Page 82 of Where the Wind Whispers

“Get out of my sight and don’t come back until you have something fucking useful to say.”

As they shuffled out, Kaz took a breath, scrubbing a hand down his face as he tried not to let his frustration get the best of him.

It seemed Alberto was determined to drag this out as his father had, but Kaz no longer had the patience for it. He didn’t want to make it clean. He didn’t want there to be a conversation where he did things the proper way.

He was just ready to put Alberto in the fucking ground.

His phone’s sudden chiming drew him from his thoughts, the ringing only making his headache worse. Not bothering to look at the caller ID, Kaz put the phone to his ear.

“Speak.”

“Kaz, where are you?”

Vera’s panicked voice had him sitting up straighter, his earlier agitation vanishing as worry replaced it. “What’s wrong?”

“Alfie,” she said in a rush, wind whipping in the background. “He—I didn’t really understand what he was saying, he was talking so fast. And he’s been upset ever since the store was blown up and—”

“Vera, slow down. Take a breath. Where is Alfie?”

“One of his restaurants, in the city. I can’t remember the name of it—Garden Eves, or Garden something?”

Kaz stood, already heading out of his office as he dug into his pocket for his keys.

Was Alberto going after Alfie, too? Was that his new play? It wasn’t a smart one, if he was. It was already bad enough that he had Kaz as an enemy, but couple the Brit into that and he was asking for the entire fucking city to be burned down.

“I know the place,” Kaz said with a nod to his men as they followed behind him. “What about it? Did the Italians hit it, too?”

“No,” Vera replied, venom lacing her tone. “It’s Alberto.”

Kaz’s grip on his phone tightened. “What about him?”

“He’s there.”

For fuck’s sake.

“Stay by the phone,” he said once he was in his Porsche. “I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

“Be careful, Kaz. And … make sure nothing happens to Alfie. For me, please.”

He hesitated before hanging up the phone, wanting to say more but knowing it wasn’t the right time. He couldn’t think of a single time that Vera had asked for his help with anything. She’d always been terribly independent in that way, but if she was asking for him for Alfie, of all people, then their relationship was far more serious than he’d originally thought.

As Kaz took off, still going far above the speed limit, though he was mindful of the cars following him, he used the Bluetooth to call Violet. Just the mention of her father’s name had him on edge, and he didn’t like the idea that he hadn’t even known the man was in the city.

Closer than he was comfortable.

“Kaz?”

He almost smiled, just the sound of her voice enough to quell some of his panic. “How’s my favorite girl?”

Her voice was softer when she responded. “Good. I’m good.”

“And our little one?” he asked, merging into the right lane to get around a slow driver—throwing up his middle finger at the car behind him when they had the nerve to honk.

“Sleeping peacefully. We’re good, Kaz, stop your worrying.”

“Rus still around?”

He already knew the answer but still felt compelled to ask. Ever since Alberto had gone as far as to blatantly attack Vera’s business, Kaz said fuck the regular security he had with Violet and their daughter. Instead, he asked Rus if he could do it.