Page 126 of Bene

Bene didn’t blame him.

“Killing him,” Corrado continued, ignoring their oldest brother’s attitude, “would instantly come back to us, no matter how we framed it. And when we get Papa off these charges, because we will somehow, we need as little attention on us as possible. Then, he can slip back under the radar, and we won’t have someone up our asses every single time we do business. It’s the smart thing to do, but killing that bastard? That’ll ruin everything. We need to figure out another way to make the detective unreliable to his superiors and the judge.”

Things were not simple.

It wouldn’t be easy.

This was bad all around.

No one needed to say that out loud for the rest of them to know it was true. Whenever they were around their ma or dad, the boys kept an upbeat demeanor. They never made it seem like this was a hopeless situation, and Gian would be stuck right where he was until he was found guilty, and then moved to a prison. Never did they suggest to their ma that her husband wouldn’t be coming home to her.

Still, there was a chance.

They were running out of time to figure it out.

“I hate that detective,” Gian muttered. “Just like his fucking partner years ago. They’re cut from the same cloth, and it isn’t like ours.”

Bene did well to keep his mouth shut at his father’s comment. Not that Gian was wrong—he also wasn’t entirely right. The phone burning a goddamn hole in his pocket constantly would confirm that, given the recorded phone call Vanna sent him a couple of weeks prior. The detective was just as bad as any of them when it came to dirty money and bribery, but he liked for everyone else to think he was the good guy cop at the same time.

Still, he kept his mouth shut.

Now wasn’t the time.

And … well, if he were honest, it wouldn’t end well for Bene if he outed to his brothers and father during their weekly jail visit that he was still—even if it was only through random text messages from phone numbers he didn’t recognize—attached to Vanna Falco. No, he wasn’t seeing her, and he sure as hell wasn’t fucking her, even if she made regular appearances in his dreams, but he was in contact with her.

He was using her for all she gave.

She was willing.

He had to do something for his family because no one else was getting anything done on their side of things. Their father was still in jail, his first bond hearing denied because he was considered a high flight risk what with his available funds and ties all over the world. His brothers pulled every single string they had, called in every contact they might be able to use, and still nothing.

So yeah, they might hate him later.

They’d be pissed he used her info to help.

Bene would do what he had to—if it worked, and it got his father free, then wasn’t that all that mattered at this point?

He thought so.

Now, it was just a matter of figuring out how to use the info he had been given from Vanna on the detective, and more recently, about the men of the Camorra. Mario, and the bastard’s father … their people. All their recent, illegal business dealings were on his phone to be used whichever way he saw fit, but he just hadn’t figured out how yet, or if it would even help.

“And you,” his father said.

Bene looked at his dad, doing his best to ignore the fact Gian’s usual three-piece suit had been replaced by a drab, gray jail uniform that didn’t even fit him that well. “What about me?”

“Make sure you stay out of trouble, son.”

Right.

What his father really wanted to say was make sure you stay away from that woman, Bene.

He could see it in Gian’s eyes.

“Let’s just worry about you right now, Papa.”

That’s why they were all there.

And Bene had never been a good liar.