Page 31 of Bastard Prince
“What the fuck, Francesca?” Antonio spoke up for the first time. “Why the hell would they think that?”
“Because she put that spineless fuck in his place last week in front of an audience,” Enzo said proudly, and my smile grew.
“Really,” I sighed, winking at Rocco in the corner when he smirked. “Just because I threatened to gouge a man’s eye out doesn’t automatically mean I’m the one that did it.” Benny and Massimo both shook their heads, but Lucky looked at me with a smile on her face and her eyes shining, their dark brown depths telling me that she’d absolutely be the one that took a man’s eye...and likely his balls, too.
“It doesn’t matter what they think, because the truth is that I didn’t kill Jerry Lebowitz. However, his death has rattled the cage of an FBI agent that doesn’t think very highly of me, so it looks like Jerry found a way to cause me one last problem.”
“Damn, boss,” Trick said, shaking his head. “Assassinsandvindictive FBI agents? Your woman is a total badass.”
“She is,” Enzo agreed, crossing his arms over his chest, making me wonder just how much longer we were going to be stuck in this basement. I seriously needed some alone time with those forearms. “But that doesn’t mean we can drop our guard. Our goals have not changed; find whoever ordered the hit on Francesca, locate and disable the Chemist, and lock down our control of the city.” He nodded to Rock, who began doling out jobs for the crew.
While everyone was busy discussing their roles, Antonio approached me, speaking quietly.
“Francesca,” he said, looking nervous. “I think I need to get back to Chicago.”
“What?” I gasped. “Why? Tony, you just got here.”
“I know, and I’ll be back, sis. But I want to help, and I can’t do it from here. I have contacts in Chicago, people I can talk to, ways I can protect you that I can’t do hiding out in your guest room.”
“You’re not hiding, Antonio. And we don’t mind having you.” I looked to Enzo, who was watching our exchange, but he didn’t contradict me.
“I know, and I appreciate it,” Antonio said, a sad smile on his face. “But I need to take care of some things, make sure my interests in Chicago are being looked after, and...” he trailed off, looking suddenly uncomfortable.
“You have someone waiting for you,” I surmised. We hadn’t discussed hardly any of his personal life, Antonio being happy to tell me mostly of his years spent living with Darko and his uncle Goran.
“Yeah,” he said quietly, looking away. “I do.”
I couldn’t understand why he was so uncomfortable, but I knew better than to push. Antonio may have changed a lot in the years we were apart, but he was still the brother I knew better than myself. If I pressed, he’d shut down.
“Okay,” I said, reaching for him and pulling him into a tight hug. “But stay in touch, and you come back here as soon as you can, do you understand me?”
“You got it, Frankie,” Antonio said, causing Enzo to whip his head in my direction. I froze, my gaze landing on Enzo’s confused stare. He’d only heard Antonio call me Frankie once before, the morning he arrived in Las Vegas. At that time, Enzo hadn’t been paying much attention, but things were different now, and I could see the wheels turning, see that he was processing the new information. I had to tell him before he figured it out for himself.
It didn’t matter how good my intentions with my alter ego were. Nobody appreciated a liar.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Enzo
“You got it, Frankie.”
Antonio’s words rattled around in my head, stealing my attention from where it should have been, on my crew. They slithered inside, digging their way into the heart of me, planting doubt where there should have been none.
It could have been nothing.
Just a brother and sister sharing a nickname, one they’d probably been using since they could talk.
But it felt like something.
I watched her, her arms around her brother but her eyes on me, and I couldn’t help but see the small flare of panic when she realized I had heard him.
Yeah, it was definitely something.
I turned away as she led him to the bottom of the stairs, moving to the bar and flagging down Benny for another drink, which I downed in one swallow. I was waiting on my third when Rock stepped up beside me, a frown on his face.
“Something troubling you, Enzo?” he asked.
“You mean aside from the fact that my goddamn empire is being pecked at like roadkill?” I deadpanned, staring at him. I debated telling him, voicing my concerns about my wife and the secret I was starting to suspect she was hiding, but I clenched my teeth and looked away instead. “Nope. Not a fuckin’ thing.”
