Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Okay, Blair. One more question for now.”
“Okay.”
“Can we have access to Matt’s phone records? Could you get them for us?”
Blair shifted in her chair, a pink flush creeping across her cheeks.
“No, I can’t do that.”
“Look, we don’t care if you were fucking around on that shithead,” Cosimo said.
“What? No. No, it’s not that. Matthew wasn’t on my phone plan. He was… still on his mom’s plan.”
There were a few snorts and chuckles down the table.
“Sorry,” she said. “I wish I could be more help. But… Matthew and I… we weren’t good for a long time,” she admitted.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Lorenzo assured her. “We’re not blaming you for what he did. We just needed to get as much straight as possible. If you want to head to the back of the house, there’s coffee in the kitchen.”
“Okay. Thanks,” she said, giving me a nervous look as she rose from her chair and moved out of the room with Goya.
“She can have him,” Brio said once they were gone. “Shelter won’t even make me do any paperwork. Might be good for her to have a dog now.”
I nodded. “I’ll mention it.”
“So, what’s the deal with the widow?” Cosimo asked. “Can we trust her?”
“Trust me, if there is anyone on Earth who isn’t going to defend Matt right now, it’s her.”
“We’re just supposed to take your word for that?” Renzo asked.
“Blair’s been trying to get pregnant since they married. Wanted kids really bad. It never happened. She was devastated, thinking she couldn’t have them. Matt got snipped years ago.”
“Wow,” Emilio said, shaking his head.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg with the shit he’s put her through. Trust me, she has no loyalty to him.”
“But the money…” Renzo suggested.
“Blair is wealthy in her own right.”
“Not that wealthy.”
“No,” I agreed. “But she’s also been targeted now. Three times.”
“What?” Lorenzo asked, stiffening.
“I wasn’t sure it was all connected until now. She was chased through the North Woods when she took a run. Then her apartment was broken into once before. And then the time with the safe recently.”
“But if she was in control of the documents—” Renzo started.
He was the ruthless boss of the Lombardi family. And sometimes, it was clear how he got that position.
“She wouldn’t have shown them to me,” I said.
No one could argue with that.
“I think we should all take a few minutes to read through as much of this as we can,” Lorenzo said. “Obviously, none of this leaves this house. And I want to know if anything is wrong, if there’s anything he never could have found out just by watching you…”
“You think he could have bugged us? Hacked us?” Miko asked.
“I’m not taking any chances.”
With that, he started in on his pile. So the rest of us followed suit.
We were still reading when I heard footsteps near the doorway.
Turning, I saw Blair standing there with a tray loaded with disposable coffee cups.
I was about to say something, but Zeno clocked her then, jumping up to take the tray from her. “It won’t be as good as your banana bread coffee, but how did you know I needed this?”
“Thanks, Blair,” Lorenzo said, giving her a smile before heading back into his paperwork.
I got up, following Blair back into the kitchen, where Goya was curled up near the back door.
“You okay?” I asked, making her jump and hiss. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m just jumpy.”
“Understandably. I know that was intense.”
“They were actually a lot nicer than I prepared myself for.”
“They’re good men. A little intense at times, but good.”
“Is this really as bad as they are making it seem?”
“From what I can tell so far, yes. It gives exact details about our schedules so we can be followed and taken out. And it is everyone. Which is the main problem with trying to take on organized crime: it’s like a hydra. But they could, if they were motivated enough, pick us all off in one day.”
“God, Matthew,” she said, deflating. “Just when I think he can’t get any worse. I mean… how could he do that to you? You’ve done everything for him.”
“I’m more disgusted that he is willing to go after our children and women. That’s fucking evil.”
“Can you keep them safe?”
“It’s a little easier since it’s summer,” I told her. “We can kind of put them on lockdown. Or, if it gets that serious, we could send them away.”
“Away where?”
“Good question.”
I didn’t have an answer. I knew we had some safe houses. But no safe house would be safe enough for the women and kids without guards. I could see the husbands and fathers possibly shipping their kids off to allies. Other Families—like the Morellis of Staten Island, the D’Onofrios of Queens. Even maybe the Families in upstate New York or the Grassis in New Jersey.