I reached forward and tucked it behind her ear. “I don't think you'd be able to live with yourself if you took someone's life, no matter what they'd done to you. I'll take you to New York, but I'll kill him.”
She sighed heavily, but she clearly saw my resolve, so she shrugged and let it go.
For now.
***
Three loud knocks rattled my hotel room door.
I'd left Adriana as soon as Darien had returned from work. I filled him in on my conversation with Enzio, but the responsibility to explain to Adriana that he'd been secretly communicating with Isaiah for the last ten years was on him.
I didn't want to be around when she found out, if I was honest. She was gonna lose her shit.
I put the TV on mute and went to open the door.
“Hurry up, Carlo. They're gonna mistake me for a fuckin' housekeeper soon.” Isaiah's voice echoed through the door.
I forced myself not to roll my eyes. That would never happen. “Yes,” I drawled as I opened the door and stepped to let him into my room. “A six foot five Italian wearing all black, with a shaved head, looks exactly like a fucking housekeeper.”
Isaiah pulled off his black sunglasses and glared at me. “I've got two bullets in my gun, ragazzo. The Boss says one has your name on it. I can use it early.”
I kicked the door shut and opened my mouth to respond. Isaiah held up one hand, indicating for me to be quiet, then dumped his black duffel bag on my bed. I frowned as he opened it and pulled out a small device. A little light flashed on it, and he moved to the far corner of the room.
He swept the device over the curtains, chairs, plant... Everything. No spot in the room was left untouched by the tiny rectangle he was holding. He leaned over the bed, moving it over the lamp, and then, it beeped.
He shook his head and put the detector down, then grabbed the lamp. He ran a finger around the rims of the lampshade, then over every part. He smirked as he lifted it up and pulled a tiny metal spot from the bottom of the stand.
His eyebrows raised as he held his thumb out to me, showing me what was presumably an electronic bug. He chuckled silently as he turned to the balcony doors, opened one, and then flicked it out off the balcony.
“There,” Isaiah said. “You fucking dumb fuck.”
“Nice to see you, too, old man.”
He shot me a dark look. “Enzio has been privy to all your fucking conversations you've had in this room. You're lucky you didn't speak to Adriana on the phone, or you'd be dead right now.”
“And you didn't think it'd be a good idea to tell me?”
“Not really. I thought you'd be smart enough to check and find the bug.”
“Yeah, I carry a detector as a matter of necessity,” I drawled, grabbing a bottle of water from the side. “What are you gonna tell him now? Won't he be suspicious that it disappears as soon as you get here?”
“I'm gonna tell him I checked the line and found someone else transmitting on the same frequency. I'll blame it on the Pontarellis. Thanks.” Isaiah swiped the bottle of water from my hand and unscrewed it. “So she's still alive.”
“Clearly. That's why you're here.”
“I might be thirty years older than you, Carlo, but I rank above you. Watch your damn mouth.”
I rolled my shoulders. “Yes, sir.”
Isaiah smirked. “I'd beat your fuckin' ass for that if I didn't like you so much.”
I returned the quirk of the lips. “What are you doing here, Double Agent?”
He laughed, almost choking on the water. “Securing the future of the Romano family. You think the dumb fuck in New York knows what he's doing? No. Before Alexandria ran with Adriana, she ran the family. Enzio did as he was told. Why do you think he got himself in five million dollars worth of debt and tried to sell his daughter? He's as useless as a slug in a sprint.”
I tried not to laugh at that. But five million dollars? Fuck. That was pocket change to the Romano empire. I knew that much. “And let me guess: you're the brains behind the last ten years.”
“Near enough,” he agreed. “Let's just say my contact with Darien wasn't entirely limited to just him. Alexandria may have helped every now and then.”
“Is Adriana the only person who didn't know?”
“Probably.” He swung out the