Cautious (Sequel to Disastrous) (25 page)

“That’s around the time Vinnie became involved with the
Sorrentos.” Jimmie reminded Marcus.

“Yeah, I remember that,” I replied to my brother, then focused my
attention back on Vinnie. “So when you began working for Lou, that’s when you
started the investigation?”

Vinnie nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“But, Michael didn’t confront us with any information until about
a year ago.”

“Michael was working with us, trying to bring down any corrupt cops
working with the Sorrentos. He was involved with the case from the very
beginning, but we needed to get in deeper. What we had wasn’t enough. Granted,
it takes time to build a case against someone like Lou. I worked on a case
before this one in New York, which was a five-year investigation and still ongoing.”

Jimmie adjusted in his seat to face Vinnie and asked, “So why
were we involved?”

“Bait.” Vinnie shrugged. “We knew the two of you were the closest
to Lou. He trusted you guys with anything, well, until recently, that is. When
he requested information on Mia, we knew you guys were fucked. I was the one he
asked to collect info on her. I’ve had one of my men looking out for her ever
since.”

Ignoring that, I continued to question him. “Michael said he had evidence
and a confession from a source that Lou was the one who killed our father.” I
leaned into the table, placing both elbows along the wooden surface. “Are you
saying that was a lie to get us involved?”

Vinnie let out a heavy breath. “We needed something to lure you
guys in. We needed the two of you on our side and against Lou.”

“So you’re fuckin’ saying our father’s suicide wasn’t a set up?”
Jimmie asked to clarify.

Vinnie nodded in response.

What. The. Fuck.

Everything we’d believed the past year was all a fucking lie!

I tossed my head back as a roaring laugh escaped me. Tears began
to build from laughing so hard. Jimmie snapped his head at me with a wry
expression. Although none of it was funny, not even in the least shape or form,
I couldn’t stop laughing. It was fucking hilarious how we were led to believe
all of it. We were being played as fucking puppets either way. By Lou. By the
Feds. My laugh triggered confused looks from both of their faces, as tears
built from laughing so hard.

Then I thought of how my life had been turned upside down and
ripped apart for the past year: How I wanted to kill Lou with my bare fucking
hands because I thought he was responsible for my father’s death. How my
brother and Michael kept me out of the fucking loop for so long, because they
thought I couldn’t handle it—thought I would ruin it all. How I went on jobs
for that fucking bastard, Lou, wishing that if I didn’t live one more day, the
last thing I would hope for was to see Lou gasping for air as my hands were
wrapped tightly around his neck, squeezing the life out of him. How the stress
and pressure built day in and day out, not wanting the life anymore, not caring
to live. How for years I hated my father and then felt relieved that he didn’t
kill himself—that maybe, just fucking maybe, he wasn’t a fucking coward—but NOW
that was stripped away from me.

“Get out!”

Vinnie eyes widened at my raised voice. Maybe he didn’t hear me
the first time. Standing from my chair, I hovered over the desk, and with a
hard glare, I yelled, “Get the fuck out!”

“Marcus—

“No. Because of this cocksucker, we’ve been walking around on fuckin’
eggshells, wondering what to do next.” Straightening, I swung my arms in the
air. “We were getting fucked in the ass the entire time, by a fuckin’ pig at
that!”

“Marky, I’m sorry for how everything went down. I don’t mean any
disrespect to you or Jimmie, especially with you, Marky, not after what you’ve
done for me.”

I reluctantly placed my hands to my hips and tried to calm my
breathing as Jimmie asked, “What was that?”

Vinnie went on to answer Jimmie but kept his eyes on me. “He
saved my life. It was my first night on a job. We had a trade with a cartel
group. I made a mistake by turning my back on a bad trade. Marky warned me
before we went in to never turn your back on anyone. I was fuckin’ stupid and turned
to put the money in the truck, but he shot one of the men before they got me. I
remember a loud gun going off, and for a split second, I thought it was me,
that I was dead. Then when I came to my senses and turned, Marky was standing
behind me with a gun in his hand, and the douchebag he shot was on the fuckin’
ground beside me.” He shook the memory from his thoughts. “Anyway, what I’m
trying to say is that I owe my life to you. I can make it all go away for you
guys.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m the lead investigator in the Sorrento case. Due to cuts in
funding, I only have two men working under me. There wasn’t enough money for
wiretapping, so we have to figure out everything from word of mouth or video
surveillance, which isn’t much. At the end of the day, we write down
transcripts on a daily basis. You and Jimmie can easily be erased from those
memos.”

