Page 59 of Above ’N’ Beyond

“Au contraire.” She stepped closer, and the pulse at her neck thumped faster. “I know exactly who I’m dealing with, and so do you.”

Jamie knew the moment the tequila hit Bella’s bloodstream. Her cheeks pinkened, and she poked a finger at his pecs. This fire and brimstone thing she had going on was addictive. All he could think about was kissing that petulance off her lips and feeling her body pressed against his. “You need to back off.”

She shook her head. “I can’t. This is my restaurant. If this is the only way I can regain control of it, then so be it. Jimmy, please. Don’t say anything. Please.”

Her scent filled his lungs, edging him closer to a steeply dangerous precipice. Blue eyes shimmered, and she blinked quickly. If she cried, he was toast. Again, he looked around the room before leaning down to whisper, “Did you install all three cameras?” She nodded. “And the other two sim cards?” He’d installed one of them. Again, she nodded. “What are you going to do with the footage you record? Turn it over to the police or the FBI?”

The FBI wanted him to get probable cause to install surveillance equipment in Paola’s house and the Bistro. The Bistro was as much Bella’s property as it was Paola’s. She had every right to install cameras, whereas he’d need a court order. Even if she hadn’t changed her login yet, and his phone was still synced to the cameras, anything he got from them probably couldn’t be used in court. But he could get a search warrant for the sim cards. Bella had just made his job a lot easier.

From a professional standpoint, he wanted her to leave the cameras in place. From a personal perspective, he wanted her to take them down before they were discovered. If they were discovered, Paola would know who’d put them there. He didn’t want to think about what The Godmother would do to her niece if she betrayed her. Hell, she already had.

“I—” Bella bit her lower lip. “No, not the FBI or the police. I could never do that.”

Blood ties. “Then what are you going to—” Oh shit. This was beyond bad. She was going to blackmail her aunt and force her into signing over her share of the Bistro.

Jamie couldn’t say so, but Paola Mancuso had no intention of doing that. Ever. Bianco’s Bistro was the epicenter of her operation. A money laundering hub for all the proceeds of her illegal operations and a private place where she could safely conduct business. It was far too valuable.

Gently, he clasped her upper arms. “You can’t do this. It’s too da—”

“Jimmy.” Marco glared at him from the open end of the bar then hitched his head. “Paola wants you.” There was no mistaking the animosity shooting from the other man’s eyes. He’d just caught Jamie with his hands on Bella, something he obviously didn’t like. To Bella, he said gently, “Do you need help with the wine?”

Bella sighed, then shook her head. “No, thank you.” She took a tray from beneath the bar, then pulled wineglasses down from the overhead rack.

“We will talk later.” Jamie left her standing there, her eyes still shimmering, as if she was only now realizing the consequences of her actions.

He wanted to drag her out of there and talk some sense into her, but he had to remain focused on the job. Leaving those cameras in place was the fastest way to get the evidence he needed. Evidence he fully intended to turn over to the FBI in exchange for getting his dad sprung. With his dad going downhill fast, that was all that mattered. Still, he felt miserable about what that would do to Bella.

As he walked from behind the bar, Jamie didn’t look at Marco but felt the man’s animosity as sharply as a knife stab to the chest.

In the private dining room, Tony and the others sat at the table with Paola. Marco came in last and closed the door behind him.

“The man of the hour.” Tony stood, then clapped Jamie on the back. For the first time, he didn’t massage Jamie’s back for wires. “Everything went like clockwork, just like he said it would.”

Like he’d hoped it would. For a moment there, he’d thought Marco was about to blow a hole in Steve’s head.

Like Tony and the other men, Ianetti was a convicted felon. He’d been arrested on drug trafficking and assault a few years back for beating a man to a pulp. Jamie couldn’t wait to tack on unlawful possession of a firearm to the long list of charges Marco would face when this was over. Begging the question… Where was that gun now? There was no bulge beneath Marco’s shirt, and he wasn’t wearing an ankle holster.

“Sit.” Paola indicated the chair next to her. “I want to hear all about it.”

Jamie pulled out the chair and sat. “Things did go well,” he began. “We—”

Paola held up her hand, silencing him as the door opened. Bella came in, balancing a tray loaded with glasses and two bottles of wine.

“There it is.” Tony grinned. “The good stuff. I knew you had more.”

Ignoring her cousin, Bella set the tray on the table, then began pouring wine into each of the glasses. When she set a glass in front of Jamie, she refused to make eye contact with him.

Marco’s gaze tracked her every move like a hawk circling prey right before grabbing it in its sharp talons.

After Bella had left the room, Tony lifted his glass. “To Fist, for a job well done.”

“Bravo!” Paulie, Sammy, and Nicky said simultaneously.

Marco picked up his glass but didn’t drink.

Paola clinked glasses with Jamie’s. “Now, tell me everything.”

Sticking to the salient points, he succinctly described how it all went down, leaving out the part where Marco had pulled a gun on Steve and Artie. He still hadn’t had the opportunity to call them to make sure they’d gotten free as planned. After what had happened, he owed them more than just a good steak dinner.