The Italian

His hand spreads over my stomach and we both stare down at it.

A baby. Our baby.

So, so precious.

Jennifer

I put the earpiece into my ear and stare at the computer screen in front of me. “Are we on?” I ask.

The screen rolls and then flips open. I can see the six people on the other end of the conference call. The Carabinieri—the ones who assigned me to this mission—is made up of five men and one woman. They are the team who are determined to bring the Ferrara reign over Italy to an end.

“Hello, Jessica,” Alexander says.

It’s nice to be addressed by my real name for a change. I’ve never worked undercover before. It’s felt weird being called Jennifer all the time.

“Hello.” I smile. We have these phone conferences every two to three days. Today I’m excited. I have new information.

“How’s everything going?” Smithson asks.

“Great. I’ve made some progress since we last spoke.”

“How so?”

“Enrico and Olivia just became engaged. I pretended that I’m an event planner, which led to Olivia asking me to help her with the engagement party.”

“That’s fantastic.” Alexander smiles. “Great work. We need to plant bugs throughout the house as soon as possible. Did you manage to plant one in Olivia’s handbag yet?”

“No, unfortunately I haven’t been left alone with it long enough. Her friend Natalie was at the table when we had a coffee. It’s ready and waiting, though, so as soon as I get her alone, I’ll activate it. I’ve started wearing a body wire in case she slips up in general conversation. She knows everything. She’s no dummy.”

“Good, more than ever we need intel. We are so close to bringing him down—closer than ever before.”

“Has something new happened?”

“Yes.” They flick up the screen in front of them and a series of images. “Have you seen this man before?”

I study the images of two men having coffee in what looks like a café. “One looks familiar. The one with the lighter hair.”

“Yes, you would have seen him at times with Olivia. His name is Sergio Morelli. In the past, he’s been the kingpin in the narcotics arm of Ferrara. Ten years ago, he started out as the hitman for Stephano, but his business brain soon got him a promotion. He ran the Sicily and Roma cocaine circuit for years. We haven’t had any new intel on the drug situation for over eighteen months—not since Enrico took over. Not until this week.”

I keep looking over the images as I listen to their story. “What happened?”

“See this man he is having coffee with?”

I look at the images of an older man in a suit. Distinguished, he doesn’t appear to be Italian. “Yes.”

“This is Adolfo Rodriguez.”

My mouth falls open in surprise. “The Adolfo Rodriguez?” I gasp.

Alexander smiles smugly. “Yes, and you know what this means?”

Adolfo Rodriguez is the biggest cocaine supplier in the world. “Holy shit,” I whisper.

“Up until now, Adolfo has been untouchable. Nobody has seen him in public for years. It’s no coincidence that he’s in Milan now.”

Nerves swirl in my stomach. This case just became super important. I can’t fuck this up. “You think Ferrara is going back into drugs?” I ask.

“Sergio and Adolfo had this meeting, and three days later a large shipment of something arrived by water, which was unloaded directly onto Enrico Ferrara’s yacht in Monte Carlo.”