Page 129 of When She Loves
I stare at the caller ID. “No. It’s De Rossi.” Why is he calling? Is Cleo with him by now? Not wanting to torture myself by wondering about it all night, I pick up. “Is she with you?”
“Yeah. We’re leaving with her in the morning.”
A heaviness settles inside my chest, but I ignore it. “Good.” The words taste like ash on my tongue.
“We heard what Ferraro wants.”
I grunt in response.
“Are you with Nero right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you figured a way out of it?”
I stare at the gun on the coffee table between Nero and me. Since I’m not going to kill Nero, Gino will. Or at least he’ll try. And how many more will die as a result?
My jaw clenches. “No. Why are you calling me?”
“Cleo asked me to see if I can help somehow. She’s inconsolable.”
An ache appears inside my chest. I crack my neck, forcing myself to ignore the sensation. “I’m all fucking ears. Ferraro expects to see a body tomorrow. If he doesn’t, he will declare war. Many will die.”
Gino told me he had an affinity for water, but he won’t hesitate to let New York City go up in flames.
De Rossi makes a thoughtful noise. “You said Ferraro wants a body.”
“Yes, a body,” I answer.
Hold on.A beat passes. “Doesn’t have to be Nero’s body,” I whisper more to myself than to De Rossi.
Across the room, my consigliere looks up at me.
“Let’s talk it through,” De Rossi says. “I’m putting you on speaker. Ras and Giorgio are here too.”
I start pacing. “Right. Garzolo had a few big guys with him. About Nero’s size.”
“He did. We could get them back for you.”
If De Rossi brings me the bodies… “I could make it look like a fire. Make them unrecognizable.”
“Gino will want the remains,” De Rossi says. “He’ll want to verify it himself.”
“Yeah. He’ll check the DNA. Nero’s been swabbed before, and Gino has contacts inside the police who’ll be able to run it through the database.”
“I can update the records they have on file,” a deeper voice says, one I recognize as Giorgio’s.
I frown at the phone. “Are you sure?”
“It won’t be a problem,” he says, not a hint of uncertainty in his tone. “But you’ll still have to figure out what to do with Nero. He won’t be able to show his face around here ever again.”
I glance at my friend. He’s got his elbows on his knees, his palms cupped in front of his face.
“He’ll have to disappear,” I say.
Nero holds my gaze.
“I can’t send him to any of my safe houses in the state,” I say. “Too risky.”
