Elie turned Stefano’s advice over and over in his mind as he took a drink. Stefano was definitely right about Brielle. She preferred Elie to lead and be a strong lead. She wanted a partnership, but if he gave direction, she took it immediately. For one moment, she had thought to object because he had included himself in the meeting with Dario and Valentino when she would interview with them for a job, but she backed down when he just continued as if the matter had been settled.
“I didn’t expect to feel so much for her so fast. It’s . . . disconcerting. I mean, I knew I was obsessed with her, and had fantasies, but I had no idea I was even capable of feeling so damn deeply for anyone the way I do her.”
Stefano laughed. “I understand completely. When I first met Francesca, believe me, I had no idea I was going to fall so damn hard or fast. It was terrifying. Still is.”
Stefano, at least, had his siblings before he found Francesca. Elie had no one. Not a single person who cared about him enough to call him family. No one had loved him until the Ferraros had entered his life. He hadn’t the least idea what a relationship was until he met them. Now he had Brielle. He knew there was a part of him that was more than terrified of losing her. Everything was new to him. Mishandling Brielle would be heartbreaking.
“Emmanuelle asked me to check into the Colombo family,” Stefano confessed suddenly. “I didn’t just choose them randomly. She had a feeling about them.”
“She didn’t share with Valentino or Dario?” That had been evident during the betting. Neither man had raised an eyebrow. Dario hadn’t mentioned Emme when they discussed the information they’d obtained from the two prisoners, either.
“What led her in that direction?”
“I have no idea. Emme always had intuition that led her to request the investigators to move in different directions. She was always correct. I put it down to a gift. We all have them. As to why she didn’t say anything to her husband or Dario, I suspect, as part of their security, she intends to remove any threat to them without having either of them forbid her to do so. Val would never want her to go to New York, and Dario would lose his mind.”
Stefano took another drink of his whiskey. This time, his smile reached his compelling blue eyes. “She thought I was bad watching over her. Now she has the two of them, her brothers and you. Serves her right for all those times she snuck out of the house.”
“Can you imagine what Dario would be like if he found a woman he wanted?” Elie asked. “I’ve tried, but my mind just doesn’t go there.”
All traces of a smile faded from Stefano’s face. “I haven’t allowed the investigators to delve too deep into his past; not that I think they’d find much. He’s got his past buried deep if I’m right about him. Dario’s very damaged. That kind of damage doesn’t get fixed just because we love him. He feels deep loyalty for those he allows into his circle. Even love. So, he’s capable. But he’s also capable of shutting off all emotion and that isn’t good. I think without Val, he could have gone an entirely different direction.”
Elie agreed with Stefano’s assessment of Dario. “He’s a good man deep down. He makes the right choices. He has a code he lives by.”
Stefano nodded. “Yes, I’ll admit he does. And he loves our Emme fiercely. That makes me believe he could love a woman of his own, but if he found someone, I don’t know if she could live with him, even if she loved him. He’d be difficult to love all the time. He’d make it difficult. He’d need her to prove her loyalty to him. He’d be worse than me with control and I’m pretty fucking bad. And there’s his proclivity to kink. His club is renowned for it, and he makes no bones about how he plays. He doesn’t care who knows how he is.”
Elie was very aware of what Stefano was talking about. He enjoyed playing in the bedroom with Brielle. He had enjoyed going to the clubs. He had never been into any of the things Dario was into—and Dario wasn’t playing. He lived that lifestyle and would expect his wife to live it as well. Yeah, Elie couldn’t see a woman putting up with Dario forever. How could the man make it worth her while? He felt sad for Dario. Dario had to know there was little to no hope for him, but then, Elie had felt the same way and, somehow, he’d been granted a miracle.
“He’s a strange man,” Elie said. “But I like him. A lot.”
“I do, too,” Stefano admitted.
Franco returned from the cockpit. “The others are on their way back. They’ve had quite the party with the cousins. Lots of pictures taken.”
“That’s good,” Stefano approved. Photographs were what always kept the family safe. As long as the paparazzi photographed them at nightclubs and social events during the time deaths occurred, all riders were safe. No one could ever blame a Ferraro or any other shadow rider for a death in the community. All the LA cousins were accounted for at the club with their Chicago cousins. No one was the wiser that Stefano and Elie were in town. They both were supposedly back in Chicago with their wives.
As a rule, a rider rarely carried out an assassination in his own hometown. A rider came in from another city; that way, no suspicion could ever fall on those living close. A plane would arrive carrying cousins and they would all get together in a very public way. Behind the scenes, an assassination would take place, carried out by the unseen rider who had ridden the shadows to and from the plane just as Stefano and Elie had. That way, if the petitioner ever changed their mind and decided to go to law enforcement and confess they’d hired the Ferraros to carry out an assassination, there was no proof of such a thing.
Elie waited until Giovanni and his wife, Sasha, entered the plane, waving wildly at the Los Angeles cousins, who were yelling back to them to come again soon. Behind them, Mariko entered while Ricco, his hand on the small of her back, brought up the rear. Franco closed the door and the four newcomers turned to Stefano and Elie.
“Everything go all right?” Ricco asked, escorting his wife to one of the very comfortable leather chairs.
“No problems,” Stefano assured. “Dino thought he was going to get away with putting out a hit on Val, Dario, Elie and Brielle without retaliation. I don’t know why he would think we’d just have a little talk with him and walk out of there. Maybe shake his hand first.”
“I’d like to be there when his father discovers him in the morning and has to report his death to Riccardo Santoro,” Elie said. “Santoro will beef up security around Carlo. He’ll take Dino’s death as a warning.”
“It was a warning,” Stefano said. “Although Carlo is going to die. My guess is, Santoro will ask for a meeting with Valentino and Dario. He won’t try to hide he was behind the hits, but he’ll blame them on the Toselli family and his ties with them.”
“What will that accomplish?” Sasha asked. “That just sounds like he’s admitting he tried to have Val and Dario killed. He is, isn’t he? Isn’t he the one who wants Brielle dead as well?”
Elie was never sure how much the Ferraro men told their wives. Mariko was a rider and took rotations alone. She was an excellent assassin. Sasha had never been trained, although she was deadly with rifles. She’d been raised on a ranch and she knew her way around weapons. She wasn’t afraid of much and Elie knew she trained with the others and had asked Enrica, Emilo’s sister, to train her as a personal protector. She was often left with Francesca, Grace and the children if there was an emergency, and she wanted every advantage should there be a need to protect them. It was obvious that she knew why they had come to Los Angeles.
“Santoro’s used to making deals,” Stefano answered. “He’ll try to give Val and Dario a piece of the action. Hopefully, whatever he offers them will give us some insight into how he’s running the trafficking operation. I wouldn’t be surprised if Brielle already knows everything about it by the time we get home.” There was an edge of humor to his voice.
“She’s really that fast on a keyboard?” Mariko asked.
“Like lightning,” Ricco said.
The engines were rumbling and Franco’s voice came over the cabin’s speakers, warning them they were about to take off. Ricco reached out almost causally to ensure Mariko had her seat belt fastened. Elie hid a smile. The gesture was so automatic, it was clear Ricco hadn’t even thought about it. He’d seen Stefano do the same thing with Francesca each time they were in a car or a plane. Sasha, however, did up her own seat belt and reached for Giovanni’s hand.