Page 42 of Steal My Heart
“Not interested. What I am interested in is information. A few months ago, a trumpet player by the name of Ellis played in this hotel lounge’s band. He still around?”
“Ellis. Ellis.” She pats her cheek with her finger. “Doesn’t ring a horn.”
Far from amused, I pull out my wallet and fish out a wad of hundreds, waving them in front of her like a bullfighter waving the red flag.
She accepts the bills, tucking them inside her bra. If there’s one thing Sienna loves more than men falling at her feet, it’s cold, hard cash. “Now that I think about it, that name does sound familiar.”
She motions for the couch as she takes a seat behind her desk. The desk on which she fucked Remi’s boyfriend. I’ve considered killing Sienna, but in a sick and twisted way, I should be thanking her, considering she ran Ellis off for me.
“Please tell me this couch gets deep cleaned regularly,” I say, giving it a hard look before taking a seat.
“Angelo, you insult my honor and that of my husband’s, God rest his soul.” She makes the sign of the cross.
“Interesting how you married Michele after Fabien went away.” According to Al, after I left the family for the East Coast, Sienna was Fabien’s girlfriend.
“Michele and I both realized life isn’t promised, and to grab onto happiness while you can,” she says, not taking the bait. “Do you have happiness in your life, Angelo?” Her cat-like eyes take me in, scanning for any weakness.
I might have a little taste of happiness, if only I can convince Remi I’m not a piece of shit like her ex-boyfriend. But I refuse to bare my jugular to the likes of this woman. “I have hit lists, Sienna. Does that count?”
Her head tips back with laughter. “For you, it probably does.” She ducks below her desk, dramatically popping up witha ledger. “Let’s see. A few months ago.” Her blood-red nails flip through the pages. “Ah, here he is: Ellis Harrell. Ohhhh, I remember him.”
Sienna’s far too clever to admit that she cheated on one of my capos, but I’m curious as to how she’ll spin this.
“He tried setting up his own drug operation inside the lounge. Instead of killing him, Michele had Ellis’ little side hustle raided by the cops.”
Wouldn’t have predicted that particular spin.
“Anything else you need?” She bats her lashes.
“The audit Nic hasrepeatedlyasked you for.” An odd set of circumstances: Jade, the former madam, and now Michele, my capo, are both dead, with Sienna the last woman standing. Some deference must be given to capo widows, yes, but I don’t trust this woman as far as I can throw her.
“And I have all the paperwork.” She holds up a stack triumphantly. “Jade left things in quite a mess; it took me some time to sort through everything, but all invoices and monies have been accounted for.”
“Ms. Sienna, come quick.” A custodian barges into Sienna’s office, his eyes going wide at the sight of me. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Well, you see…” He trails off, looking to Sienna.
“Out with it,” I order, because now I’m interested.
“Cops are in the lobby.”
“What?” Sienna gasps.
She hurries out of her office, with Maks and me trailing behind.
“?? ?????????????” Maks asks me in Ukrainian, in case any Italian-speaking busybodies are listening.What’s going on?
“? ?? ????.”I don’t know.
Entering the lobby, we find two officers escorting a cuffed man in a suit, followed by a cuffed woman who has prostitute written all over her.
“What is the meaning of this?” Sienna chases after them; a reporter and cameraman just happen to be waiting on the sidewalk.
Maks shields me from view as we hustle through the lounge and out the side door.
Sliding in the backseat of the town car, I place a call to my NOPD contact to see what the hell is going on.
