“Yup, it’s Kane.”
“Greg, I’m at a dress shop and—”
“I got your text. Sorry I couldn’t run to the rescue.” He actually was sorry. He would have loved to be her knight in shining armor. And to see her in another dress. She made everything look good.
“Yeah, well it wasn’t too bad. Some of the dresses were a little interesting, but I made it through. I might not look too bad for this little shindig.”
“Shindig?”
“Yes, Mrs. Demarco is throwing a party.”
“Perfect. While others are distracted you can search the house.”
“I thought of that. I can also listen in on conversations. I’m sure a lot of Tony’s associates will be in attendance.”
“Sounds like you have a plan. So why are you calling exactly? You run the risk of getting caught by calling me.” He wanted to hear her voice. It was the highlight of his day, but blowing her cover could be extremely dangerous.
“I-I’m starting to like Joey, I mean the family, they’re growing on me. And I want to tell them the truth.”
He’d been sitting on the corner of the desk. With her words he rose to his feet and almost fell over a chair.
“What?”
“You heard me. I think I’m getting nowhere. Sure, I can search the house. And I can listen, which I probably will even if they know the truth. But if they knew that I wanted to help find their father maybe they would help us find him too. Isn’t the ultimate goal just to find Tony and get him to work for us?”
“Yeah, but—”
“I don’t normally think that giving myself away is a good idea, but in this case, I do.”
He paused. She didn’t say anything. She was obviously waiting for him to agree with her.
“Do what you feel you need to.”
“Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Sure.”
The phone line went dead. He took a seat behind the desk and looked up at the ceiling. He should have told her that Tony was already working for them and that was why they were so worried when he went missing.
They absolutely didn’t want him to stop yet. He was providing amazing intel, but Tony had wanted out. And he wanted to it to look like he went to the partners and asked permission so they would be no indication that he’d worked for law enforcement. Proof of doing that could put his family at great risk, and Tony was all about family.
Greg should have told Ericka. She would have understood why secrecy was important. Maybe.
He picked up a stack of papers and moved them to a new place on his desk.
The party.
He needed to know more about the people attending.
He exited the office. “Quinn!”
“Yes, boss?”
“Get to your computer. We have work to do.”
****
Greg hadn’t been happy about her desire to be forthcoming with the Demarco family. He’d gone silent when she mentioned her conflicting emotions and feelings for Joey and the rest of the family.
Part of her hoped it was jealousy, part didn’t care.
She’d waited on Greg for years. She’d hinted, flirted, even asked him out, but he didn’t seem interested. It was time to move on.
Maybe she’d found someone to do that with.
She looked at Joey as he expertly weaved in and out of afternoon traffic.
If she was driving a vehicle this expensive, she would be sweating bullets, but he seemed calm and relaxed.
“What are you thinking?”
He’d caught her staring. What a great start to expressing her interest.
“Um, that I just wanted to thank you for the dress and shoes. You didn’t have to do that.”
“It was my pleasure.” He squeezed her hand that rested on her leg.
Warmth shot up her leg to her belly. His touch did the oddest things to her. She started to tell him about her feelings, about her job. She should just tell him. But now fear stopped her. Not fear of hurting him, but fear of his anger. He wouldn’t be happy when he found out that she’d lied. How could he be happy about that?
A sad smile tilted her lips. Truthfully, she wanted to enjoy the family one more afternoon before she was branded a liar and a fraud.
The car entered the gate and stopped in front of the house. Joey jumped out and came to her door. She exited and stood before him. She rested her back against the car and he leaned toward her.
His voice deepened. “I had a good time today.”
“Me…too.” Probably too good.
His head dipped toward her. She braced herself for the feel of his warm lips.
“Joey, Frankie’s looking for you.”
Joey leaned up, threw his hand in the air, and muttered something under his breath.
Louder he added, “Coming.”
“Thwarted again.” She giggled.
“So it would seem.” He placed his hand on the car hood beside her. “You do want me to kiss you, right?”
She looked skyward. “More than I care to admit.”
He moved his knuckle across her cheek. “Then don’t forget that. Our moment will come.”
She nodded.
He turned on his heel and entered the house. She waited until he was gone before grabbing her bags and going in herself.
Figuring out her feelings before it was too late was becoming a priority. Maybe agreeing to work undercover with hot, flirty guys should be a no go for her from now on.
****
Frankie sat at Papa’s desk. He’d laid his hands on the padded mat and was stroking the leather when Joey entered.
Joey stopped before reaching the middle of the room. “I was in the middle of something.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
Frankie’s tone held irritation. Was he jealous?
He stood and looked out the window behind him. “I don’t trust that girl. You and Mamma are giving her the keys to the castle, and all we know is that she was a nurse who decided to do private care.”
“You’re too suspicious.”
“You’re not suspicious enough.”
Joey was getting upset. “Look, Frankie, nothing is going on. I took her to get a gown for Mamma’s soiree as she calls it. Sofia was here so—”
“Ah, yes, Sofia. Gold digger.” Frankie turned and spit.
Joey never understood Frankie’s dislike for their half-sister. She was barely around. How could she be digging for gold, as he so often put it.
“You didn’t call me in here for this, did you? I have better things to do.”
“I called you in here because we have information on Papa.”
“You do?” Joey’s heart rate increased. This he did want to hear.
“The Rosa Cartel took him on his way to Jersey. They’re going to kill him for trying to step out on them. I told you that a family can never leave once it enters the business.”
Joey’s heart pumped harder, and he could barely hear over it. He fisted his hands to his sides. “Who cares about that? How are we going to help him? We can’t leave him with them.”
“I’ve sent men to try to get him back, but the place we traced him to was empty. Now we’re pursuing other leads.”
Joey nodded. What was there to say? This was his fault. He’d been the one to try to pursue a different kind of life. He’d been the one to convenience their father to try and do the same. The possibility that they wouldn’t have to look over their shoulders for eternity had been too tempting. Now Papa was paying for it.
Joey would pursue his own leads, but they had to be careful or the Cartel would take out their Papa before they could find him. He’d seen their handiwork; it wasn’t pretty.
****
Ericka walked past the study. She caught the entire conversation between Joey and Frankie. She was going to tell Joey the truth and that the department was close to finding his father. At least she hoped that was the case.
They had been on the trail of the Cartel since the hospital bombing fiasco. They should have a lead by now.
Then maybe if they pulled their resources, Tony would be found.
The phone in the hallway rang, and Ericka hurried to get away before someone answered and saw her listening at the study door.
A woman picked up the phone. “Yes, I’m here.”
Pause.
“No, they seem oblivious. I figured.”
Pause.
“I’ll contact you when I know more.” She replaced the phone in the cradle.
Ericka hurried into the living area.
“Back already?”
The sound of Mary’s voice made her jump. She grabbed her chest.
“Oh, dear, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I’m fine. Just a little jumpy today, I guess. How was your day?” Ericka took a seat on the sofa close to Mary and placed her hands in her lap to stop them from shaking.
“Oh, it was wonderful. Sofia, Sofia, come here darling.”
The lady who had answered the phone came to Mary’s side. “This is my oldest child, Sofia. Sofia, this is Ericka Stone. She saved my life.”
Sofia’s lip twitched upward as she held out her hand. “I’m glad you did.”
“Join us. We were about to have tea.”
Mary’s offer was sweet, but Ericka needed to get away from Sofia and call or text Greg. Sadly, Ericka thought she knew who was in charge of the kidnapping of Big Tony and it wasn’t solely the Rosa Cartel.
She had a horrible feeling that Sofia Melina was heavily involved. This wasn’t going to end well.