Page 41 of Be With Me
I didn’t see how it could. Their suspicions were baseless. I would know if my dad had some other reason for going after them beyond getting justice and making this city a safer place.
If I told him Romolo was a client—even temporarily—he’d tell me to stop working with him right away. No doubt. The man brought a gun to my studio, and then showed up with bruised knuckles he must have gotten as a result of a fight. He was a bad idea wrapped in a tailored suit.
But what if I stillcouldget something more from him?
We had one more meeting left. I could handle it. Couldn’t I? Yes, he almost kissed me last time. But that was because I’d let myself get caught off guard. Now, I knew better. Now, I’d be ready.
“I didn’t sleep well,” I said.
It wasn’t a lie. The last two nights, that mafioso hadn’t just occupied most of my waking thoughts. He'd also appeared in my dreams. Shirtless. Inked. Wearing that smirk.
In the dream, I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t tell him to let me go.
So he didn’t. His lips were hard against mine, and when I woke, my heart was still pounding.
I swallowed. “And work’s been a lot. There never seems to be enough time for everything.”
“We’re almost at the end,” Dad said as the elevator arrived. “Just a few more months. The polls are looking stronger with each week, and the transition planning is going better than expected. The attorney generalis fully on board with prosecuting the crime families to the full extent of the law.”
My blood ran cold. “Wow. Is there a case?”
“It’ll come together,” Dad said, no uncertainty in his tone. “They’re looking at the Ferraros and their known associates. It’s a tangled web.”
Known associates. The Messeros had to fall into that category.
Could Fabi get swept up in this? She’d been gone from New York for many years, but now she was back and about to marry Cosimo. Even if she had no part to play in their business, was she really safe?
“You look worried.”
My gaze jumped to my dad. “I am, I guess.” About him. About Fabi. And maybe—God help me—even about Romolo, which made no sense.
Not everyone deserves to be taken care of.
That’s what he thought about himself. How did someone get to that conclusion?
I was curious about him. About why he reacted so strongly to me offering him just a bit of help. Beneath all that cocky armor, there was something vulnerable. Something he tried hard to hide.
Dad squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll get them,cariño. We just have to win first.”
The elevator dinged and opened to the first floor.
He handed me my bag when we stepped outside. “Enjoy your trip.”
“Thanks, I will.”
As I waited for Fabi to pick me up, the wordswe’ll get themechoed in my mind.
If my dad got his way, Romolo Ferraro wouldn’t just be a dangerous enigma.
He’d be behind bars, along with his family.
CHAPTER12
MIA
It was a humid day in the Hamptons. The air was thick with the scent of sunscreen and apricots. The surround-sound speakers hidden throughout the property blasted Sabrina Carpenter’s latest hit.
We were scattered around the pool, each doing our own thing. Fabi floated on an inflatable swan, a glass of rosé in hand. Zo sat on a lounger, painting her toenails a deep purple. Nina and I were hunched over a canvas I’d impulsively bought online. The piece depicting a mask was now getting an excessive amount of rhinestones glued on. I was going through a phase. I had about three of these already completed back at my apartment. Somehow, I’d convinced myself bedazzling was a valid form of therapy.
