MOMENTS EARLIER . . .
MY MOTHER WALKED silently next to me after I told her about me and Gabi.
“I thought you would be happy,” I mumbled.
“What! Why would you think I would be happy, Nicholaus?”
I laughed. “Oh, let me see what reasons I can come up with. One, she isn’t Greek.”
My mother held up her hand. “That’s not true. She is three percent Greek.”
“What? How do you know that?”
She grinned. “Don’t be mad, but I had a DNA test done.”
Narrowing my eyes at her, I asked, “How in the hell did you get her DNA?”
“I have my ways.”
“Who did the test for you?”
Her brow lifted. “You’re not the only cop I know, son.”
My head cocked to the side. “Who are you and where has my mama gone?”
“What happened?”
“I opened my heart up like a fool.” Her smile dropped.
Wrapping her arm in mine, we walked down the street toward my house I had closed on recently. Gabi had been so excited I would be living so close to her. Now, I hated being so close to Gabi’s bakery. The idea that she was so near to me tormented my mind.
“Opening your heart to someone doesn’t make you a fool, Nicholaus.”
I inhaled a deep breath. “I did something I regret.”
My mother stopped walking and turned to me. “Am I going to be smacking you after you tell me?”
A light rumble came from my chest. “Probably.”
She motioned for me to talk.
“I purposely hurt Gabi because she hurt me.”
Glaring at me, she drew her hand back and punched me square in the chest, causing me to stumble back.
“What the hell?”
Her hand came up and slapped me on the back of the head.
“Jesus Chr—”
Her eyes went dark.
“Why are you hitting me?”
“Because you’re stupid.”
Dropping my mouth open, I stared at her. “How do you know Gabi wasn’t being the stupid one?”
“Because she is a tormented soul. You can see it in her eyes. She harbors a secret, Nicholaus.”
I laughed while rubbing my chest. “Yeah. Her lover in Italy.”
“I don’t believe that for one second. I’ve seen the way that girl looks at you.”
Before I had a chance to say anything else, my phone rang. I narrowed my eyes at the number.
“Hello?”
“Nic, it’s Jim Linde, FBI in Italy.”
“Yeah, right of course.”
He sighed, “Listen, do you have a minute?”
Glancing over to my mother, I motioned for her to head up the steps to the house. “I’ll be right in, Mama. I need to take this call.”
She nodded her head and entered the house.
“Is the FBI that hard up for guys you’re cold calling now?”
He laughed. “No, I wish it was that, but this is more important. It’s about Gabi.”
My heart dropped. I knew she was safe, I’d seen her arrive home today.
“What about her?”
“Are you sitting?”
Fuck.
“Do I need to be?”
“Probably.”
I sat on the steps of my house. “All right. Go.”
I heard a door shut and footsteps before hearing another door shut.
“Listen, what I’m about to tell you is highly classified. I’m actually putting your life and your family’s life in danger if I keep talking. Do you want me to continue?”
What in the fuck?
“And this had to do with Gabi? Gabi Mandola?”
“Yes.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I looked around. “Tell me.”
“All right, first her name isn’t Gabi Mandola. It’s Gabriella Rossi. She is the daughter of an extremely wealthy Italian immigrant. Her brother, Antonio, is an undercover FBI agent.”
I sat there numb while I tried to process everything that Jim was saying.
“Wait. Antonio is her brother?”
“Yes. That was the man she ran to in Italy and hugged. She hadn’t seen him or her family for six years. Not since her brother had secretly arranged for her death . . . or pretend death I should say.”
Everything started to sway as I tried to regain my balance.
Fuck, I’m sitting down not standing.
I closed my eyes and took in a few deep breaths. “Wait. You’re throwing some serious shit my way with no explanations.”
