Page 28 of Maximum Bet

I sit back as Leo places a call to Lucas, asking him to get started on the task, rattling off the building’s name and address.

If nothing else, at least we know where our adversaries are.

The suite Leo rented at a nearby resort has a spectacular view of the Caribbean Sea. Early in the morning, as the sun rises, I find myself seated on the balcony with an espresso in hand.

I make a note to bring Cassandra back here once we’ve eliminated the Bratva and Medina threat. She deserves to travel the world, and there’s no one else I’d rather share the beauty of the Caribbean Sea with.

Especially not my cousin, who comes out, slurping on his espresso and scratching his stomach. Nico is still in linen sleep pants and a black T-shirt, his hair in disarray, falling into his eyes.

“Sleep well?” I ask and cringe as he takes another noisy sip of his drink.

“Fucking fantastic.” He takes a seat next to me. “It’s gorgeous out here. I might be living in the wrong city. What do you think the family would do if I decided to leave Chicago and set up shop down here?”

I laugh. “Lose their minds.”

“Damn it.” He grins and pushes his hair out of his eyes. “Così è la vita.”

“Such is life,” I repeat.

The glass door of the balcony slides open, and we turn to see Leo, laptop in hand.

“We found something,” he says, closing the door behind him.

“What?” I place my espresso on the table next to my chair as Leo crouches between us so we can see the laptop.

“Here’s the list of all the owners in the building. Tell me when you see a familiar name.”

I scroll the list—Rodriguez, Hunter, Miranda, Santos. I stop.

Santos.JorgeSantos.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I grab the laptop and double-check the name, phone number, and secondary address listed for him.

Leo nods. “We confirmed everything, it’s definitely the one and only Jorge Santos from the Angeles de la Misericordia. Lucas dug in and found that he bought the condo for a mistress whoseabuelalived in San Juan. The mistress got in some trouble a while back, fought with Santos, and ended up going to the authorities. She disappeared shortly after, but Santos held on to the condo.”

“That mother fucker is in bed with Kozlova and Perez?” Nico seethes, hands curling into fists.

“Sort of,” Leo says. “As far as we can tell, he’s not heavily involved in what they’ve got going on. He’s just lending them the space.”

“Stronzo.” Nico’s jaw ticks. “When will we have enough evidence to move into Miami and take the bastard out?”

“That’s not our focus,” I sigh. “I’m not happy about this either, but going after Santos isn’t going to help us right now. As far as I’m concerned, we should keep him close. He’s our strongest link to Kozlova and Perez. Leo, I need surveillance put on Santos. Let’s see if his involvement extends beyond sharing a meeting place.”

“Got it.” Standing, Leo retrieves his laptop. “What do you want to do now that we’re here and know where Kozlova and Perez are?”

“Let’s keep an eye on them while they’re here, see if they move locations, meet with anyone else, etc. As soon as they’re gone, we need to find a way into that condo. It would be ideal to get listening devices and video surveillance in there.”

“I’ll start gathering equipment,” Leo says before slipping through the door.

I finish my espresso while Nico stares out over the water.

“I want to kill Santos,” he finally mumbles.

I chuckle. “Let me end Kozlova and Perez first, then Santos is all yours.”

His lips curl with a smirk.

“Holding you to it.”