Chapter 21

Harrison

I pulled up to the Dellucci’s house just as Carina was. A slight sense of fear that I was not at all used to started to course through my veins. I was about to go into Tony Dellucci’s home, tell him that I was a cop and that I knew about his business meeting. Oh, and by the way, I was dating his daughter. Fuck. This was not going to go over well.

I got out of my car and walked over to where Carina was standing.

“You ready for this?” I asked.

She nodded her head slightly, grabbed my hand in hers and we walked up to the door. I had been an undercover cop for so many years. I had been in a lot of scary situations, but I never have once felt the fear I did, walking up to the Dellucci’s door. Carina reached out with a shaky hand and rang the doorbell. I swallowed hard and squeezed her small hand in mine.

The door opened and Nico stood there staring back at us. He had a big smile on his face when he saw Carina, but then as his eyes darted to mine and then traveled down to our entwined hands, his smile quickly turned into a scowl.

“Who the fuck is this, Carina?” Nico asked.

“This is Harrison. We are here to see dad,” Carina responded. I could easily tell that she was trying to be strong, and I appreciated that. Nico took another look at me then finally moved his large frame out of the doorway.

“Carina is here!” Nico shouted. “With someone,” he added a bit more quietly. A loud booming voice, I could only have assumed was Tony Dellucci came from somewhere inside.

“Bring her to the living room, I’ll be down in a moment.”

We followed Nico inside the lavish Dellucci home. As we walked inside, I took a moment to look around me. As I pulled up to the house, I could tell that it was a newer home build, unlike the rest of the 1980’s style homes in the neighborhood. The walls were white, but they were covered with various pieces of art. Looking at them closely as I past, I could tell that these paintings easily cost more than my paycheck, and I took another hard swallow. Carina continued to hold my hand as she walked down the small hallway to the living room. She pulled me over to the couch and took a seat. I fought the urge to pace the room as we waited.

After a few moments, the man I recognized from all the pictures walked into the room. Carina immediately stood up and went over to give him a hug.

“Hi daddy,” she said sweetly. He embraced her and then pulled her close to his side.

“Hi sweetheart. And who is this? You didn’t mention you were bringing company.”

Carina pulled away from her father’s side and stood next to me.

“Daddy, this is Harrison Nash.” Tony smiled slightly and extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Harrison.” He turned toward Carina. “Now why is he in my home?”

Carina walked over to her father and put her hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you take a seat daddy, and I will explain everything.”

Tony smiled at his daughter and nodded his head. He looked over at Nico and nodded slightly as well. Nico stepped out of the room slightly and when he returned his brother Luca was standing beside him. Carina sat down next to me on the couch and slowly fidgeted her fingers. I could feel Tony’s glare on me, and I was about to speak up when finally, Carina spoke.

“Daddy, Harrison is a cop.”

As soon as the word cop left her lips, I heard the telltale sound of guns being cocked. I shifted my eyes slightly to where Nico and Luca were standing, and they both and their guns pointed at me. Carina quickly stood up.

“N-no, stop!” Carina cried.

I kept my hand to my side. My gun was in the back of my jeans, but I didn’t want to make a move yet unless I had to in order to defend myself. Or worse, to defend Carina. I watched Tony intently.

“Daddy stop this!” Carina cried again.

Finally, I saw Tony look over at Nico and Luca and nod slightly. I looked over at them and they slowly lowered their guns, but kept them in their hands at theirs sides.

“Let me explain everything,” Carina said. “Harrison and I met out one night. At the time, he had no idea who I was, or even who my family was.”

“How are you so fucking sure of that?” Luca spat. Carina turned her head and glared at Luca.

“Because I am,” she said and she turned her head back to her father. “As I was saying, at the time he had no idea who I was. We started seeing one another, and that is when he was given an assignment.”

“What sort of assignment,” Tony ground out.

“I was assigned to investigate your family,” I said. Tony’s eyes shot to mine and I tried to remain steady underneath his glare. “The Chicago Police Department is trying to pull together information to bring your family down. I was supposed to infiltrate in, but then I met your daughter,” I reached out and grabbed Carina’s hand and I looked at him honestly. “And I couldn’t continue my job as it was assigned.”

Tony stared at me watching my every movement. I could see the wheels inside his head moving and I knew that my story was a tough one to believe. But I had to make him understand that I was not going to harm his daughter.

“Mason Jennings is one of my best friends on the force.”

Tony’s head cocked to the side in thought. He looked over to Luca. “Mason Jennings, he’s one of ours, right?” Luca slowly nodded his head.

“Mason is detained currently,” I said. Tony looked back at me and swallowed. “My Captain took me off the case, when I wasn’t giving him enough information. I wanted to keep Carina safe and out of the investigation so when I found out that Mason was involved, I had him keep tabs on everything for me. They assigned a new undercover officer my case, and I believe he is the one that figured out Mason.”

Tony looked at me and nodded.

“Daddy that man you are meeting with tomorrow, the one you are having over for dinner, is the new cop assigned to the case,” Carina said. Tony looked over at his daughter and then back at me.

“Is this true?”

I nodded my head honestly. “Yes. Ronald is an undercover cop. I met him at the precinct today.” Tony glared at me and then dropped his heads into his hands. He stayed there for a few moments and Carina reached over to me and grabbed my hand. Finally, Tony looked up.

“Nico, Luca. Go dig deeper into Ronald. See if what Harrison is saying checks out.” Nico and Luca nodded and left the living room. Tony stood up and walked toward the couch and reached out his hand. I smiled and grabbed it.

“Thank you, Harrison,” Tony said honestly.

“You’re welcome, sir. But honestly, I didn’t do it for your family.” A stern look crossed his face.

“I did it all for Carina.”