“Rico,” she says back.
“I thought you were dead. Not on vacation. Not at school.
“Not away training to be my other half. He told me you were dead. Do you have any idea what kind of pain I was in?
“I sat in a jail cell for a year because of him. I spent three years thinking I got the love of my life killed.”
I begin to roar and have to pause to calm down. She’s looking back at me with tears in her eyes. This is why I didn’t want to go there.
I just got her back. I don’t want to fight with her. I want to learn all the things that have changed with her and who she is now.
“None of that was his fault. Everything, and I mean everything, was Mason Sullivan’s fault.”
I blink a few times. I had no idea she knew about Mason’s involvement. I had made the connection, but I didn’t know how much she knew.
“I always wanted to know what the deal was with you two.”
“Mason was my best friend. That’s who had been calling me back then. He’s the one who dared me to take your truck.”
“What?”
“You don’t know?”
“Fuck,” I hiss and run a hand through my hair. “Now it all makes sense. When I got out, those motherfuckers had scattered. Uncle Emilio brushed it off and said some shit went down while I was inside.
“He wouldn’t tell me what. After six months of asking and not getting anywhere when I tried digging, I dropped it. I decided if I couldn’t find them and kill them, I would focus on being Don to honor your memory.”
“What do you mean scattered? They’re not here?”
I bristle as I see the disappointment on her face. I had no idea that asshole was her best friend. Does she want to see him now, after all he has done?
“A few of them went back to Ireland, from what I know. Others, Boston, some New Orleans.” I shrug. “Why do you care?”
She looks up at me through her lashes. “Because I have hot slugs for them all. Mason, his dad, and Juliana Abato included.”
“Okay, baby. I see we both have unfinished business. Tell me what you know. From the beginning.”
CHAPTER 30
Together Again
Oni
“No,that’s fine. Those crates need to go out today.”
“Sì,I will handle.”
“Grazie, Carmine. Fammi sapere se dovesse sorgere qualcos'altro.”
“You are welcome. I will call if there is anything. I have everything under control.
“He wants to transition everything to your side. I will have it all done by month’s end,” he replies, switching to English.
He’s getting better. His English was much more broken when I first got to Italy. We helped each other over the years.
Emilio had been pleasantly surprised to learn I could hold a complete conversation in Italian. Fredrico was so proud he wouldn’t speak English to me for months.
“Great, talk soon.Ciao.”
