I sighed happily. “I’ll see you at dinner,” I replied, watching as he got out of bed and headed toward one of the doors in his bedroom. I heard the shower click on, and I closed my eyes for just a second, but that was all I needed to fall back to sleep, cuddling Vida and feeling like I was finally in the place I was meant to be.
LORENZO
“How many crates a week?” he asked, shuffling on the spot. He was nervous, the first sign that he wasn’t the right person to make a deal with.
“How many crates can you load?” Christian asked the question he knew I was thinking. I wasn’t going to talk, not when we were this new into a deal. I didn’t know this guy from Adam, and my gut was already telling me he was undercover. I’d seen many undercover FBI agents try to infiltrate our ranks unsuccessfully, although one of them had been close a couple of years ago. Dad had made a deal with him, and just as they were about to exchange money, I caught him out, spotting the listening device he’d placed in a button on his shirt.
It wasn’t like in the movies where they’d have a wire taped to their chest that you could feel when you patted them down. These days, all it took was a click on a link someone sent you, and they could get into your cell whenever they wanted, gaining all the information they’d ever need. They were high tech, but I was onto them.
“As many as you need,” the guy said, pulling his confidence back, but it was too late. My gut had told me what I needed to know.
Christian glanced over at me, a question in his eyes, and with only a small shake of my head, he knew my answer. “We’ll be in touch,” he said, leaning back in his seat.
Neither of us moved as he exited. I never left a meeting first, especially one with a new contact. I flicked my wrist in the air as I ground out, “Follow him. See where he goes.” I may not have been going into business with him, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to find out exactly who he was. I was always suspicious when someone new flashed on my radar, especially when my gut told me something wasn’t right.
I pushed forward in my seat, planting my arms on my thighs and trying to make sense of it. I’d been boss for two months now, and I knew it would cause people to come out of the woodwork and try to take us down. But they’d made a mistake. I wasn’t some fresh-faced guy who didn’t know what he was doing. I’d been part of this business for two decades, learning the ins and outs and watching from afar. My dad always said being able to read people was a skill and a necessity in our way of life. Which was why I turned to Dante, narrowing my eyes on him. “What do you think?”
“He’s undercover.” His gaze met mine, not a single doubt displayed. “He was too fidgety. And he was recording us.”
My lips quirked on one side, just enough to show him I knew it too. “Good.” I stood, glancing down at my watch. “I’m taking Aida to the new bar.” I turned to face Mateo. “Let’s go.”
No one said a word as Mateo and I left the building we’d used for this meeting. In fact, no one had said anything about the fact there was no tension between Aida and me—there hadn’t been for five days, not since we took Vida home together. They knew better than to comment on my private life.
Mateo opened the back door for me, and I slipped into the SUV. I couldn’t deny that I missed driving my sports cars, but I knew when I was driving, I wasn’t protected, not in the way I needed to be. And there was no way in hell that I’d put Aida at risk by taking her in one, not when I could feel something brewing. Call it instinct, call it a gut feeling, but the tide was turning, promising a dark storm coming my way.
I was stuck inside my own head, trying to make sense of everything and analyzing every movement the suspected undercover agent had made. I’d watched him closely, but that didn’t mean I caught everything he did.
“Did you record the meeting?” I asked Mateo as we pulled up outside the college.
“I did.” He pulled his cell out. “Want me to send it to you?”
“Yeah. On the encrypted cell.”
A couple of seconds went by, and then he announced, “Done.”
I nodded, not saying another word as I turned to face the college, spotting Aida pushing through the doors. She kept her head down, her focus on something in her hands. She looked like every other student on campus wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but there was something else about her. It was the way she carried herself. The way she’d push her hair behind her ear, the way she smiled at strangers walking by.
My hand reached for the handle just as she halted in the middle of the pathway. I frowned, wondering why she’d stopped, then ground my teeth together as I saw the guy she’d kissed walk closer to her.
“Boss?” Mateo asked, but I didn’t respond to him. All I could think about was the way he’d looked at her, the way he’d touched her, and I knew if he laid his hands on her just one more time, I’d not only chop them off, but I’d put a bullet in his head to boot. Maybe it was extreme, but when it came to Aida, I was irrational—I knew that, which was why I told myself to stay in the SUV and wait.
Aida said something to him, her gaze flicking to the SUV. I narrowed my eyes as she put her hand behind her back and held three fingers up. “What is she doing?”
I didn’t expect Mateo to answer, so when he said, “She’s giving a signal,” I pulled on the door handle. I had no idea what the signal meant, but she wouldn’t have done it if she didn’t need help.
I cracked my neck from side to side as I got out of the SUV, and without thinking, I headed straight toward her, my attention on the college asshole who thought he could touch what was mine. I was two feet away when Aida turned to look at me. Her eyes widened, flicking behind me where I had no doubt Mateo was waiting at the SUV.
“Lorenzo?” Her voice was small, the shock evident, but so was the relief. “What are you doing here?” She sidestepped the college guy and moved toward me, her hand going straight to my chest.
“I thought I’d come pick you up,” I said, staring down at her but hyperaware of our surroundings. “It’s not a crime to pick my wife up, is it?”
“Wife?” the asshole asked. “You’re his wife?”
I wrapped my arm around Aida’s waist, bringing her close to me, then turned to face him. “She is.” I held my hand out to him. “Name’s Lorenzo.” He took my hand, frowning as he did. “Lorenzo Beretta.”
“B-b-beretta?” he stammered, his face paling. I didn’t let go of his hand, squeezing it just enough for him to know that what he was thinking was true. My name preceded me, even with college assholes who came here from out of town.
“That’s me.” I smiled at him, the kind of smile that said, if you touch what’s mine again, I will end you. His eyes flashed, understanding the silent warning I was giving him, and then I let go, turning back to Aida and pretending like he wasn’t there any longer. “Let’s go. I have something to show you.”
“You do?” she asked, her light-brown eyes focusing on me. She lifted up onto her tiptoes, and I instinctively bent at my knees to meet her halfway. Our lips connected for the briefest of moments, but that was all I needed to know that it wasn’t the college asshat she wanted. No, it was me.