Page 188 of Only Fools Rush

My eyes went wide. “Don Rossi?”

“I had considered it.” Obi’s words were careful.

“I changed my mind,” Ryuji grumbled. “I hate that guy now.”

Ciel rolled his eyes while Wynn crossed his arms over his chest. My chest went tight, but this was something Cas needed to get out into the air. We had to make sure things were clear between all of us.

Obi raised a hand. “He was the only other Don who did not clearly accept money or give money to your father. It was an option—another powerful man we might have been able to use. A thought, yet nothing more.”

I twisted the ring around on my finger and took a deep breath. Rossi was a wildcard. Before the six of us agreed to this, I could see why Obi would consider it—even if I did hate that he was trying to marry me off. “If I’m being objective, it was not a terrible idea.”

Obi leaned over the table. “The path we’ve chosen is far better.”

The corner of my mouth pulled up into a smile. Cas grabbed my hand. “So much better.”

Ciel stood and grabbed his empty plate, along with Wynn’s. “Glad we’re done with all that.”

“Me too,” Cas replied.

“Don Rossi can still be a powerful ally,” Obi said. “But not at the expense of our team.”

I nodded and stood to help Ciel with the rest of the dishes. “What else is on the agenda? Ciel? Any news on the info Fallon gave you?”

“I think I’ve finally been able to latch onto Max’s hacker,” Ciel announced, placing the dishes in the sink. He pulled his phone from his pocket and began tapping.

Ryuji whistled. “About time. That dude’s been fucking with us for far too long.”

“I think it’s a woman, actually,” he said as pulled up a picture of a woman with tanned skin and curly brown hair. The image was grainy, but she was walking across the street, arms tucked in her light jacket. “Lucia. Ever heard of her?”

Cas and I shared a glance before we both shook our heads. I didn’t recognize her, nor did I recognize the street she walked across. “Is this from a security camera? Where?”

Ciel nodded. “Naples, Italy. From a week ago.”

“Naples?” Wynn asked.

“Using the IP addresses Fallon and Finn gave me, I was able to trace a location back to an apartment building in Naples. It pinged all over the world before I got something useful. The owner of the apartment was this woman, but under a different name—probably a fake name. I got a picture of her passport and travel documents. This was the last image I could capture of her before she disappeared, but I traced the fake name she used and there was one passenger with that name on a transatlantic flight to New York a few days ago. I think she’s in the City now.”

The five of us stared at him with surprise.

“What?” he asked.

Ryuji cleared his throat. “Impressive, little brother.”

“Fuck off.” Ciel rolled his eyes before he turned to me. “Do you remember the night we first met?”

“When you were trapped in the burning building?” I said, looking at Wynn. He’d taken me with him to answer Ciel’s call for help, but we’d also left Cas behind. It was the same night Max had captured him.

Ciel nodded. “When I saw Max that night, he’d spoken to a person on the phone and asked them to find you. ‘Lucia’ he’d called them after they told him that you were with the Irish. It only all clicked together once I got Fallon’s leads.”

“Lucia,” I murmured. A hacker from Naples. He must have met her there on one of his many trips. “He’s been working with her for a while, then.”

“I’ve never heard of her, though.” Ciel sighed, staring at her picture. “It’s not like I know every hacker in the world, but I’d be familiar with her name.”

“Max never mentioned her either,” Cas added.

Obi considered for a moment before saying, “I know who she is.”

“You do?” Ciel asked as he straightened. “Who?”