Page 108 of Thin Lines (Donati Bloodlines 2)

It didn’t help that the two men had separated shortlyafter entering the club. One went in one direction, while the other went in theopposite. Neither man made an effort to approach the other and apparentlyhadn’t for a good hour, despite having arrived together.

Did it stink like something was up?

Oh, yes.

“They’ve progressively moved closer and closer to theVIP section,” Calisto’s man noted.

“Toward the boss.”

“Yeah, Cal.”

Calisto checked another monitor on the wall, gaugingwho was sitting near Affonso. The only person he considered important enoughfor his attention and concern was Emma. If something bad was about to go down,for whatever reason, he didn’t want her mixed up in it.

“Do you have any idea who it might be or what theycould want?”

Calisto shook his head. “No.”

But his mind whispered, Irish.

Despite Affonso having told Calisto to mind his ownbusiness where the Irish were concerned, he still kept an eye out and an ear tothe ground. Very little was being said.

Calisto suspected that was because whatever had happenedbetween the Irish and Affonso, it was a private matter. The Irish were probablywilling to make a public issue about other things to gain Affonso’s attention,just so that they could get back to the rest.

In private.

Sometimes, crime families were strange in that way.

Not wanting to dwell on it more and waste any precioustime, Calisto reached for the walkie-talkie on his desk. Putting it up to hismouth, he hit the button on the side.

“Arthur?”

The walkie-talkie beeped with an incoming transmission.

“Ciao, Cal,” came his uncle’s man’s response.

Arthur was one of Affonso’s closest enforcers, andusually his driver. Affonso occasionally rotated his guards, but Arthur was theone who always did tribute duty.

“We might have a problem,” Calisto said.

“Might?”

“There’s two men on the floor getting closer to theboss. We’ve been watching them for a while. Arrived together, but stayingapart. They’re not making use of the club, if you know what I mean.”

“Anything visible on them to say who they are?” Arthurasked.

Calisto waited his man out while the camera angleswere manipulated and then the specs zoomed in. With the ball caps on theirheads, it was impossible to see the men’s faces. The blazers they wore kepttheir arms covered.

“No visible tattoos, and we don’t have a clear shot oftheir faces,” Calisto said.

“Are you making a mountain out of a mole hill?”

Calisto bristled with irritation. He honestly didn’tgive a shit about Affonso at the moment, but things had been tense over thelast year between their family and the Irish syndicate from New Jersey. Thingshas progressively been getting worse. It went from threats of action, to a mandown, straight to burned property.

If Affonso made a mess, he needed to clean it.

Calisto didn’t think Emma needed to be caught up init.

“I could be making a mountain out of a mole hill,”Calisto said sharply, “but do you want to be the fool who says I am and thenhas to answer for it later when it turns out I wasn’t?”