Beautiful Seduction

“As I said, I know you. Try not to get yourself into any trouble while you’re here. I’d hate to skulk into whatever precinct in the middle of the night trying to make certain Mom and Dad don’t find out about an indiscretion.”

I punched him playfully in the stomach. “You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you? I was fifteen.”

“Not a chance in hell and you were old enough to know better. Come on. It’s a party.”

I hung back, chewing on my inner lip. Why did I have the feeling I wasn’t done with having Valentin interrupting my life?

Even more important: why didn’t that bother me?

* * *

Valentin

“We need to talk, Valentin,” Brando said as he closed the door to my office. I could tell by the concerned look on his face that whatever he’d discovered about Cassidy would disturb me. In his hand was an iPad, which meant he’d found a photograph of some kind.

“What is it?” A part of me didn’t want to learn the truth about her, although it was necessary. I’d enjoyed pretending to be someone else if only for a short while.

“Just look.” After a few seconds, he turned the iPad in my direction.

The lovely face staring back at me was Cassidy. She stood with a microphone in her hand, standing in front of a courthouse. The wind was lightly blowing her long strands of hair in her face, the bright sun casting a shimmer across her porcelain skin.

He turned the sound up, forcing me to face the obvious.

“While the Adamos family has held Chicago in the palm of their hand for years, strangling the economy with their vicious crimes, it would seem that today, justice might prevail.”

The voice was the same, her tone exactly as it had been the moment I’d walked out of the kitchen the night before.

Defiant.

Angry.

Confident.

He allowed the newscast to continue for another full minute before shutting it off. “Is that her?”

After casually giving it a quick glance, I sighed. Whatever he was going to tell me would only add to the difficult situation. “Yes. That’s Cassidy.”

“She’s one hot mama, Valentin.”

I bristled, snarling as I threw him a harsh look.

“What I mean is, she’s on the number three rated local news program in the entire United States. I checked her out extensively. There’s talk this chick will be sent to the networks in a matter of months. She’s gritty, doing a lot of her own investigative work. Somehow, she got close to the Poles. She even scored a goddamn interview with Lazor Adamos, which was used against him later. That takes balls. He lost a son and his second in command in a recent assassination, which might be the reason for the interview, but it still shocks me.”

Lazor Adamos. Casimine’s brother, who was reported to be more of a pig than Casimine. “Yes. It also places a target on her head.” I moved toward the window, absorbing the information.

“No shittin’ me. I’m surprised that woman isn’t dead by now. You know that can’t be a fucking coincidence that she ended up here while the fuckers are threatening us.”

“A possibility.”

“Come on, Valentin. She came to La Travitorria on purpose. You should do something about it.”

“You need to stay in your lane, Brando.”

I stood staring out at the New York skyline, trying to guess what the hell Casimine was up to, especially if Lazor was involved. At this point, I didn’t like what either of them was planning. There were rumblings that the Chicago Poles were attempting to merge their territory, but I’d heard that years before and it had proven to be false. While that should surprise me about Casimine and his penchant for control, the Don of the Chicago brood offered extensive power as well as connections. Together, they could be a force to be reckoned with.

And blood was definitely thicker than water.

“I’m sorry, okay. But you asked me to find out about her. There’s something else you need to know.”