Page 60 of The Disputed Legacy
Calling a soldier to come and handle the mess and get rid of the body was an option. But that seemed like too much of a hassle. I’d need to tell Maxim why I killed a Romano without trying to question him. I hadn’t because I didn’t like this distance from Willow. I was impatient to get back to her with a Romano nearby. And I was hurrying to return to her because she’d been so scared to see a cop at her door.
Besides, I wasn’t ready for my brothers to know where I was. They’d get nosy, or intrude, and until I could be confident in my ability to ask Willow to consider being mine and joining myfamily, I had to tread carefully. She’d be overwhelmed if all the Ivanovs showed up this soon.
“Fuck.” I glanced at my watch, seeing that Oscar would be due home soon, too. I couldn’t let him be near this dead man. I couldn’t multitask to handle him when that boy was back.
I put my gun away and took a quick picture of the corpse with my phone. Evidence always mattered, and I wanted further proof of this fucker posing as a cop, too, to show Hugo and the others so they’d be on the lookout.
This man was an example of how the Romanos weren’t only paying off the cops but were so involved as partners that they could pretend to be them, too.
Dragging the man toward a utility closet, I regretted how hasty I’d been. I didn’t want to dick around and talk to the asshole. I’d just wanted him dead and no longer a threat in Willow’s building. But it would’ve made more sense to at least ask how he’d found me here.
The closet was locked, so I broke the handle off with the butt of the gun I took off the Romano imposter. Then once I’d shoved him in there, I took his phone and wallet for a later look.
Grimacing at the blood on the floor, I shrugged and figured there were enough stains on the already dark surface that it might just blend in.
Goddammit.
I couldn’t risk that body being found by an innocent. I didn’t want to be outed as a Mafia man to Willow and Oscar just yet. Once I got her trust—with more than just her body—I could test those waters then.
Pacing in the stairwell since it was still empty, I called up a soldier and gave him the instructions to not tell anyone else about this and to clean it up for me. Fortunately, he didn’t ask questions and didn’t offer his opinions.
But that still wasn’t good enough. I didn’t care for any Romano coming near Willow, but I couldn’t look into how one had gotten this close on my own.
I called Maxim.
“About fucking time?—”
“I called you back.Youdidn’t answer.” I ran my hand through my hair, messing it up. “Besides, I texted Nik.”
“What’s this shit about your getting shot at a goddamn diner?” he demanded.
“Oh. You talk to Hugo already?” I rolled my eyes, wishing he would’ve been quiet for a little longer. Then again, Hugo was loyal. If Maxim demanded answers about anything I’d said, he had to fess up and answer. Maxim was the boss and if any of us defied him, that was a weakness to the whole organization.
“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. You need to come home now.”
I couldn’t help a bark of a laugh. “No.” Fuck no was I going anywhere. I had to stay close to Willow in case any other Romano would come near her to look for me.
“Something’s up, Brother. We need to talk about something we were informed of this morning.”
“It can wait. What can’t wait is a Romano showing up here and posing as a cop.”
“What the fuck?”
I gave him the barest details I could risk here. This stairwell was empty, but there were too many ways for spies to listen in. A cell phone in an apartment building like this didn’t count as a device for secure communication.
“I need a couple of men to watch the building,” I told him, feeling like I was admitting defeat.
Maxim agreed with a grunt, but then he asked, “And this waitress? She’s worth it?”
“Yes.” I answered it like a punch of the truth. No hesitation. No wondering. No debating. Just an affirmative. There was so much to learn about Willow, but I knew she was worth it. I could claim that because I was damned near convinced she was alsoit. The woman I hadn’t realized I’d been waiting for all this time.
“Can she be trusted?” he asked.
Now that… that was tricky. “Yes,” I replied, hating how much weaker it sounded than the previous one. Willow was too good to be a bad person or a threat, but I knew I couldn’t bring her to my family without knowing more about her. I’d been about to open up to her, talking and leading up to sharing more about myself in her kitchen before this asshole Romano had shown up at the door.
“Then why can’t you just take her to your place? Count on the security there?”
That did sound much more logical. And stronger as a safety measure, but I already suspected that if I asked her to go anywhere with me, if she would bring Oscar to a new place, she would hesitate. I hadn’t been forward with my identity for her to put her faith in me like that. We were more strangers than anything else. No matter how much I wanted to change that, we were. There was no denying it.
