Page 48 of Above ’N’ Beyond

Losing the Bistro was akin to stabbing herself in the chest with one of Lou’s sharp kitchen knives. She’d worked too hard, invested too much of her heart and soul to lose it. In many ways, she already had lost it. If she didn’t do something, and do it fast, Paola would find a way to push her out completely.

What she’d saved up was enough to buy out Paola’s original investment, but not nearly enough to start over on her own in a new place. By her calculations, it would take several more years for her to be fiscally able to walk away.

Walking away might still be the most prudent option.

If her aunt and cousin were ever arrested for their crimes, the Bistro would probably be taken from her. She knew that’s how the law worked. After her uncle and Tony’s brother were killed, authorities seized nearly all the Mancuso assets. Anything the police and feds could prove was tainted by illegal activity…gone. The authorities would never back down. They’d continue looking into her aunt and cousin’s activities, and they wouldn’t stop until they found something.

Not for the first time, she reminded herself that she could very well get caught in the crossfire. At best, her reputation could be seriously impacted. At worst, she could wind up sharing a jail cell with Paola.

Her gaze landed on the three small white boxes she’d brought in from her car. The puppy cams she’d purchased for the dining room. An idea took root, and as it did, she could hardly believe she was even contemplating such a thing.

Her heart ached even more, but Paola had drawn first blood. Her aunt had taken Bella’s love, used it, then thrown it away when she hadn’t fallen in line like a good soldier. She wasn’t a criminal. She wasn’t like Paola and Tony and never could be.

She stood, then walked unsteadily past the bar and down the hallway to the private meeting room. She unlocked it, then flipped on the lights and stared up at the shelving she’d had specially installed about eighteen inches down from the ceiling on all four walls. To add ambience for all the festive occasions she’d hoped to book for this room, electricians had installed electrical outlets in each corner for the strands of tiny white lights plugged in. Strategically positioned pots of fake plants concealed the outlets. With only one strand of lights per outlet, each double outlet had one receptacle free.

Free to plug in a puppy cam.

She drew in a shaky breath. Suddenly, she could barely breathe at all. What she was contemplating was betrayal of her family.

“No.” Not my family. Not anymore.

But what would she do with any information she recorded? Could she really turn it over to the police or the FBI?

I don’t know.

She covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head. Tears she swore not to shed backed up behind her eyes. She blinked, refusing to let them fall.

I can do this. I can do this.

If nothing else, this could be her insurance policy. Blackmailing The Godmother might get her beloved Bistro back under her control. Or it could get her a one-way ticket to Rockland Cemetery. Worse, there might not even be any remains for anyone to bury. But she couldn’t live this way. If she stood by like a quivering little mouse, nothing would change.

As she flipped off the lights, her heart beat faster than a food processor. This was, without a doubt, the scariest thing she’d ever contemplated in her life. And, potentially, the deadliest.

She went back to the bar and unpacked the three cameras, the sim cards, and pulled out the directions.

Fifteen minutes later, she crumpled the directions into a ball and threw them on the bar. No matter how many times she tried syncing the cameras to her phone, nothing worked. Technology had never been her forte, but there were only three steps to follow. Could be a setting on her phone she was unaware of had to change. Then again, her phone was seven years old. Maybe it wasn’t capable of syncing to the new cameras.

A soft shuffling sound came from the back of the Bistro. Bella cocked her head to listen. If that bastard cousin of hers had come back to ram home his point she was being a bitch and should take one for the Mancuso team, she’d seriously have to consider clocking him over the head with one of those pricey bottles of wine he loved so much.

The shuffling came again. Bella’s hand trembled as she grabbed the only weapon immediately available—the corkscrew Tony had left on the bar after pilfering her wine cooler. Trying not to make any noise, she eased off the stool, cringing when it scraped on the floor. Tiptoeing quietly, she hid just behind the bar.

The sounds got louder. She twisted open the corkscrew, gripping it in her fist with her index and middle fingers on either side of the sharp, twisted tip.

Jeez, she’d never thought of herself as a violent person, but she’d do whatever it took.

Her heart flipped in her chest. Footsteps grew louder. She raised her arm, readying to strike.

Chapter Sixteen

“Whoa.” Jamie threw his hands in the air, jerking back and pivoting away from the tip of the corkscrew just before it gouged out his right eye.

Jax’s claws clicked as he pranced around Jamie’s legs, not quite understanding what was happening. “Easy, boy. Easy.” Jax’s tail wagged, his body wriggling as he recognized Bella.

“Oh, God,” she breathed. The bottle opener fell from her hand to the floor. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were—”

“Tony?” Jamie and Jax had been out for a long walk. He’d seen Tony’s car and Bella’s Mini Cooper parked in the alley. “I hope it wasn’t me you were expecting.”

“No. Of course not.” She shook her head. “I thought you were Tony coming back to—”