“What about the bomb?” Carmine asks. “You said they were supposed to try to bomb us, that hasn’t happened yet. How do we know the Carvels are truly aligned with the Bianchis?” he asks me.
“Because I saw it with my own two eyes,” I tell him. “The money has already traded hands; the guns likely have too by now. The bomb… I think they’ve changed tactics.”
I glance around the room curiously. “By the way, where is the girl?” I ask.
Carmine sighs. “She’s been taken care of.”
“What girl?” Tommy asks.
“The Bianchi were holding a woman hostage planning on raping and killing her. I got her out of there and brought her here, before I found you,” I explain quickly. “Now, I know damn well whattaken care ofusually means around here.”
“Cassian took her to the airport two hours ago,” Soren tells us. “She’s safe.”
I sigh. “Good. I went through a lot of trouble to get her out of there. On the bright side, they think I did exactly what they would have done to her. They likely trust me even more than before.”
“If that’s the case then we better get you out of here soon,” Carmine insists.
“Why is that?” I ask.
“Because the Carvels will be here in five minutes to talk,” he tells me.
Tommy clams his fists down on the table. “Goddamnit! Does no one listen to me? You called them over already? While I wasn’t even here?”
“We had to make sure you didn’t already ruin any chances we had of communicating with them. When they agreed to come over, I assumed you must have just went to get drunk rather than fight them,” Carmine says.
“They don’t know about the two guys I killed yet then,” I comment. “Or if they do, they don’t suspect you.”
“But if they see you here, your cover is blown,” Tiberi reminds me.
I huff. “Damnit. My car is out front. If they’re coming from the same way…there’s no time for me to leave.”
“Move your car into the garage and go upstairs to Tommy’s room,” Carmine orders me.
“Why my room?” Tommy asks.
Carmine chuckles. “Please, like we don’t know what’s going on between the two of you,” he tells both of us. “Just get it done.”
I nod my head and look to Tommy one last time before I pull my keys out of my pocket and head for my car. Tommy opens the garage for me, and I pull it in between two other cars.
I can hear tires on the gravel as the garage door is closing.
“You’d better get up there now. Fourth door on the right,” Tommy says as he stands near the doorway.
“Don’t get killed,” I tell him. “If they start something, I am not staying up there.”
“Understood.” He motions me down the hallway to the stairs by the entryway and I head up toward his room.
Just as I’m opening the door and closing it behind me, I hear the front door open and Alessio’s voice greeting the Carvels.
My eyes dart around Tommy’s room, taking in everything that makes him, him. The large bed in the left corner of the room, the dark dresser, the band posters on the walls, the overstuffed bookshelf, and the clothing strewn around the room.
The concentrated smell of Tommaso Dresvanni fills my senses, and I find it relaxes me. I sit down on the end of the bed, and it’s here that I wait.
Wait for something to happen.
17
TOMMY
