Page 196 of Ricardo

Now I look across the room with more interest.

The man beside Owen is in his forties, perhaps early fifties. Sandy hair. Narrow face. Good tuxedo. Easy smile.

After Julia warned Mario about Frank Calhoun, we did what any sensible men in our position would do. We looked. Thoroughly and quietly. We followed the civic funds, the contractor shells, the land trusts, the advisory boards, the respectable front-facing organizations.

Julia had understood the danger before we did.

I do not enjoy admitting that.

I enjoy, even less, knowing how right she was.

Frank Calhoun was worse than a political liability. He was a man who never asked for anything directly unless the answer had already been arranged. A man who let other people carry the documents, sign the checks, take the fall.

And now someone connected to him is standing inside my brother’s gala.

“How did he get it in?” I ask.

“He was a last-minute substitution, apparently,” Julia says quietly. “Patrice said he came in for Jerry Bradshaw. They work out of the same office.”

Across the room, Rusk laughs softly.

Owen does not.

“Stay with me,” I say.

Her eyes cut to mine. “Ricardo.”

“I am not removing you from the conversation,” I say. “I am simply making sure no one removes you from my sight.”

Her mouth tightens, but she does not argue.

She understands enough.

I look across the ballroom and catch Mario’s eye.

He is speaking with Judge O’Brien, which makes the timing unfortunate. Or fortunate, depending on one’s appetite for discomfort. Mario sees my face, then Julia’s, and gives Judge O’Brien a courteous smile that ends the conversation without appearing to do so.

Lorenzo is already moving before Mario reaches us.

That is family.

Mario arrives with Victoria at his side, his expression composed enough that no one nearby would suspect anything has changed.

“What?” he asks.

“Evan Rusk is here,” I say and quickly explain what Julia told me.

Mario’s eyes sharpen by the smallest degree.

Victoria’s hand stills on his arm.

“Where?” Mario asks.

“Sponsor wall,” Julia says. “Speaking with Owen.”

Lorenzo reaches us and turns slightly, casual enough to look as if he has joined a harmless conversation.

“We need to remove him quietly,” he says.