Page 71 of She Belongs to Me
“Because there are some incidents occurring that might be connected.” I had no way of knowing that yet, but I sensed he really didn’t want to help me. That meant he was hiding something. It was also a regular occurrence between Elio and my father. They were close enough secrets had to be kept between them.
“There weren’t any cases that should cause any red flags. That much I remember. Your father was making overtures into the United States by that point, something I’d pushed him to do. However, he wasn’t making much headway.”
That was something. One thing was becoming clear. This had something to do with American ties. I was positive of that. Maybe Mattia was also pushing to get into the States, hopeful to shove my presence aside. What it meant I couldn’t tell and maybe the information was all circumstantial. However, I had to keep turning over rocks.
“But you need to stop looking. You know that secrets that don’t want to see the light of day could have evil inside.”
The man had also always been rather poetic, or so my father had thought. In my mind, he’d been cryptic. Domino and I had teased him when we were kids.
“Yeah, I get that, but the little girl grew up into a beautiful woman who witnessed a horrible crime. Now, the assholes are after her and it would seem they are going to stop at nothing to hunt her down. I do not intend to let that happen.”
“You’re just like your father, Nico. That’s not always a good thing. You’re far too hardheaded, bulldozing your way into things you shouldn’t be in the middle of.”
Why did I feel like he was warning me?
“As I said, I will not allow anything to happen to Alexandra. Now, to honor my father, will you help me? Just take a look at the files you kept, and I know you brought them with you at least electronically.”
He didn’t seem amenable to helping me. That pissed me off.
“I’ll see what I can find, Nico. But don’t expect anything. Deals that need to die are killed. Do you understand what I am telling you?”
“Yeah, I get it. But I’ve learned over the years secrets never die. They may get buried, but they always find their way to the surface. Always. It’s been good talking with you. Please do get back to me.”
Whether or not he would remained to be seen. The call had been worth it. Talking to him told me there was something hanging on from over twenty years before. Had I somehow been tossed into the middle of it, but a mistake had occurred? The call was finished and I had more questions than I had answers.
I closed my eyes, intending it to be brief.
There was far too much to do, but they were stinging like a son of a bitch.
Jesus.
The ring was right next to my ear and I jumped, immediately reaching for my weapon. I realized at the same time my phone was ringing that I’d fallen asleep with my head on my desk. Christ. I hadn’t done that in a long time.
The screen indicated Domino was calling. I wasn’t certain I wanted to get into another argument, but he never called this early. He was far too busy partying until late in the night to bother getting up before ten.
“Yes?” I also wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. He’d made his point. While I understood his extensive concern, I wasn’t the kind of man or Don to tolerate such disrespect in front of my men.
“That asshole Gio?”
There was a serious gruffness to his voice I was unused to hearing. “What about him?”
“I had to call in a couple favors,” my brother said, “but I finally discovered the ass-wipe has been on Mattia Russo’s payroll for over fifteen years. It was well hidden, the perfect mole who came in and out of our world only when his boss deemed it necessary to gather whatever information he was seeking.”
I sat upright in my chair, fisting my hand. I had white knuckles on the other from the force I was using to hold the iPhone against my ear. “What?”
“You heard me, and I did have my sources double check. I have photographs of him meeting with Russo at various locations through the years, all of them clandestine.”
Moles weren’t unheard of. They’d been used since the beginning of time. Threats made to current members of crime syndicates were typically violent and against family members, almost always causing a man to betray the family he’d pledged an oath to. However, that was more about the old days. With computers, experts and hackers hired by every mob leader to provide more traditional roles of keeping security tight, the instances were way down.
Information was locked away, illegal activities not what they used to be.
Hearing Russo had used this man for years to infiltrate whatever limited part of my operation possible likely meant he’d done it to other families within Italy.
Unless Mattia considered me ‘special.’ I was both irritated and amused at the same time. Gio had simply provided smaller clients in the beginning, some within Italy. When he’d expanded his business operations into America, I’d checked on his sources and clients in other countries. Everything had seemed legit.
What his alliance with my organization had provided might not seem like something to be concerned about, but with every contract came negotiations as well as open books about certain financial aspects of both companies attempting to enter into business.
With a little additional digging, it was possible Mattia knew more about our company than anyone else outside of the family.