“You have to stay on top of every detail, Dario. You don’t, and someone’s going to try to slip something past you the way Miceli did. The way Carmine Catani was doing.”
Brielle bit down on her lower lip. She had identified Carmine Catani as a traitor in Dario’s organization. He was feeding Santoro information, and he’d provided the photograph of Elie to the traffickers.
“I’m on top of it. I brought in my boys just as you suggested, although that almost lost us Brielle. It didn’t occur to me they wouldn’t be welcome without being investigated first.”
There was something in Dario’s voice that captured Brielle’s attention. She didn’t make the mistake of turning her head toward him or tensing. She made certain to stay relaxed. Dario didn’t like the idea of anyone investigating his two personal protectors. She’d been warned off and she’d done it anyway. Their bogus backgrounds were completely false, so good one had to be an expert to recognize they’d been given new identities.
She had wondered, for a brief moment, if they were in witness protection, but knew better when they were so blatantly guarding a known crime lord. “By now, Stefano’s people must have done background checks on them. Why aren’t they with you?” She couldn’t keep the little edge of anxiety out of her voice.
Brielle still couldn’t go to sleep without seeing Leone shot in the chest and falling backward, right in the doorway. She knew Elie had the same problem. Most nights, he still paced up and down restlessly, his eyes on her as she tried to reassure him that she was perfectly fine. They both knew she wasn’t—not yet.
“You and Emme.” Val sighed, shaking his head. “Does it never occur to you that we are capable of taking care of not only ourselves, but the two of you as well? Our regular security details are just outside your door. A few others are stationed close to the elevator. I’ve sent word to them to watch the windows. Now that I know the Winslow brothers could be involved in this, I asked for locations of their equipment on every floor. I don’t want any surprises appearing at the window.”
“I’m sorry Raimondo didn’t let you into the house right away, Dario. I know you’ve been upset by that,” Brielle murmured. Her belly felt so much better in this position. Maybe she would put some of her work off for a little while.
Valentino and Dario had made their pitch to her, explaining how they had only one investigator to cover both territories. He was extremely loyal to them, but they didn’t have anyone to occasionally check up on him. That was needed. It was just the way they both were. They wanted her working for them. She was exactly what they needed. Fast, efficient, she would do a lot of the investigative work, which would free Bernado to do more of the bookkeeping work.
Elie had sat with her during the interview. She had made it clear that if anything involved the Ferraro family, she would have no choice but to inform them. Elie had remained silent throughout the interview, for which she was grateful. This was her business and she was very serious about it.
“There will be times we might have to ask you to work with Bernado during a sensitive meeting. We would include Elie.” Valentino had leaned forward. “This is extremely important, Brielle. We are criminals. You have to know that going into this. We do illegal things. People sometimes try to take away our businesses and our lives. We retaliate in a very hostile manner. You might see and hear things that you can never repeat. The penalty would be death. I would signal to you, hopefully before things ever got out of hand, but I can’t guarantee that I’d be able to see it developing in time to do that. At times, you’ll be the one warning us that our lives are in danger. What I’m saying is, don’t take this job if you would feel you would have to go to law enforcement. Or if law enforcement came to you if you would feel you had to tell them what you heard or saw.”
Brielle had taken her time thinking things over. She had to admit she was an adrenaline junkie on the keyboard. It felt right to her to choose to work for Val and Dario. She hadn’t looked at Elie, not wanting him to give her a clue as to his thoughts. This had to be her decision alone. If she had harbored secret doubts that Elie was meant to be her partner, they were definitely put to rest during that meeting. He never once interfered or attempted to persuade her in any direction. He didn’t ask questions of Valentino or Dario. When they named a salary and she negotiated up, he didn’t bat an eye. She knew she was worth it and they’d pay it.