“But . . .” Jimmie chimed in, knowing that there was a catch.

Vinnie leaned into the desk, adjusting his position so that he could
take a good hard look at the both of us. “In two weeks, Lou himself will have
his largest trade yet—one hundred pounds of cocaine worth five million
dollars.”

Jimmie whistled. “With whom?”

“Salvatore Lombardi.”

That was fucking huge.
Salvi
was the boss of one of the largest
mob organizations in New York. He had been around a lot longer than Lou, knew
all the ins and outs of the trade, but they’d remained friendly rivals. The two
of them together caught by federal agents would be the largest mob bust in
history.

“Do you know what this would mean if we had both Lou and Salvi?”

“Yeah, a fuckin’ death wish.” I spat as I sank back in my chair.

“Not without help from the two of you.”

Jimmie raised a brow at that comment. “And how do you propose we
help?”

Vinnie stood and walked around his chair, gripping the back of
the seat. “There’s surveillance all over the club except for the basement,
which is where the trade will occur. We need surveillance in every corner of
that area. No blind spots.”

“We can do that.” Jimmie said with a shrug.

“But I’m sure that’s not all you need from us.” I added with a
raised brow.

Vinnie nodded. “With the low funding, I don’t have the pull or
power for back up. I only have two men on my team: One is looking after Mia. The
other just provides info when needed. The team that’s working on the Lombardi
case in New York is going to handle this bust with us.”

“But?”

“We need someone to make sure it happens, someone to let us know
their every move: what time they arrive, when both Lou and Salvi are spotted
together, and the time of the exchange.”

“You do understand that Lou doesn’t trust us now, right?” I
leaned back in the chair, placing both of my hands on the back of my head. “How
do you expect us to retrieve that info? We didn’t even know about the Lombardi
trade.”

“Lou hasn’t trusted you in months, Marky. Ever since he was
suspicious of you and found out the info on Mia, he’s been watching you. I’ve
been watching
you
for him. We had a meeting a few days back. He took you
out as second in command and gave it to Gio, so you know what that means.”

I absolutely did. It meant that, if for some reason Lou was
killed, the second in command would take over. I was supposed to be the one
that would take Lou’s position if there was ever a hit on him. I never wanted
it to begin with, and it didn’t surprise me that Gio took over my position.

“Okay, so the question remains: how do you expect us to retrieve
that information? Do you really think he’ll let us near the job at this point?
No, he won’t. His trust in me is shot to hell.”

“I just need you to be at the club on the day of the exchange. I
don’t know for sure what your involvement would entail, but that Sunday morning,
we can meet up, probably here, go over all the details with my men, and then
move on from there. You have my word. If you two do this for me, you will not
be mentioned at all.”

Jimmie shook his head in disbelief. “But the bust will take place
at the club that Marcus owns. With all the media attention that has occurred in
the past couple of years increasing people’s suspicions about our involvement
with the Sorrentos, how would you pull that off?”

“Well, I’ve thought of that. Every month there’s inventory done at
the club?” He raised a brow in question. I nodded in response. “Well, the two
of you will be at the club for inventory that week.”

“What about the media?” Jimmie questioned.

“We’ll take care of them. Granted, no matter what, the media will
have their own take on things. Reporters may mention your names, no doubt about
it, but if we play it right, we can pull it off.”

We sat there for a few moments silently, taking in that bit of
information that had been provided. Jimmie turned his head and looked at me
with a raised brow. Even though he didn’t speak, I knew he was waiting for my
take on it. After another few minutes, I nodded my head at him.

