“Give me one damn excuse to kick your ass,” I mutter. “Do it.”
Christ, I’m hungry to take out my aggression somewhere. I don’t give a shit if he stares at my neighbor or if he even picks her up. The only woman on my radar is Mia.
Because it’s my job. I’m being paid to make her the epicenter of my universe.
That’s all.
Emilio shakes his head. “You should’ve run harder,” he mutters. “All good, Enzo. Now answer my question.”
“What question?”
“Why are you here, instead of there?”
There being the North End, where everyone else is partying tonight. We’re so close, I can smell the food across the wharf, the scent of grilled meat making my mouth water. I can almost taste the ice cold beer. From my balcony, I get a beautiful but hazy view of the Boston harbor.
I roll my eyes, pull out my phone, and smack my fingertip on the screen. The video feed next door pops up, and I flash him my phone.
“You know why. That’s why.”
When his eyes widen and he swallows hard, I look back at my phone.
Christ.
She’s sunbathing. On her roof.
In a fucking string bikini.
“Don’t look at her,” I snap.
“You showed me the phone, you douchebag!”
“You weren’t supposed to actually look!”
“Okay, okay,” he says.
When I took this job, I had no choice. I stood, disgraced, in Piero’s office, my head hung low. I deserved to have my ass kicked, my honor stripped, my status as made man yanked away.
But the boss gave me a chance.“I’ll give you one opportunity to make this right,” he said. “You know I love you like a brother.”
I nodded, humbled and chastened. Even though I had no way of knowing what was going to happen, I should’ve been more careful. I put the lives of my brothers at risk with my carelessness. I’d do fucking anything to be reinstated in the good graces of the family.
“My daughter’s going to America,” Piero said. “She’s been accepted into Boston College’s School of Arts.”
Mia is his pride and joy, and he’s spoiled her rotten since birth. If she wanted to go to school in America, he’d allow it. If she wanted the goddamn moon, he’d wrap it in golden paper and hand it to her.
“I want you to watch her. Track her. Keep your eye on her, make sure none of those Americans take advantage of her.”
Jesus Christ.
Piero’s eyes narrowed. “She’s my whole world, Enzo. Understand?”Oh, I understood, alright. It’s why my apartment overlooks hers. Why I’ve got video feeds set up in my office that go directly to my phone, and a tracker that shows me where she is at all times. I know every contact in her phone, every class that she’ll take, and she doesn’t have a clue who I am.
Yet. She will soon.
Emilio sits in a chair on the balcony and props his feet up on the little table. I grab the course syllabus I’m working on, shove his feet off the table, and sit beside him.
“I still can’t believe they have you teaching criminal justice. Is that a joke?”
I growl in response. The irony is not lost on me, either. I have to admit, I enjoy the job, though.
“Piero thought I could pull it off.”
Emilio takes a drag from his smoke.”You can pull it off alright.” He glances below to the balcony. “Tell you what I’d like to pull off…”
I try to ignore him. Maybe he’ll shut up if I don’t respond.
“You should come,” he presses. “It’s still August, for Christ’s sake.”
“And school’s in session soon.”
“What, a few days? Do that later. Job’s just a cover anyway.”
I shake my head at him and don’t bother to reply.
“Listen,” he continues. “I’m meeting up with a girl who’s got a twin. Gorgeous. Buy the girls a drink and you’ve got it made. One for each of us. See? I share.”
“You were supposed to be here on official business. Yet you’re fuckin’ around, trying to get laid?”
“Doesn’t mess with business,” he says. “Secured a shipment in Chelsea this afternoon, heading straight to Sicily by dawn. Signed over possession of four pieces of prime real estate this weekend, and saw to it a special delivery from the boss made it safely into the right hands.” He puffs out smoke. I watch the ring grow larger and thinner, dissipating into the cloudless sky. “Not my fault some of you tight-asses can’t mix business with pleasure.”
Emilio’s the equivalent of the brainiac who rolls out of bed and aces his test without studying.
The humidity’s making sweat pour off my body. I get to my feet. “I’m taking a shower. Let yourself out when you’re done.”
I take my phone with me.
I’m bound and determined not to think of her when I strip off my sweaty clothes and toss them in the hamper in the bathroom.
I stare at the feed. Christ.