He found two forks and handed one to her, took a seat opposite her and tucked into his own plate. “Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff. There’s nothing like Southern cooking. I’ve traveled the world but there’s no place that can do comfort food like our Southern gals.”
“It’s pretty good,” CoCo agreed around a mouthful. “Damn, those LA girls don’t know what they’re missing.”
He laughed, enjoying the fact that CoCo wasn’t throwing a fit over a plate of fattening food. He loved the way she made no apologies for digging in as a man would. He rather liked the Italian side of her. What did she call it? Passionate. Italian women were passionate. He liked it. He liked it a lot.
13
BARTO TRIED TO quell the rage that immediately spurted when he received the news. “How could you miss? You’re supposed to be the best. Someone overinflated their talents, I see.”
“She moved slightly to the left. I would’ve hit the target if she hadn’t shifted.”
“Not really interested in excuses, only results.”
“Look, what do you want to kill her for?”
Barto folded his hands in his lap, smothering his urge to kill the incompetent man questioning him, but seeing as his funds were running low and he had no choice but to continue to use the man’s services, he chose to smile instead. “Reasons,” he answered. “Tell me how you’re going to rectify your mistake and I’ll forgive your serious lack of accomplishment.”
The man, known only by his handle, Trigger, shifted on the balls of his feet, glowering. “Look, I had to split the scene. I took a risk during the day and it didn’t pan out. It happens. I went back to the chick’s place and she wasn’t there. I don’t know who she’s with but he seems to have some skills. Her old man must’ve hired him to protect her.”
“Good. I want him to know that everything he holds dear is at risk.”
“Yeah, sure, but to go after his kid? Seems harsh. She seems like your average rich bitch from LA.”
“She’s the heir to his legacy and his only child. I want him to feel the agony of loss.”
“Yeah, but she’s, you know, innocent.”
He cast an icy stare Trigger’s way. “She has Enzo’s blood in her veins. She was born tainted.”
Trigger shook his head as if Barto was the one who was messed up and said, “Whatever, man. So what do you want me to do? They’ve split town. I don’t have the resources to go follow this chick wherever she decides to go. Besides, you never said I’d have to deal with a bodyguard. This is going to double my fee.”
Barto’s blood pressure swelled. The man was going to nickel and dime him into the poor house. “You were adequately paid for the job that hasn’t been completed. You will find a solution to this problem of your own making and you won’t receive another dime. Am I clear?”
“And what if I tell you to screw yourself?”
Then I will drop your body into a lake and never think of you again. “I have resources. Pray I don’t need to use them to dispose of you.”
“Bullshit. If you had so many resources, you wouldn’t have hired me to do your dirty work,” Trigger scoffed and Barto knew that Trigger was no longer useful to him, that he was quickly becoming a liability. He pulled a gun with a silencer screwed to the end and without hesitation shot Trigger in the head. He didn’t have time to waste on people who were of no use. His time was precious. Enzo Abelli took everything from his family and he would see to it that he paid, one way or another. He owed it to his papa, Vincent. “For you, Papa, I will see that Abelli scum wiped from the earth for what he did to you. I promise.”
He rose and stepped over Trigger’s body, careful to avoid the blood seeping into the dingy carpet. It would be days before his body was found, which would give Barto more than a good head start. He stopped and sneered at Trigger’s face, frozen in shock. “Your name is stupid. Trigger.” He shook his head in disgust and closed the door carefully behind him.
* * *
COCO AWOKE THE following morning, groggy and disoriented as she blinked at the delicate floral wallpaper climbing the walls and the bright white eyelet duvet she was tucked under. The shabby-chic decor was charming and comforting at the same time but for a brief moment she had no freaking clue where she was, until the recollection of being shot at less than twenty-four hours ago jogged her memory.