He looked at Vinnie and with a shrug said, “Okay, we’re in.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

MIA

Two weeks. That’s how long it’d been since I’d seen
Marcus. He had texted me a few times, but his messages were short. I wasn’t
bothered by it as much as I thought I’d be, because I knew he was busy with
work and I was distracted with school. I aced my last exam, which was a huge
stress reliever. My next exam wasn’t for another couple of weeks, and then the final
was in December. I was certain that if I continued the way I was going, I’d
pass the class.

Because I had busted my butt for the past few weeks, I had decided
to take Saturday off. I had texted Marcus to see if he wanted to go out to
dinner or stay in or just spend some time together, but he was busy that night,
which turned into a night of wearing PJ’s, eating junk food, and watching old
movies. That was until Megan barged out of Jeremy’s room.

I jumped at the sound of her slamming his bedroom door behind
her. “I can’t stand him!” She rushed over and slumped beside me on the couch.
With a wrinkled nose, she crossed her arms and huffed.

Before I could ask what happened, Jeremy stormed out of his room
and came over to us. “Seriously, Megan? You won’t even let me explain anything
. . .”

“I’m not speaking to Jeremy at the moment, Mia. Can you please
let him know that?” She asked me as she turned her head, looking away from
Jeremy.

When my eyes glanced up to Jeremy, he’d rolled his eyes in
frustration. “So we’re five now? Awesome.”

“Shut up, Jeremy!” She angrily wiggled in her seat but kept her
glare toward the wall beside her.

Jeremy shot me a look that said, “Can you help me out here?”
Since I had no idea what the hell was going on, I shrugged my shoulders in
response.

He let out a heavy sigh and tossed his arms in the air. “Fine,
act that way, Megan. I’m out!” He turned his back on us, marched toward the
door, and grabbed his keys by the table before slamming the door shut behind
him.

Megan sucked her teeth. “Can you believe him? Ugh.”

Still alarmed by the entire show, I asked, “What happened?”

“It’s a long story. Let’s go out.” She jumped from the couch and
reached for my arm. “We’ll find something hot to wear and hit Club21.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Megan I was sort of content with just
chillaxing at home.”

“Come on, Mia. Please.” She pleaded with her big hazel eyes. “I
can’t stay here, and I need to let out some frustration. Drinks and the dance
floor will do the trick, but I need my best girl there.
Please
.” She
begged again.

Why I allowed her to influence me in any way was beyond me. Her
lips curled into a slight grin, after my nod. “Can I borrow an outfit?”

I rolled my eyes and nodded again. I knew that was coming too.

***

“I’ll have a cosmo, please. Thank you.” The bartender
nodded before heading toward the end of the bar to prepare my drink.

Letting out a deep breath, I sank my chin into my hand. I knew
tonight was supposed to be a fun girls’ night, but Megan refused to mention
what happened between her and Jeremy. It was just the two of us, and I hate to
dance, so as Megan demolished the dance floor, I sat by the bar and tried to
drink away my boredom.

“Can I buy you a drink?” A deep tone pierced through my thoughts.
Turning my head, I was presented with a familiar face. At first, the name
didn’t dawn on me.

“Gio, right?”

“The one and only.” He gave a charming half grin.

“Well, it’s nice to see you again. How are you?”

“I’m doing a lot better now.” He said in a seductive way and then
winked at me.

I felt my cheeks turn a burning red. The bartender brought my
drink right on time, allowing me to hide the embarrassment with a few sips of
my cosmo. I’d only met him once when he stopped by Marcus’s house, but there
was something about him that was pleasant. I didn’t feel uncomfortable around
him. Maybe it was his upbeat persona. Yes, he was a very good-looking man, but
I was madly in love with Marcus. Gio didn’t compare to Marcus, not in the
least. No man could ever win my heart except for Marcus, but I wondered if he
still felt the same about me. It was hard not to think that way because he had been
so distant lately.

Gio straightened up and ordered a beer before speaking. “So
where’s your man?”

“I have no clue.” Though, I wish did. “I’m here with my cousin,
who’s out there on the dance floor, sweating off some frustration.” He looked
over to where I pointed at Megan. She was shaking her hips, swinging her arms,
and grooving to “Locked Out Of Heaven” by Bruno Mars. She was also pushing away
every man that had tried to dance with her. Megan was beyond angry and needed
to let loose. After a few shots, she was doing just that.