Page 62 of The Mastermind
Surprisingly, he shook his head. ‘Liv will not come after me.’
My eyes narrowed. ‘Oh no? What makes you sure?’
‘He’s my second cousin. Plus he’s terrified of…’ He clamped his jaw shut.
Rafa laughed. ‘What, you can’t say your own father’s name? What is he, Voldemort?’
Stan flinched.
‘Ah, so Ivanovski is blood? Are you an only child, Stan?’ I asked.
His face creased some more and he nodded.
‘Well, that might just save you. That means he probably won’t kill you if you’re your father’s only child. But I can’t vouch for how badly he’s going to rough you up. He has a trigger-happy temper, I hear.’
Again, he stunned me by shedding a layer of fear and meeting my eyes. ‘It’s you he wants. He’s still angry about you killing his deal with the Mancinellis five years ago.’
Rafa stiffened.
I flicked a glance at him and saw the icy rage building at the back of his eyes. He didn’t tolerate the casual mention of the series of incidents that had taken our mother from us.
‘That was his first mistake, believing he had the right to make deals with anyone without due respect where needed, but especially doing business with El Topo. The Salvatores own New York. Always have. Always will. Feel free to tell him if he needs a reminder. I’m happy to oblige.’
I swept through the doors Fist held open for me, and seconds later I was back in the foyer.
The manager stood in the same position, hands held out, my card in his palm. ‘It was a pleasure to serve you, sir. You’re welcome back any time.’
Fist swiped it and handed it to me, casting a lethal glance at the weasel that had Rafaelle smirking.
‘Yeah, I bet you would,’ he said.
We stepped out of the club and I stopped on the sidewalk to suck in warm air as Fist grabbed the keys from the valet. When the car arrived, a soldier opened the door and we jumped in the back.
‘That was almost too easy,’ Rafa rasped.
I frowned and rapped twice on the thin, polished wood trim of the Bentley SUV. ‘Hey, don’t fucking jinx us, man.’
‘Scusa.’ He mimicked my knock. ‘So what next?’
‘For now we gather the info on our traitors and we make damn sure they never cross us again. And we get everyone capable of doing so to keep track of Ivanovski’s movements. Unfortunately, the kid was right. He’s not going to take this lying down. And he might be stupid enough to use the Mancinellis again. We need to be ready.’
‘Sounds good. I’m starving. Wanna get some dinner?’ he asked.
My nostrils flared as I remembered Maddelena’s text. And the pointed and ominous silence from my phone since my response. ‘Yeah, but not with you, brother. Sorry. I kicked one Mancinelli ass today. Time to go take care of another.’
He stared at me for an age.
But to his credit, he kept whatever he was thinking to himself.
19
CESARE
‘What the fuck was that all about?’
She flinched at the sound of my hotel room door being kicked shut after she entered. And even that pissed me off.
Fuck.
