Page 41 of Tesoro: Mayhem Makers

When Frankie broke the news Angelo had given the order to ready the plane, I was beyond pissed. My brother claimed the farmhouse was compromised and with his condition we neededto leave immediately. With the amount of space Angelo required to travel, it limited the number of people who could board the plane.

To complicate matters, Valentina showed up with her usual clinginess. The last thing I wanted was to expose Kate to her venom. I tried to sneak in the house to tell Kate I had to leave, however, Val refused to leave my side. In one final act of desperation, I had used one of my extra phones, typed a message to Kate along with my personal number and stuck it in her backpack, along with an envelope filled with twice the amount we had agreed upon.

“Come on, Dante,” Angelo started, but I was having none of it.

“No, you come on,” I spun around, separating the distance between us. “Admit it, you overreacted!” I shouted at him. “You did exactly what Joseph taught us not to do and allowed your fear to rule you.”

“What was I supposed to do, let Chuy and his?—”

“I had Chuy.” Slamming my hand on the arm of his wheelchair. “Damn it, son, I had that motherfucker where I wanted him and you fucked it up.” My anger echoes off the walls of the room. Chuy had continued to demand restitution and I had returned with a solid fuck off.

“Worst of all,” I paused, choking back my emotions. “You cost me the only woman I ever truly loved.”

Tears form in the lower half of Angelo’s eyes as he places his hand on mine.

“Have you checked on her?”

“Johnny said she refused a ride with him and there has been no activity at her apartment.”

When Johnny arrived in Boston, I expected him to have Kate in tow. He told me how she stitched him up, and claimed it wastime to do what she’d promised as she counted the money I’d left inside her backpack.

“Have you tried calling her?”

“I never got her number and my phone goes to voicemail.”

“What about the tracker?”

“I never got a chance to put one on her.” It was common practice within the Family to place tracking devices on its members, as well as the untouchables.

“On your phone, you idiot.”

Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. “Motherfucker.”

Jumping to my feet, I ran out of the room and into Angelo’s office. Signing into the computer, I bounce my foot as I wait for the app to open. Clicking on the device I needed to track, Angelo rolls his wheelchair into the room, parking beside me.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” He offers as the indicator wheel spins on the screen. “It’s good to see a little life return to you. I’ll do whatever you need to help find her and get her back.”

The ding of the app pulls my attention back to the screen. My eyes narrow as I take in the location of my phone. Angelo clears his throat, pulling out his phone and selecting a number.

Placing the call on speaker, I look to my brother as we waited for the call to connect.

“Hey, Angelo. How are you doing, baby?”

“I’ve been better. Tell me something, Val. Where are you right now?”

“Ugh, waiting for my agent to call. Why, wanna party?”

“I mean, are you in your apartment in LA or New York?” Val bragged about how she lived in a house in the hills, while in reality, she lived in a studio apartment over a dry cleaner near Studio City.

“New York, why?”

Her apartment in New York was owned by Angelo, he let her stay rent free to keep squatters away.

“Kate Romano isn’t with you by any chance is she?”

“God, no. I left that pathetic bitch in Texas.”

Angelo held up his hand to silence me. “Then explain to me why the tracker we have for her is pinging from your apartment in New York?”

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