Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“When I couldn’t get through, I decided to call in some favors,” Sergio says. I swear half the things we do are about “calling in favors.”
“Got in touch with a friend, got these plows. Took us a while, but the main streets of Boston were pretty clear so we only had to fight the side streets.”
“Got it.”
My burner phone buzzes with a text.
And another.
Then another.
“You need to get that?” Sergio asks pointedly.
“The only people I care about hearing back from are sitting right here in front of me,” I tell him. I pull out my phone and power it down.
I know what they want, and they’ll have to operate on my terms, not theirs.
“Speaking of,” Starla says. “How are Eden and the kids?”
She’s perched on a stool drinking a mocha with billows of whipped cream she found in the recesses of the fridge, now that the power’s back on and she could see the contents. Her legs are tucked under her as if she’s about to do a yoga class. God, I love her.
I need to navigate the next few days with efficiency. I have to follow through or everything… everything… was pointless.
“Good,” Sergio says, blowing out a breath. “Went out and built a snow fort and snow woman, I’ll have you know, it was not a man. That’s apparently old school and predictable.”
Starla smiles and takes another sip.
“When are you guys opening up again?”
“Tonight,” Sergio says with a sigh.
Adriano and Ricco’s faces register surprise but neither of them say anything. Every night we stay closed is money lost, but there’s more to it. I wait patiently for them to fill me in.
“You know Boston doesn’t close for anyone. The snow’s being cleared, and we’re following suit with the other businesses around here.”
Still, I watch him carefully. We’ll have to use an army to get the rest of that snow moved. “Any other reason?”
“Yes,” Sergio says. “Tonight, I want all hands on deck. It’s business as usual in Boston, and we have a shipment coming in.”
Starla’s brows shoot up. Adriano stiffens. “Maybe we should talk about this later.”
Sergio gives him a withering look. “With all due respect, you know I will do exactly what I want, when and where I want to.”
Sergio doesn’t take kindly to anyone questioning him. “Starla’s my wife’s sister. She’s probably eventually marrying into this family in one way or another.” She sputters on her cocoa. “Pretending she doesn’t belong here doesn’t become you, Adriano.”
Adriano sits up straighter and looks directly at Sergio. “It’s not Starla I’m concerned with.”
“Oh, of all the goddamn things you’ve said—”
Sergio holds up a hand. “Starla—”
“You guys investigated him! You already made sure he was kosher and all fine and I think it’s bullshit that you guys are doing anything that questions —”
“It’s fine,” I say through gritted teeth. “He can question me. If the shoe were on the other foot, I’d make damn sure to interrogate the fuck out of him.”
I would.
I turn to Adriano, facing him fully. “You want to interrogate me, brother?”
I’m so aware of the fucking phone in my pocket but one of the first rules of making sure no one suspects you of anything is to pretend you have nothing to hide.
Adriano stands. I place my mug of coffee on the table and square off against him.
“No. Fucking. Way. Both of you sit the fuck back down,” Sergio insists. “If you think for one second I’m going to let you two fuck up Eden’s kitchen, think again. I will kick your goddamn asses if you so much as leave a crumb out of place.”
“Now there’s a man,” Starla says approvingly, as she piles a ridiculously high mountain of whipped cream on the top of her mug again. “I like, Serge.”
“Tonight, I’m bringing staff back. We have to open. Also tonight, we meet our contacts at the pier. Starla, you can come back to our place to stay.”
She hops down from her stool and shakes her head. “I’m good. I like it here, and I just happened to find a razor. If the full staff’s coming tonight, does that mean Eden’s coming, too?”
“Yeah.”
“Perfect. I can text her what I need. Have you made any progress identifying who ransacked my apartment?”
“I’m sorry, honey,” Sergio says. He’s lucky he thinks of Starla like a younger sister. “We’ve been holed up like you guys because of the snow.”
She sighs. “Right. I just… it’s my dogs, Sergio.”
I want to tell her that the dogs are fine. I have a time-stamped photo of them from just today. But goddamn, I can’t promise they will be okay, and I’d be an asshole to get her hopes up.
“We’ll find them, Starla.”
She looks at me with total trust and admiration in her eyes.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.
I finally excuse myself and pull up my texts.