Shameless - Sybil Bartel Page 0,14

were pushed up by her crossed arms. “It’ll be our little secret.”

Before she could give me more attitude, my burner rang.

Hating the smaller phone, I answered on speaker. “Shade.”

“We got a problem,” Luna stated.

“Fucking Cara.” I knew our exfil had been too easy.

“Not her, Antonio.”

“I figured.” Remembering Summer, I warned Luna. “Hold on, you’re on speaker.”

“This involves her,” Luna said before I could get the cell to my ear.

“How does any of what happened involve me?” Summer asked.

I held a finger up to Summer and spoke to Luna. “Did you let Vincenzo know it was his crazy wife who came after me?” If I was a dick, I’d blame Luna for putting me on the damn assignment in the first place. That woman was looking for a way out from day one, but not a legit one. She wanted another man to replace the one she wanted to get rid of.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t care how it happened, even though he’s got her phone tapped and heard it all for himself. He’s not taking the fact that she came after you lightly, so you’re now enemy number one. Then add in the scene in the restaurant parking lot that tied up his men with the cops while his trusted driver whisked his wife away right out from under them again, and he’s officially losing his shit.”

“What else is new?” It was the reason I wasn’t on the assignment anymore. The last time Antonio lost his temper was when Cara drove herself to go fucking shopping. Blaming me, he terminated his contract with Luna and brought in his own security from Sicily. “Tell him she’ll show back up back eventually.” She always did. I’d even driven her ass back a couple times.

“I tried. Vincenzo said he’s done.” Luna paused, then his tone turned solemn. “He’s not looking to keep her.”

“Fucking Christ.” I hated Cara, but I didn’t want her dead. “Find her and bring her in, then call the Feds. They’ll nut themselves to get a piece of her in exchange for WITSEC. In the meantime, I’ll watch my back till the Feds pick him up.”

“Already working on that angle, but we have another issue.” Luna stepped the whole fucking mess up a level. “Vincenzo heard Summer say her name on the call. Not only that, he heard her cuss Cara out, and whether or not he wants his wife back is irrelevant to that fact. You know how he is. He views the whole disrespect thing as a punishable offense. Now he’s not just gunning for you, but both you and Summer are in his sights.”

Anger flared. “He’s fucking insane.”

“He’s Antonio Vincenzo, that’s redundant,” Luna countered. “So, change in plans. You’re not coming back here. There’re too many of his men down here. Head to Christensen’s ranch in Ocala. I’ll text you the address. He’ll meet you there and wait with you until I get Ronan up there for backup. Once we get Vincenzo taken care of, the heat on you two should blow over.”

My day got fucking worse. Neil Christensen, former Danish Special Forces, friend of Luna’s, was a cagey, overbearing prick. He was the last person I wanted to owe a favor to. Not to mention, a ranch meant open land on all sides. I wasn’t fucking suicidal.

“Negative. I can’t watch my back on open land with only two other patrols. I’ll head across the state or north.” Luna would know what the fuck I was talking about.

I rented a condo in Miami Beach, but I had two properties that I owned that I could protect myself at. One was a penthouse with gated security and a single elevator, the other was a remote cabin in the mountains with only one access road. No one except Luna knew about my properties because this was the exact scenario I was hoping to avoid—the fucking mafia after me. But now I was burning one of my safe houses by taking a goddamn teenage client to one.

“Across the state is out,” Luna stated. “Vincenzo has operations out of Tampa.”

“Since when?”

“Since last month when he moved his cousin over there and took half his business out of Miami over a dispute with his brother.”

“Christ, is there anyone you don’t keep tabs on?” I didn’t know how the fuck Luna had the time.

“Yeah, anyone who won’t shoot me while I’m sleeping. You know what Vincenzo is like. Pendejo’s got no boundaries.”

No fucking shit, but Luna had dug his own grave on this one.