to me hismotherwould be an issue.”
“I’ve cut her off from Terina, but I’d like to do a little more digging in case she makes another appearance. Stains like that have a way of resurfacing.”
Renzo nods and grabs a piece of paper. “This is the name of the dealer he was using. I considered taking care of him but decided whoever was responsible for the hit did us a favor, so I let it be.” He scribbles the name and gives me the paper. “He’s one of Fat Joe’s guys. Used to keep shop at the Qwik Wash Laundromat on East 119th, I believe.”
“A laundromat?”
“They have a back room with girls.”
