will. And that person will bring it to kids and addicts.”
“If you move it, you will be caught.”
“I’m not going to jail for your virtue!” Frank states emphatically, and I’m about to speak when another man enters a room.
“I will,” Raphael Sorrentino says from the doorway.
He’s wearing a tracksuit and standing with the use of a cane. I had no idea he was out of the hospital, yet here he is.
I rise and give him my chair. He pushes me away, adamant he stand.
“Raph, you’re supposed to be in bed,” Frank says to his business partner.
Raphael ignores his concern. “I heard you were going to make a deal. I had to hear it all for myself.” He looks me up and down and then holds his head high with a stoic face. “Amelia says she owes you her life, and therefore, so do I.”
Frank stands up. “Raph, you will implicate the family—”
“She came to me in the hospital, frightened. I couldn’t help her. You could,” Raphael speaks to me, ignoring Frank. “You saved her life three times, and now, you’re owed a debt. I can take the hit on all charges regarding the sanitation business.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I square my shoulders, giving him the attention his offer deserves. “I can get you a deal for your cooperation. It’s going to take a lot of work on your end and a damn good attorney, but I will ensure that you’re taken care of with a fair process and protected on the inside.”
“I’d appreciate that, son.”
“A good woman once told me that family is everything. Now, I know where she gets it from.”
He softens at the mention of Amelia. “You know, if I go away for this, I’m going to need someone to take care of my daughter.”
My chest tightens at the mention of a future with his daughter. My fate with Amelia hasn’t been resolved. I want to keep her, but the unknowns of tomorrow leave it almost impossible.
“Wait. I don’t need no cop breathing down my neck about the Sicilians.” Frank holds up his hands, unwilling to accept this deal.
“I strongly suggest you reconsider it. I know your friends across the pond won’t be happy to know Lugazzi ratted your plan out to the Feds. My words before were a warning. Let your partners know they’re in jeopardy and back out of the deal. That’s all the warning I can give,” I state, hoping Frank will be happy to blame Lugazzi if he needs an out with the Italians. “And you won’t need to worry about me. When this is over, I’ll be reassigned.”
Raphael places both hands on his cane and looks at me quizzically. “You’re leaving? What about Amelia?”
“I took an oath.”
“As did I and here I am turning my back on the family to do what’s right,” Raphael explains. “Let me ask you a question. You like what you do? Pretending to be something you’re not?”
Yes, I want to answer, but something stops me. I’ll always love being in law enforcement, but there’s been a change in me. It was the day I told Amelia who I was. Who I really was. The son of a geography teacher and bank teller. A brother and grandson. A man who steals things from his family to keep them close because he misses them like crazy. A guy who enjoys fighting and bourbon and who had his first kiss in a game of Spin the Bottle.
“I used to.”
Frank senses my apprehension. “Something’s changed then.”
It has.
And her name is Amelia Grace Sorrentino.
Raphael just nods. “Maybe I will be able to depend on you after all.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Amelia
If I thought my mother was overprotective after I was caught in the crossfire at Villa Russo, it’s nothing compared to coming home with a gunshot wound.
The doctor was at the house when I walked through the door, and my mother turned the kitchen into a triage for my injury. My temperature was taken, the bullet was removed, and a tetanus shot was given, all while she paced and cried over the porcelain tiles.
Thankfully, Gia held my hand the entire time, even letting me squeeze it as the doctor scraped my skin. I was exhausted by the time he left.
But I couldn’t sleep just yet.
I sat down with the two of them and told them the entire story. Even Gia. If I’ve learned anything from this ordeal, it’s that informing her is protecting her. She surprised us all with the maturity in which she