Page 47 of Ruthless Sin
“You dismantle the named ones.”
“The nameless ones grow new faces.”
I close my eyes.
They know where she is.
“No.” I open them. “Stop. They know where Casa Lucia is. Every Bratva man working the eastern seaboard knows the Santoro family runs a clinic in the Garden District. That’s not the same as knowing she goes there every Tuesday. That’s not the same as them knowing she’s alive.”
Not the same.
“That’s what I told Cassia at five-thirty,” Marco says.
I look up.
“Cassia called you.”
“Cassia called me because she had a feeling. Cassia has feelings the way the rest of us have facts. I gave her what we had.”
“What does she want.”
“You to pull Mila off the Tuesday rotation. Effective this week.”
“She’ll know I’m pulling her because of a threat.”
“That’s why I’m telling you Cassia called. Have Cassia make the call. Not you.”
“Cassia frames it as a clinic schedule change.”
“A new rotation through Algiers. Two Tuesdays a month, not four. The therapist’s caseload, not yours.”
“Mila trusts Cassia.”
“That’s the play.”
Marco picks up the folder and tucks it under his arm.
“Do it today. Through Maria.”
“Through Maria. Done.”
Marco doesn’t move yet. He waits.
“One more thing.” His voice changes. “Sofia saw her in the hallway this morning. Coming out of your room.”
“Sofia.”
“She’s not going to say anything. Yet. But she’s going to.”
“I know.”
Marco nods once. Turns for the door.
“Marco.”
He stops.
“The watch detail on Casa Lucia. Pull Tito off it. Put him on the trail back to whoever’s paying.”
