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Henry opens his mouth to argue, but I hold up a hand to stop him.
"Look, I appreciate that you're trying to do your job. But my family and I have managed just fine without police interference. If there's anything new about Lazaro, we'll find it on our own."
With that, I turn on my heel and walk away, ignoring the twinge of regret in my gut. As much as I want answers about Lazaro, I can't risk exposing our family to more scrutiny.
As I start toward my waiting car, I can't shake the feeling that I might have just passed up a chance to finally uncover the truth about my twin's disappearance.
“I have some information about Lazaro.”
I stop and close my eyes.
Henry walks to me. “How about we discuss over dinner, then?”
My breath catches in my throat. Lazaro. After all this time. "Dinner? With you?"
Henry takes a step closer, lowering his voice. "Because I think there's more to this story than meets the eye. And while I don’t condone the business your family is in, no one deserves to simply disappear. I believe you deserve to know the truth."
I study his face, searching for any sign of deception. But all I see is sincerity in those piercing blue eyes. Is it wishful thinking? This could be a trap, a ploy to get me to let my guard down. But what if it's not? What if he really does have information about Lazaro?
"I… I don't know," I stammer, caught between hope and caution.
"Just dinner," Henry says softly. "If you don't like what you hear, you can walk away."
I bite my lip, torn. Every instinct screams at me to refuse, to protect myself and my family. But the thought of finally getting answers about Lazaro…
"Okay," I hear myself say before I can think better of it. "Just dinner. My choice of restaurant.” At least if this is a setup, I can have D’Amato men around to protect me.
“Remember, I’m operating on a civil servant’s budget.”
I give him the name of a restaurant owned by the family that is in the moderate price range. It’s one we took over when the owner failed to pay the loan we’d given him to open the place. See, we don’t burn buildings down or maim people who don’t pay loans. We foreclose, just like banks do.
“I can drive.”
“No. I have a driver. I’ll meet you there.”
He smiles, and for a moment it makes my brain hiccup. God, he’s handsome. “I’ll see you there… Lana.”
My insides start doing strange things at his tone. The way my name rolls off his lips. Warning bells clang in my head.This is dangerous. I should cancel. Or invite Elio.
He tilts his head as if he knows the war raging inside my head. He’s wondering if I’m going to chicken out.
I turn up the wattage of my own smile. “I’ll be there, Henry.”
6
HENRY
I’ll be honest, Lana’s answer could have gone either way. She's good at hiding her emotions, but I've been studying her for months now. I can see the internal struggle playing out behind those amber eyes. She’s curious about what I know but suspicious of my intent. I have a strange feeling of guilt because my intentions aren’t just about Lazaro. That guilt is worse after seeing the split-second hopefulness in her expression. She might be a Mafia princess who’s committed who knows how many crimes, but her love for her brother is real and it feels like shit to take advantage of that.
But in the end, she agreed. I trot to my car to meet her at the restaurant I know her family owns, her attempt to maintain control of the situation. I like her fire. Her intelligence. I like her more than I should, and I have a bad feeling that I’m playing with fire. I remind myself that I’m trying to solve a crime… two or three of them, as it turns out. If having dinner with her gets me the information I need to bring down the D’Amato crime family, solve Peter’s father’s murder, and perhaps even find out what happened to Lazaro, well, that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
When I walk into the restaurant, a host greets me and immediately shows me to a table in a private area where Lana is already sitting.
“Nice place,” I say as I sit down.
“We’re not here for small talk. Or a date.”
Weirdly, I have a feeling of disappointment.
