Cold Paradise (Stone Barrington 7)

“I’m going to sic the Italian-American Defamation League onto your ass,” Dino said.

“Didn’t the people who ran that fine organization all get gunned down while eating clams?”

“Only some of them. Are we trolling for Paul Manning, too?”

“No, I think Mr. Manning has retired from the field.”

“And what makes you think that?”

“I explained to him that I knew about his little bank escapades, and that I could very easily cause the FBI to know about them, too, if he should annoy me.”

“And you think that will get rid of him.”

“I do.”

“I expect it pissed him off, too.”

“Oh, yes, I took some pleasure in pissing him off.”

“Stone, you don’t want to piss off crazy people with homicidal tendencies.”

“I think he’s smart enough to stay out of my way, now.”

“Smart doesn’t enter into it,” Dino said. “Revenge has a way of doing away with smart.”

Stone stopped and looked into a jewelry shop window. “See if you can spot Guido and his friends.”

Dino didn’t even turn around. “You mean the three goombahs in the red Cadillac, parked across the street?”

Stone sighed. “Tell me you’re just saying that to annoy me.”

“I’m just saying that to annoy you,” Dino said. “They’re really parked about fifty feet up the street.”

“I told him to stay well away from me,” Stone said.

“Goombahs like Guido don’t listen, unless it involves an illegal profit, or the fun of shooting somebody in the head.”

“I don’t understand why Eduardo would send people like that to do this.”

“Who else is he going to trust?” Dino asked. “They’re his people. He’s not going to ask his fellow board members at the Metropolitan Opera to come to Palm Beach and bring his crazy daughter home.”

Stone started to walk again. “Once again, you have a point, but couldn’t he have hired some private security people? Somebody with a little more discretion?”

“Then strangers would know his business,” Dino said, “and Eduardo doesn’t want anybody outside the family to know his business. To tell you the truth, I’m a little surprised he hasn’t had you capped. After all, you’re not exactly family, although you almost were.”

“I guess I dodged that bullet,” Stone said.

“Not yet, pal,” Dino replied. “But at least you’re not bound to them by a Catholic marriage and family obligations.”

“I still feel obligated to Dolce.”

“Eduardo doesn’t feel you have any obl

igation to her, so why do you?”

“He has been very apologetic about this,” Stone said.

“You’re lucky he’s Italian,” Dino said. “If you’d been through the same experience with the daughter of some high Episcopalian, the old man would be out there ruining your reputation, even as we speak. He wouldn’t have you shot, but you’d never get invited to dinner again by anybody with an Anglo-Saxon name, and you’d be kicked out of your clubs—if you belonged to any clubs.”