“Eight years ago, Antonio and I were undercover in New Jersey. We were working to bring down Marco Du Luca, an Italian mob boss. In the process, Antonio and I befriended the guy’s son, who we didn’t think was a part of the mob. His name was Dante De Luca. He hung around with us, did everything with us. So much so, I was beginning to have my suspicions that he was undercover himself. One night, he met Gabi. He really took to her and they started dating. I never got the feeling Gabi was as into Dante as he was to her. He asked her to marry him and she was going to tell him no, but Antonio ended up telling her about the opt. He needed Gabi to get closer to the family so we could bust them.”
My stomach turned. “He used his sister to get closer into a mob family?”
“Believe me, he hated himself then and even more when Gabi witnessed Dante killing his own father.”
It felt like I hit a brick wall.
“What?”
“Yeah, she of course freaked and immediately told Dante she wouldn’t have anything to do with this life. He threatened her. Told her if she ever left, he’d kill her.”
“And where in the fuck were you and her brother when all this went down?”
“About to bust a drug deal Dante’s father had set up for that night. This was the deal we had been waiting for. The one that was going to take the family down. Gabi had called Antonio freaking out. He left right before the bust went down, so Dante never did find out that Antonio was FBI because he wasn’t there when it all went down. News spread quickly that Marco had killed himself. That he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in jail. The body though was never found.”
I sat there stunned. Listening to Jim speak.
“Two days later, I got a call from Antonio saying his sister had died in a car accident. I had no idea she had witnessed the murder, fuck I had no idea about the murder until Antonio had told me. He didn’t trust the FBI with his sister, and he certainly didn’t trust Dante. The guy is a nut case. He wanted his father dead so he could have control of the family.”
“It was staged? Her death was staged?” I asked.
“Yes, but at the time I didn’t know it was. Antonio did it all on his own without the FBI’s help. He felt like he couldn’t trust anyone.”
“Not even you? His partner?”
Jim laughed. “If that had been my sister, I wouldn’t have told him. Anyway, once I started to piece it all together, I went to Antonio in Italy. Told him I had seen Gabi and that you had been in Italy. That’s when he told me the truth. That Gabi was alive. I told him if I had put two and two together, it wouldn’t take long for Dante’s guys to figure it out. Antonio put someone on Gabi when she left Italy and Antonio’s had someone planted in with Dante the last six years. Dante’s in Colorado. He’s coming after Gabi.”
I dropped my head and scrubbed my hand down my face. “Son of a bitch.”
“Yeah. I’m not convinced they saw her in Italy though and neither is Antonio.”
“Why?”
“Dante is a smart guy. I don’t doubt that he hasn’t believed that Gabi has been dead all this time, but he isn’t a very trusting guy. I’d bet a year’s paycheck he’s been scanning all the major newspapers still for Gabi to slip up.”
The cooking competition.
“Oh holy shit. The cooking competition. They put her picture in the Denver paper.”
“That’s what Antonio thinks. Anyway, he was contacting Gabi and telling her to move on to the closest safe house.”
I shook my head, trying to make sense of the massive information Jim had just laid out on me. Then it hit me.
“Dante’s here in Colorado?”
“Yes. And he knows her name, Nic. Antonio has someone following her.”
“Why are you telling me this, Jim?”
He paused before answering. “I saw the way you looked at her that day and I knew you were destroyed thinking she was cheating. I didn’t want you to go the rest of your life wondering what happened. If Gabi leaves, you’ll never see her again.”
Standing, I attempted to calm my heart down. It was pounding in my chest.
“Then I better make sure I get to her before she leaves.”
“Hey, Nic. Can ask one favor of you.”
“Anything,” I said as I raced into my house.
“You didn’t get any of this information from me. Right?”
With a grin, I put my side arm holster on. My mother stood there staring at me as I checked my gun and slipped it into the holster.
“What information?”
Jim chuckled. “If you ever want a job . . .”
“I’m actually pretty damn happy where I am.”
“I thought so. Take care and please, don’t try to be the hero. Dante De Luca isn’t someone to mess around with.”
I smiled. “Neither am I, Jim. Neither am I.”