Page 41 of The Italian Reckoning
“For which part? The tricking? The lying? The kidnapping?”
“All of it,” he replies. “I admit, kidnapping you wasn’t my finest moment, but I didn’t know what else to do. I knew you wouldn’t talk to me, never mind believe me if I told you that you were in danger.”
“You could have called,” I say stiffly.
He drinks slowly. “Would you really have come with me if I laid it all out for you?”
I want to say yes just to spite him, but I knew deep down, I would have stubbornly ignored anything from him, so after a moment of silence, I shake my head. “No, I suppose not.”
“Exactly.”
“But kidnap? I have a job that will miss me, and my cat! Oh, God, Iris.” Lowering my glass, my stomach knots together. “I can’t leave her alone.”
“You’re on forced leave, right?” Rocky takes another sip. “And your cat… I didn’t know you had one. Is there someone you can call?”
I shake my head again. “Her food is on a timer and I refilled it recently, and she mostly sleeps, but if anything happens to her, I will kill you. Understand?”
“I would let you.” He smiles softly. “The most important issue right now, though, is that my father put a bounty on your head. Mostly my fault because I saved your life the last time there was an assassin on your tail.”
“But why?” I meet Rocky’s gaze. “What have I done to piss him off?”
“Exist?” Rocky shrugs. “You’re not bribable. You have strong morals and ethics. He wants you dead because he thinks that being unable to control you makes him look weak. He’s sensitive after the wholeNoahfiasco.”
“Noah?”
“Yeah, remember the guy who killed Cormac’s brother? I know you’ve had dealings with the Irish. Noah was one of ours and my father got it in his head that it made him look weak and out of control. So ever since, the tiniest toe out of line has been stamped out with a vengeance as if that makes anything better.” Rocky groans slightly. “So you’re a target. And I amplified it because we share the same goal.”
“Belle’s killer?”
“Exactly.” Rocky sets down his glass and massages his eyes with the heel of his palm. “You’re a nail that sticks out, Sarah. He’s just trying to smooth it out.”
“Glad it’s not personal,” I mutter dryly, returning to my drink. “I understand that you want to find Belle’s killer, but we have to do things the right way.”
“Can you look me in the eye and tell me that?” Rocky’s eyes lock onto mine. “Look at how many people get profiled by the cops just for existing, either by the color of their skin or the religion they follow. Look at how often something as stupid as paperwork can send someone awful back onto the streets. I know all the tricks because we thrive on keeping our people out of prison. And look at who you surround yourself with. Most of your colleagues are on our payroll.”
The truth in his words just makes me hate him even more and the prickling warmth from earlier returns to the back of my neck. “My distrust in my department isn’t a distrust in the law. If I do things right, then I can get a conviction and Belle’s family will see justice.”
“And how will you do that when they’re taking you off the case?” Rocky drains his glass and sets it down with a sharp clink. “I know you, Sarah. I know you bent the rules for Cormac.”
A pulse of surprise spreads through my chest. “You know about that?”
“Like I said earlier, I make a lot of friends. My father doesn’t like that.”
“Cormac was different.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Helping him… it was one piece of paper that stopped an all-out war between your two families. I think the lives I saved makes that choice understandable.”
“Oh, sure,” Rocky replies. “But if the law was so great, surely, there would have been a legal route for you to follow that would have given the same results?” He waggles his eyebrows, further heightening my irritation.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you take that path?”
“Because…” Fuck, he’s so irritating when he’s right. “Because it wouldn’t have been fast enough.” I bury my answer in gulping down the last of my drink.
“Exactly. Because your way is corrupt. My way is honest. Listen…” Rocky places both hands flat on the counter and leans forward, his eyes shining like those of a puppy. “Let me show you how we do things. The only way to keep you safe is to keep you with me until my father moves on to his next target, so we might as well investigate together. Maybe if you see how we do things, you’ll understand that the cops aren’t always the answer.”
