Page 507 of One More Kiss

I also knew who she met when she got there.

Lena Carpone, the daughter of the man that wanted to kill her father. The girls were best friends and had been for many years. From what I had uncovered, the girls met up regularly. While they were together, their parents wouldn’t interfere with their relationship. The girls were adamant that they would remain friends even with the war between their fathers.

We slowed down in traffic. A black four door sedan idling. I had no tags and the windows were tinted. My spine tingled. The moment that Leon’s car passed the vehicle, it pulled into traffic and followed behind him. Like me, the sedan kept back, but not enough. He was only three car lengths behind.

Had Leon had spotted that he was being tailed by this unknown driver?

I gripped the steering wheel so tight, my knuckles turned white as the train of cars continued toward the restaurant. The sedan still followed Leon. Whoever was behind the wheel was definitely up to something.

Leon pulled over two blocks from the restaurant. He stepped out of the car and walked with Avery to the restaurant. I parked a bit further down the block, but I was still able to see both Leon’s car and the sedan.

I exited my car and stayed close to the buildings, not wanting the sedan driver to see me, but wanting to keep the fucker in my line of sight at all times. He followed behind Leon and Avery, neither of whom were the least bit aware of their surroundings. Instead they were having an animated discussion. I quickened my pace as Avery entered the restaurant. The man following passed the restaurant but slowed down for a moment. I kept following him, but the crowd around us made it virtually impossible to keep him in my sight.

Then, I lost sight of him. He was gone.

Fuck.

I reached for my cell and called Vincenzo.

“Is my daughter okay?” he asked without a greeting. He already knew I’d followed her off the property. I’d learned he kept a close eye on everyone and everything. He had a state-of-the-art camera system he monitored from his office.

“Yes, she’s fine. The moment Leon hit the city, he was followed. There were no tags on the sedan, but the fucker was definitely following them. He stayed behind Leon’s car the entire journey and when Leon and Avery walked toward the restaurant, he was only a few feet behind.”

“Fuck. Tell me that you have him.”

I clenched my jaw. “No, Vin, I don’t. The fucker used the hordes of people on the street to put space between us and he managed to escape.”

“That’s a problem,” he snapped. “They’re getting closer, Paolo. Too fucking close. Coming after me is one thing, but if anything happens to my daughter, I will rage a war nobody will see coming. I don’t care how many people die or how much blood runs on the streets of New York. Find that bastard. I want him brought to me.”

Vincenzo would torture the man until he got the information he needed. There was no mistaking his words. I’d sworn to serve and protect, that I would do whatever I could to ensure that no one was hurt on my watch and yet here I was, being ordered by a crime boss to bring a man to him to torture.

“Yes, Vincenzo, I’ll find him.”

I should have called my handler. Undercover wasn’t easy, but I could always find ways around the asks. But I wanted the man to pay for following Avery. I had to make judgment call, and this was one of them.

The man could hurt her. The thought of anything happening to her made me want to find the bastard and put the bullet in him myself. She was innocent in all of this. Anyone who met her knew that. She was not her father. She didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire.

Vincenzo’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Good, no one, Paolo, terrorizes my daughter.”

“I agree,” I replied. “But you need to ensure that when she is alone with your men that they are aware of their surroundings. Leon didn’t notice the fucker trailing him.”

Vincenzo’s breathing deepened. “I’ll ensure that they understand what’ll happen if they don’t start taking this job seriously.”

I should be pissed that he was threatening more people, but I wasn’t. These men were tasked with protecting Avery and they were slacking on the job.

“I’ll call you if I have more.” I rattled off the last place I saw the man. “See if Marco can find out where he goes next.”

Vin had a hacker and could get me information quicker than my handler could. I tried to ask for the hacker’s name, but Vin kept that a secret. My handler would also ask questions I wasn’t ready to discuss.

“I’ll make the call, Paolo, and I want you to bring her home, not Leon. At least someone has their fucking head screwed on.” He ended the call, and I doubled back toward the restaurant. With each step, I watched the people around me seeing if I could catch a glimpse of the man who got a way, but I didn’t see him again.

I passed by the restaurant. Avery and Lena were seated by the window. I gritted my teeth. This woman needed to be taught safety procedures. She was a sitting duck. Not only could everyone see her as they walked past, but someone could be situated in one of the many skyscrapers around the restaurant. One bullet was all it would take. She wouldn’t stand a fucking chance. Avery and Lena were both high profile and it wasn’t a secret their fathers hated each other. Even a person who walked by could take this chance to kill them. Leon was perched across the street on his phone.

Avery narrowed her eyes at me. She was still pissed at the perceived slight.

Well, I was fucking pissed too. She didn’t take this threat seriously and by doing so, she put everyone’s lives in even more danger.

I jogged back to where the fucker had parked his vehicle It was gone. Fuck, he knew exactly what he was doing. He had either gotten whatever he had come for and left, or he’d caught me trailing him and decided to make a run for it.

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