Chapter 7

Harrison

Mason sat at his desk when I walked into the precinct. His fingers tap danced across the keyboard as chatter filled the room.

“What’s up, man?” He damn near fell out of his chair when I spoke.

“Got damn it, man! You scared the shit out of me,” he said as he closed out his program nervously. “I didn’t know anybody was behind me. How long were you standing there?”

“Not long. Maybe a few seconds.”

He spun around in his chair and stood up. His belly protruded from beneath his shirt as he tucked the access clothing back into his waistband. “Alright, good. So, what they got you working on now? Something major, I know.”

“Tony Dellucci.” He looked as though he had just seen a ghost. The color faded from his face as my brows lifted to the middle of my forehead.

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” he said, recollecting himself. “Yeah, I am alright. I was just thinking about how bad that guy is, you know? I mean, he has a lot of shit going on in the city and it is about time that somebody went after him to shut that down. It will do Chicago a lot of good.”

“Yeah. I don’t know much about him, but O’Malley is going to brief me a little more on what I need to know before I start the case. That is where I am headed now.”

“Alright. Well, um, yeah,” he grabbed his cap, “I need to start my patrols. Good luck with that, man and let me know if you need any help.”

He bumped into his desk as he maneuvered past me. His behavior was odd, even for Mason, but before I could think twice about it, O’Malley called me into his office. I pushed my thoughts aside and made my way inside.

O’Malley rocked back and forth in his chair, waiting for me to take my seat.

“So,” he said, getting right to business, “we’ve got a little more intel on the Dellucci family. I’m sure it will help you in your case.” His chair creaked as he leaned forward and slid three pictures onto the table.

“Nico, Luca, and Carina Dellucci. These are the children. We finally confirmed Carina’s identity. I think they will be excellent points of contact for you, especially the youngest brother. He seems a little more gullible than the rest.”

I squinted my eyes and as I scanned through the pictures, I came to a halt when I landed on Carina. Flashbacks of the woman I had sex with on the balcony of Luzano’s blinked in and out of mind. I grabbed the picture and held it closer just to make sure it was the same woman.

Everything matched; the smile, the complexion and body type. The only difference was the curly hair that she had in this picture vs the straightened hair I remembered just a day ago.

“You got something, Harrison?” O’Malley asked while I examined the picture.

“Got something?” I asked as I looked up from Carina’s face.

“You are looking at that picture like you’ve already got a lead. I strongly suggest that you tell me if you do.”

Even though I only spent a short amount of time with Carina, I knew she was someone special. She was different from a lot of women that I dealt with in the past. For the most part, they were just good for a fuck or two to keep me entertained, but I didn’t feel that way with her. Something about her was different. The way we fed off each other during our conversation and the amount of comfort I had around her was something I had never experienced before. I had already called her several times over the weekend and as much as I hated to admit it, I knew I had a thing for her.

I looked back down at the picture of her beautiful face. I couldn’t believe that the woman that had found a place in my heart, quicker than anyone else, had a connection to the crime family that I was set to take down. How the fuck could something like this happen?

“Harrison,” O’Malley demanded. “What is it?”

I knew that if I told O’Malley, he would want me to exploit her just to find out more about her family but as of right now, I didn’t have any facts. It was clear that the woman I fucked at the bar was the same woman in this photo, but what if somebody got it wrong? What if Carina was mistakenly identified as being Tony Dellucci’s daughter? I never actually caught her last name the night before, so maybe she could just be the wrong girl. The shit was too confusing for me right now and I couldn’t answer him.

“Nothing. I just thought I saw her the other day, that’s all.” I dropped the picture back onto his desk and leaned in my chair.

As I looked up, I saw O’Malley’s inquisitive glance aimed in my direction like a double-barreled shotgun. A few moments of silence passed by before he spoke up.

“Well, you know, she is a cutie and you are a pretty boy yourself, so I would assume that she would be the most logical way in if there was one. But, how you tackle this is up to you. Take the papers and get the fuck out of here so you can start getting some more intel on that family.”

I gathered the papers and exited his office. For the first time in my life, I was becoming a little apprehensive about my next move. If Carina was connected to the mafia, I was unsure of how I was going to handle everything. Granted, we just met, but there was something about her that I knew I wouldn’t be able to shake.