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She’d totally run away that morning. It wasn’t a walk of shame if they hadn’t had sex, was it?
Her brain was in no shape to reason that one out, but at least her shoulder hurt less after such a solid rest.
Ants crawled along her skin. They’d been present during the entire drive between estates. It should have been her scalp tingling from how great his hand had felt there, but instead it was as if the hairs on the back of her neck had risen. It was silly to be so weirded out by spending the night with someone.
Dominico was in the downstairs hallway with his usual cohort. The two of them liked to hang out together, and the older soldier was a solid role model for the still-new-to-things made man.
The older soldier would make a good replacement capo for Giorgio. Remorse twisted inside and made Vespa scowl at the two of them. “Shouldn’t you be resting up?”
Dominico grinned at her. “Not when you did all the heavy lifting yesterday.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Nobody likes a suck-up. You got the pictures?”
“Sent to your phone already.” Dominico flushed. “And I was being truthful, not lapping at your boots.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got a decent number of shots off.” Her gaze shifted to his arm, but if he wore a bandage, it was under his suit. “How’s the wound?”
The young soldier shrugged. “Might not even scar.”
“That’s a pity,” she said with a smirk.
“Vespa!” Montrell’s booming voice shouted as his big-ass feet clomped down the stairs. He scowled at her, his warm, brown eyes wide with worry as he skipped a few steps in his haste. “What the hell? Why am I just hearing about the warehouse?”
Her fingers tingled when he was suddenly there, gathering her up in one of his massive hugs. She wanted to relax into him and accept the wave of warmth that was Montrell, but Beatrice was coming down the stairs behind him. Vespa didn’t want his wife to get the wrong idea. They were finally in a really great place together.
She fidgeted until his grip loosened. “Figured I’d tell you about it this morning.” She jerked her chin toward Beatrice. “The shooters were Italian. I’ve got pictures, but they’re not pretty.” She grimaced, regretting again that they hadn’t left one alive. “Think you might recognize any Lucchese soldiers? I don’t want to assume.”
“Unless they’re all new in the last five years, I should,” Beatrice agreed.
Vespa pulled out her phone. That she’d left her message with Antonio up made her flush as they made their way to the refurnished conference room. She swiped out of her messages and brought up the pictures instead, handing her phone to Beatrice as they walked.
Montrell tugged on his beard after she had laid out what had happened the night before. “So we lost Giorgio?”
“I’m sorry. I should have reacted sooner.” Vespa’s lips tightened as the capos began filing in through the open door. “He saved me from a bullet.”
Montrell’s gaze landed on her.
She swallowed. “They, uh, they shouted my name.” She grimaced. “Almost as if they were gunning for me. I might be reading too much into it.”
“Vespa,” Beatrice murmured, her head lifting from the phone.
Vespa regretted taking a chair; now she couldn’t pace off the sudden surge of energy. “I’m fairly well known, and not well liked, to be fair.”
“I don’t like it,” Montrell muttered. “Dominico told me they all aimed at you, Ves.” His eyes shifted to his wife. “Why would the Lucchese do that?”
“If it’s them.” Beatrice rested the phone on the table. “I can’t be completely certain because some faces were mangled, but I didn’t recognize any of them. These weren’t Lucchese.”
Vespa’s hands twisted around the bottom edge of her jacket. “That’s just fucking great. So we have another enemy. It’s got to be either Rossi or Barone then.”
Montrell eyed her. “Not questioning our alliance with the Di Salvos?”
Vespa felt a little too warm. “I’d have recognized them. Besides, we owe them quite a few favors they can collect on.” They’d also had better opportunities to take her out at their own fucking estate.
Then there was Antonio. She once might have thought he was capable of it, but she no longer thought he was cold enough to order her killed one minute and cuddle her all night the next.
“Pass the phone around, Bea.” Montrell nodded to the capos spread around the room. “Speak up if anyone recognizes them. Any thoughts?”
Vespa let the conversation swirl around her. Montrell appreciated the opinions of his capos.
