Page 23 of The Italian Reckoning (A New York Criminal Empire #3)

ROCKY

“ T hank you.” Sarah hesitates for a moment, then she accepts the phone and stands. “This is…?”

“Untraceable,” I clarify. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want to call it in anonymously or if there is someone specific you need to talk to given you’ve known about the second body for two days.”

“Good thinking.” Sarah taps the phone lightly against her palm, then her lips curl into a soft smile when she glances at me and steps through to the other room.

I guess I’m not privy to whatever happens next. Probably for the best. Cops always seems to know when I’m around and up to no good.

With a plateful of breakfast spread out before me, my hunger fades as my own phone vibrates for the umpteenth time since I woke up.

My father has been blowing up my phone all night with demands for my location, who I’m with, and where I get off thinking I can murder his own men without consequences.

I knew he’d work it out but I’d been hoping it would take him a little longer.

If he were a more reasonable man, I’d try to explain to him about why Sarah is important to me, but after last night, I’m not sure I can give him an honest answer.

I can’t even be honest with myself. Leaving the table, I head out onto the balcony and breathe in the warm morning air while dialing Cormac’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I wanted to give you a heads up. Sarah’s making the call.”

“I’ll get my people out of there.”

“Thanks. Did you find anything more?”

“Sadly, no.” Cormac sighs deeply. “I spent all night tracing the parcels Sarah got but they were shipped from bumfuck nowhere. So either the killer is going out of his way to throw us off the scent or he’s a lot smarter than we’re giving him credit for.”

“If he kills again, she’ll never forgive herself.”

“You really care about her, don’t you?”

Glancing over my shoulder to ensure Sarah is still absent, I nod. “Is that bad?”

“She’s a cop.”

“I know.”

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Look at me and Evelyn. Never would have thought the love of my life would come from where she did, but that’s how it works, isn’t it? It’s always the ones we least suspect.”

“Hey, now.” ,I chuckle. “I didn’t say anything about love.”

“No, but I know you Rocky. This is the most time you’ve spent on anything. Ever. Especially when you’re getting nothing out of it.”

“Whatever.”

“Mmhmm. Keep me updated.”

“Will do.” The call ends with another message from my father typed out in all capitals, expressing his hatred at my lack of responsibility to the family.

Blood should come first, and then the people we pay to keep safe.

Putting a cop ahead of the family is the ultimate betrayal, and he’s running out of patience to set me back on the right path.

It’s not worth texting him back because half way through reading that text, I get a message from Gio.

His is much warmer and typed out much like a formal letter.

He thanks me for being the leader the family deserves and not forgetting about him and for doing everything I can to try and find Belle’s killer.

He also thanks me for the groceries I sent and explains he’s away to spend time with his wife while he waits for me to call.

I wish I could call with good news.

I wish I had that fucker under my boot to make sure he doesn’t harm anyone else ever again. I can’t imagine what Sarah went through or how she lives carrying the guilt she does, so if I can help her catch this fucker and put that pain to rest, my debt will feel clear.

If that were the only reason for sticking around her, my problems would clear up easily.

Since the second body will hit the news not long after the cops arrive, I fill Gio in on the second body but assure him that we have a lead. He replies with a thumbs up, which makes me smile.

At least he’s not mad.

Wandering back into the penthouse, Sarah’s raised voice immediately turns my blood to ice.

“—gonna let you get away with it again! Not this time!”

“Sarah?” I rush through to the other room.

Sarah stands at the far end with tears in her eyes and one hand buried deep in her hair. She’s bent at an angle while she paces back and forth, visibly distressed by whoever is on the other end of the call.

Is her boss giving her shit? Given how much pushback she received when mentioning The Painter, it doesn’t surprise me that a second body might not be enough to reopen the investigation, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t at least look into it.

“Sarah?” I try again with a low voice, but she turns her back on me and walks away.

“No, you listen here, you twisted piece of shit?—”

Wow. Bold way to talk to your captain. Hold on…

Something doesn’t sit right in my gut. It takes me a few seconds to pull the call up on my own phone and the connected number flashes on the screen, sending my stomach into the pit of my ass.

Having a security system that all connects to one device has its perks, but when it shows that Sarah isn’t on the phone to her captain, I freeze.

The number that flashes up is the number that was scrawled under her name on the napkin found at the crime scene.

“Sarah!” I fly across the room and crash into her, sending us both into the wall, but Sarah barely even seems to notice.

“You think because you got away once that you’re fucking untouchable,” she yells down at the phone even as I get my hand around the device and start wrestling it from her.

“Sarah, give me the phone!”

“No! He needs to know I’m going to get him! He needs to—Rocky, stop!”

“Sarah!” I clamp one arm around her waist and lift her from the floor, trying to separate her from the phone with the length of my body, but she turns into the strongest creature on earth with how tightly she clings to the device.

It takes all my strength to rip the phone out of her claw-like hands and even then, she fights the air and kicks against me to get it back.

‘ And the next time we meet, I won’t be so kind ,” rasps an electronic voice when I place the phone to my ear.

“Listen here, you fuck?—”

The line goes dead and I relax my hold on Sarah. She immediately elbows me in the gut and rips herself out of my arms, then snatches the phone back and presses it to her ear. When she realizes the call has ended, she hits redial but the line rings out.

I wheeze, doubled over from the elbow, and wince, narrowly avoiding her flailing hand. “What the fuck was that?”

“Me?” Straightening up is painful, but I do it with a wince. “Sarah, what the fuck?”

“I had him! I had him where I wanted him!” Her cheeks are flushed red, tears cling to her lashes, and despite the crimson on her face, the rest of her is as pale as a ghost.

“No, Sarah. He had you where he wanted you. I thought you were calling your department?”

“I was going to but I… They won’t listen to me. Not really. I know they won’t. And I wanted to know why he was back. After all this time, why did he come back? Why didn’t he take the quiet life and just completely disappear? Why risk getting arrested when he had gotten away with everything?”

“That’s insane!”

She drags both hands through her hair and begins pacing away from me. “You don’t understand, okay? He’s not just… He’s?—”

Whatever else she has to say dies in a squeal of fright when the doors to the penthouse are kicked open with alarming force. Both doors swing inward and crash against their respective walls, bounce, and then they would close if not for the armed guards that storm inside.

“Sarah!” I rush for her just as the guards part and another figure stalks inside on his cane with his eyes dark with fury. “Dad!”