Page 15 of Vincenzo (The DiMaggio Crime Family #3)

AMALIA

W hile pouring myself a cup of coffee, Carlos walks into the kitchen, giving me a tense smile, and says, “Morning.”

Nodding, I say, “Morning … Want one?”

“Please.”

I pour the steaming liquid into a cup and pass him the creamer and sugar. After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, Carlos says, “So… about last night.”

I shake my head and let out a sigh. “Look, I really need to apologize. I know it’s not fair how I treated you, it’s just?—”

“It’s okay, Amalia. I get it.”

I wrap my hands around my warm porcelain mug.

“You’ve made the terms of this… relationship pretty clear. I just…”

I wait to see if he’s going to finish that sentence, but all he does is give me a shrug.

“I’m sorry, Carlos. This is going to sound cliché, but it’s me, not you. I’m not interested in any kind of relationship, and I shouldn’t have used you like that last night.”

Carlos chuckles, and the sound lifts some of the tension in the room. “Oh, you can use me like that anytime.”

I roll my eyes, shaking my head, and blow out a humorous breath.

“So,” he says, his tone getting more serious, “what are we going to do about the DiMaggios?”

Right. The DiMaggios. I have to come clean about Vincenzo knowing about the plan. There’s no way we can follow through with this now.

Instead of sleeping last night, I went through the entire suite—except Carlos’s room—and got rid of all the security cameras. So I’m able to have this conversation and move around freely without being watched by that asshole.

“We actually need to talk about that,” I say, my tone matching his.

Carlos raises a bushy brow from over the brim of his mug. “What’s going on?” he asks, setting it on the counter.

“We have a bit of a problem.”

He narrows his gaze on mine.

“The DiMaggios know about the plan to kidnap the wife and sister.”

Carlos doesn’t react, which surprises me. When shit’s about to hit the fan, he’s usually one to talk.

“How did they find out?” he asks.

“They had our suite bugged.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yup,” I say, popping the P.

He runs his hand through his hair, placing the other on his hip, and paces a few times before the explosion I expected moments ago finally catches up to him.

“What the fuck ?” he yells, then stops to face me again. “Amalia, how could this fucking happen? We scanned the room when we got here.”

“I know. They must have broken in sometime after that and planted them.”

He starts pacing again. “You know your uncle is going to kill us, right? This was supposed to be our plan to get what he wants.”

“You think I don’t know that? I’ve been trying to think of another plan, but at this point, the DiMaggios will never trust us.

” And honestly, I don’t blame them. Their original reasoning for not wanting to work with us is valid, and now they know we were planning on kidnapping their family members to use as leverage to get what we want? Yeah, I get why they hate us.

Carlos halts his movements and slowly turns to look at me as if something has just dawned on him.

“What?” I ask, raising a brow at him.

“If they know about our plan, why haven’t they come after us?”

I would also like an answer to that question, but something tells me that after last night, I already have it.

Vincenzo might’ve been an absolute fucking dickwad for breaking into my room, having me use my vibrator on myself, then fucking taking it and finishing on my chest without letting me get off, but I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the reason he hasn’t come after us.

Regardless, with the threats he’s given, it’s only a matter of time before the DiMaggios come after Carlos and me, and we aren’t equipped to take them on, just the two of us.

“No idea, but I think we need to fall back. Tell my uncle our plan has been made, and get the hell out of here.”

There’s no point in us staying here any longer. My uncle is going to be livid we failed him, but there’s no way around this now, and to be honest, I’d really like to get back to Miami and focus on the one thing I haven’t been able to get out of my mind the past few months.

“But haven’t you wondered who did it?”

Carlos lets out a sigh and scratches the back of his head. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I’ll call my uncle. Why don’t you start getting packed?

I’ll see if I can get us the jet, but if not, we’ll just fly commercial.

I think the sooner we get out of here, the better.

” I had zero interest in being in NYC to begin with, but now after everything that’s happened, I really want to get the hell out of here.

“I’ll call him,” Carlos sighs out. “You go get packed, and I’ll make the dreaded phone call.”

“It’s alright, Carlos. I’m the lead on this, plus, he’s my uncle.”

Carlos pauses for a second. “Are you sure?”

I raise a curious brow at him. “Of course I’m sure. Since when do I shy away from confrontation?”

“Come on, Amalia. I know how things can be with your uncle. I’m just trying to save you from having that conversation with him.”

“It’s fine, I got it. Thanks, though,” I say, sliding off the barstool.

Picking up my phone off the counter, I press my uncle’s name. By the time I get to the privacy of my room, he answers.

“Hola, mija, ?Cómo estás?” How are you?

“Hola, Tío,” I greet back. “I have some… unfortunate news about the mission.”

There’s silence on the other end, not even the sound of his steady breaths coming through. If I couldn’t see the call is still connected, I would think he hung up on me.

I’m about to speak again when he finally lets out a long breath and grinds out, “What is it?”

“The plan. The kidnapping plan Carlos told you about. They know.”

“ They know?” Silence takes over the phone once more, then my uncle says, “ Who knows, Amalia?”

The anger in his voice is clear through the phone. It makes me want to wither away, but this isn’t something I can avoid. I failed my uncle, and he’s not going to be happy about it. Dealing with the repercussions is part of life.

“The DiMaggios. They know our plan to kidnap the wife and sister.”

“And why the fuck do they know that, Amalia ?”

I clear my throat, the invisible frog making it nearly impossible to speak. “Our suite was bugged. They heard our conversation with you on the phone.”

My uncle lets out a long, low, frustrated sigh. “Have I taught you nothing ?” His voice is threatening. “You didn’t scan the room?”

“I did, but they must’ve installed sometime after that when we weren’t at the hotel.”

“And you didn’t think to continue periodically scanning?”

“I only scanned for the first week. I understand that was careless of me, but?—”

“ Careless is an understatement,” he snaps.

I remain quiet because I know I fucked up, and at this point, there’s nothing I can say that will temper the anger my uncle is feeling.

After letting out another long sigh, he says, “Here’s what you’re going to do.

You’re going to stay in that damn city until you come up with an alternate plan.

Hell, I don’t even fucking care if you continue with the kidnapping.

You will not come back to Miami until a deal has been made. Do you understand?”

“Tío, por favor ? —”

“?Entiendes?” he growls out. Do you understand?

I drop my head in defeat and say, “Sí.”

Hanging up my phone, I fall back onto my bed. I have no idea what I’m going to do. There’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to make a deal with the DiMaggios. And after what happened last night between Vincenzo and me? Fucking hell. What am I going to do now?