Shadow Storm (Shadow Riders 6)

She nodded. “I imagine so. Stefano always heads up the operations. He is the ultimate law, and everyone answers to him. The cousins will come in from New York and LA. Maybe San Francisco, but most likely LA. Elie’s here, and that’s good. He’s fast. And we’ve got a good ground crew. Dario can set up someone he trusts to liaise with them.”

“Dario will most likely do that himself. Stop talking and get ready for bed.”

She flashed him a smile. “There you go again.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She just shook her head.

He knew exactly what she was talking about. He hadn’t asked anyone to do anything in years. He had been groomed to be head of the family. Everyone obeyed his orders—with the exception of Dario. And now, most likely, Emmanuelle.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Valentino had to put Emmanuelle completely out of his mind in order to become who he had to be. The moment Dario had returned to the room, she had disappeared into the bathroom with her clothing, dressed and then was gone. She hadn’t even kissed him good-bye. He would be talking to her about that, but much later. Right now, the Saldi famiglia needed to know they had a strong leader, that Giuseppi had stepped down and Valentino had risen to lead them.

“Custanzu Parisi has been in my life since the day I was born, Dario,” Val said as he dressed carefully, putting on his suit jacket. “He’s been my father’s advisor and friend for nearly his entire life. He was best man at his wedding and sat at our dinner table for years.”

Dario holstered his favorite weapon and then added a second to the harness on the other side of his chest. He said nothing.

“No one knew the layout of our house with the safe room or the hidden escape route to take Giuseppi out other than you, me and Parisi. No one else. There are no blueprints. No workers to be asked. No staff in the house ever knew. Miceli didn’t know. If you didn’t betray Giuseppi, and I didn’t, that leaves only Parisi. That leaves a man my father loved like a true brother. Did you have Bernado look into his financials?”

Valentino had found Bernado Macaluso when the kid’s mother had been working as a barista in one of the coffee shops he frequented. The boy had been a little strange and had always been on an old iPad. One day Val had noticed the kid and his mother both were upset. She’d had a black eye and bruises. The kid had been beat up all to hell and the iPad was gone. Val had told himself to stay out of it, but he’d never been able to stand looking at women with bruises. He’d followed the two home, had found out her landlord had demanded more than his rent and that she had nowhere else to go.

Valentino had taken care of the landlord, found a nicer place for them to stay, bought the kid a new iPad and a computer and a friendship had been born. Not just friendship. Loyalty. When Bernado’s mother had gotten cancer, Bernado had gone to Val, and Val had made certain she received the best of care until she passed. Bernado worked for him exclusively as his tech whiz. Right now, he was the bookkeeper as well. Dario and Val were still looking for someone to help take that load off.

Dario nodded slowly. “I sent the reports on his financials to you, along with everything else Bernado found. Parisi liked the strip clubs. We all know that. Apparently, Marge is fond of taking video of her more wealthy clients and especially any of your father’s men.”

“We have strip clubs, Dario. Why use Miceli’s?”

“Miceli started running dungeons beneath the strip clubs; an edgier addition, he called it. You were briefed.”

Val nodded. There were so many things he had been briefed on during Greta’s illness. Too many things his father had let slide and that he was trying to catch up on. He hadn’t visited the newer additions to Miceli’s strip clubs. They paid their dues on a regular basis and brought in a shit ton of money. He had so many other fires to put out that he had put that on a waiting list. He didn’t give a damn what others wanted to do with their sex lives as long as it was consensual.

He narrowed his gaze at Dario. “It is consensual, isn’t it? Parisi didn’t screw up and rape someone, did he?”

Dario sighed. “You have all the videos, but does it matter whether they’re fake or real? He didn’t come to your father to fix things. He has a wife and grown children. Grandchildren. He took what Miceli offered and sold out not only Giuseppi, but you.”

There wasn’t so much as a whisper of venom in Dario’s voice. His voice matched Val’s. They could have been talking about the weather, not about a man they knew they were going to make an example of. He wouldn’t be killed clean. He couldn’t be. Every single member of their family as well as those in neighboring territories had to know what would happen if you betrayed a Saldi. If you double-crossed one. If you lied to one or cheated one.