Page 83 of The Temptation

“You got one of them?”

“Two, actually.”

“Fuck,” I mutter as my pulse kicks up. “Did anything come of it?”

“Give me a second. I’ll call you back on a burner phone.”

When the line goes dead, I start pacing back and forth across the yard, my mind spinning. My brain’s gone into overdrive, running through every possibility, every worst-case scenario, but not for the reasons you may think.

Since I became the underboss of theFamiglia, I’ve been a part of every move Dante’s made. Every decision, every deal, every threat that needed to be neutralised. I’m not used to being left in the dark, and I don’t like how it feels. Not one bit.

Is there a reason I’m only finding out about this now? Does he no longer trust me after I took Lucia out of the house without his permission? Or am I reading too much into this?

I’m pulled from my thoughts when my phone starts to ring. “Hey,” I say after accepting the call and bringing it to my ear. “So, what’s going on?”

“One of them wouldn’t budge; he was a tough motherfucker. Nothing we did could break him. When I finally gave up and ended him, the second guy sang like a canary … after a little prodding, of course.”

“Can I ask why I’m only hearing about this now? Why I wasn’t involved in the planning?”

I hear him sigh on the other end of the line. “We discussed calling the number on the flyer.”

“Yeah, I know, but that was the last I heard of it.”

“I didn’t leave you out intentionally. We made the call, and it all snowballed from there. It’s not like you could’ve come. You have a far more important job to do right there. Themostimportant job. You’re the only man I completely trust to keep my wife’s sister out of harm’s way.”

I let his words settle in, and I can’t decide if I should be grateful or furious. There’s a tightness in my chest I can’t explain, part pride, part resentment, part something I don’t want to name.

“What info did you get? Are we any closer to catching Salvatori?”

“Not exactly, but at least we’ve got something to go on now. Those fuckers have eluded us at every turn.”

“I know,” I growl in reply.

“We lured them to one of the other safe houses, on the pretence that we had information on Lucia’s whereabouts. When they got there, we ambushed them. It’s a shame he sent two of his guys to do his dirty work instead of coming himself. But I expected as much.”

“If I ever get my hands on that?—”

“I know,” he cuts in, his voice low but steady. “I’ll be right there beside you.” A brief silence follows before he continues. “The one that cracked didn’t know everything, but he gave us a few solid leads. Salvatori’s been moving smart, no phones, no digital footprint, nothing traceable. But he mentioned the jet they used to fly into the country. It landed at a private airstrip just outside West Wyalong. About 155 kays from here.”

I stiffen, knuckles whitening around the phone. “No wonder we’ve found nothing yet. We’ve been concentrating locally.”

“Yeah. Salvatori’s got a contact at the airstrip, some low-profile piece of shit who works there. Couldn’t get a name,but he’s dirty. The kind of guy who doesn’t ask questions as long as he’s getting paid. The place is owned and run through the Bland Shire Council, so it could be anyone. Ground crew, logistics, maybe even someone in admin.”

“And Lucia?”

“If they get her—which they won’t—they plan to use the same route to smuggle her out. No customs. No paper trail. There’s talk about moving her onto a container ship out of Port Kembla and shipping her straight back to Sicily.”

My jaw tightens. “They need to get their filthy fucking hands on her first.”

“Exactly.” His voice hardens. “That’s where we still have the advantage. Right now, they’re operating blind. They know we have her stashed somewhere. That buys us time.”

“Any talk about their location?”

“Yeah, they’re staying somewhere near the airstrip. Somewhere Isolated. A short-term rental under a fake name. I sent a few guys down there early this morning to scout it out.”

“And the vehicle?”

“We traced the Hilux they turned up in. It was reported stolen from Forbes about a week ago. The only thing we found inside it was a folded slip of paper tucked under the passenger seat.”