Cautious (Sequel to Disastrous)

by Montes, E. L.

  “Night, baby.” I waited until she made it up the stairs then shot Jimmie a narrow glare.

  “What?”

  “Why are you making my little girl pout?” I asked him.

  “My little girl, Marcus. Remember that.” He shook his head. “She’s been giving me a lot of attitude lately. I need to show her who’s the parent, or she’ll walk all over me, as she does with you.”

  “Whatever.” No point in getting into that. “What’s going on?”

  He looked over my shoulder and then leaned in to whisper, “I found out who was working with Michael, and you won’t fuckin’ believe who he is.”

  “Who?” He nudged his head behind me. I turned to see my office door closed. “He’s here?” Jimmie nodded. “What the fuck, Jimmie? Are you sure he’s not working with Lou?”

  “Marcus, I have evidence: photos of Michael and him together trading information. When I confronted him, he didn’t deny it. Marcus, he knew every single detail of the info Michael gave to us. Everything.”

  With a deep breath, I nodded, spun around, and stormed over to the office door with Jimmie following closely behind me. I wasn’t sure who to expect as I opened the door, but once I entered the room, my chest constricted when I saw who it was.

  Vinnie, my right hand man when it came to jobs for Lou, was standing by my desk. “Vinnie?”

  “What’s up, Marky.” He nodded his head.

  “You were working with Michael? But . . .” I tried to make sense of it. Nothing came up.

  “I know it comes as a shock.”

  “A fuckin’ shock is an understatement, don’t you think?” I shook off the uneasiness in discovering that bit of information and walked over and grabbed a seat behind my desk and looked over at him. He and Jimmie took a seat in front of me.

  “I don’t understand. Are you with Boston PD?”

  “Nah, I’m actually with the FBI.”

  I laughed once, but I wasn’t the least bit amused. How the fuck did I miss that? An agent? I shook my head in disbelief, “For how long?”

  He leaned back in his chair lost in thought. “Well, I’ve been working with the agency for six years now and on the Sorrento case for about three years.”

  “That’s around the time Vinnie became involved with the Sorrentos.” Jimmie reminded Marcus.

  “Yeah, I remember that,” I replied to my brother, then focused my attention back on Vinnie. “So when you began working for Lou, that’s when you started the investigation?”

  Vinnie nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”

  “But, Michael didn’t confront us with any information until about a year ago.”

  “Michael was working with us, trying to bring down any corrupt cops working with the Sorrentos. He was involved with the case from the very beginning, but we needed to get in deeper. What we had wasn’t enough. Granted, it takes time to build a case against someone like Lou. I worked on a case before this one in New York, which was a five-year investigation and still ongoing.”

  Jimmie adjusted in his seat to face Vinnie and asked, “So why were we involved?”

  “Bait.” Vinnie shrugged. “We knew the two of you were the closest to Lou. He trusted you guys with anything, well, until recently, that is. When he requested information on Mia, we knew you guys were fucked. I was the one he asked to collect info on her. I’ve had one of my men looking out for her ever since.”

  Ignoring that, I continued to question him. “Michael said he had evidence and a confession from a source that Lou was the one who killed our father.” I leaned into the table, placing both elbows along the wooden surface. “Are you saying that was a lie to get us involved?”

  Vinnie let out a heavy breath. “We needed something to lure you guys in. We needed the two of you on our side and against Lou.”

  “So you’re fuckin’ saying our father’s suicide wasn’t a set up?” Jimmie asked to clarify.

  Vinnie nodded in response.

  What. The. Fuck.

  Everything we’d believed the past year was all a fucking lie!

  I tossed my head back as a roaring laugh escaped me. Tears began to build from laughing so hard. Jimmie snapped his head at me with a wry expression. Although none of it was funny, not even in the least shape or form, I couldn’t stop laughing. It was fucking hilarious how we were led to believe all of it. We were being played as fucking puppets either way. By Lou. By the Feds. My laugh triggered confused looks from both of their faces, as tears built from laughing so hard.

  Then I thought of how my life had been turned upside down and ripped apart for the past year: How I wanted to kill Lou with my bare fucking hands because I thought he was responsible for my father’s death. How my brother and Michael kept me out of the fucking loop for so long, because they thought I couldn’t handle it—thought I would ruin it all. How I went on jobs for that fucking bastard, Lou, wishing that if I didn’t live one more day, the last thing I would hope for was to see Lou gasping for air as my hands were wrapped tightly around his neck, squeezing the life out of him. How the stress and pressure built day in and day out, not wanting the life anymore, not caring to live. How for years I hated my father and then felt relieved that he didn’t kill himself—that maybe, just fucking maybe, he wasn’t a fucking coward—but NOW that was stripped away from me.

  “Get out!”

  Vinnie eyes widened at my raised voice. Maybe he didn’t hear me the first time. Standing from my chair, I hovered over the desk, and with a hard glare, I yelled, “Get the fuck out!”

  “Marcus—

  “No. Because of this cocksucker, we’ve been walking around on fuckin’ eggshells, wondering what to do next.” Straightening, I swung my arms in the air. “We were getting fucked in the ass the entire time, by a fuckin’ pig at that!”

  “Marky, I’m sorry for how everything went down. I don’t mean any disrespect to you or Jimmie, especially with you, Marky, not after what you’ve done for me.”

  I reluctantly placed my hands to my hips and tried to calm my breathing as Jimmie asked, “What was that?”

  Vinnie went on to answer Jimmie but kept his eyes on me. “He saved my life. It was my first night on a job. We had a trade with a cartel group. I made a mistake by turning my back on a bad trade. Marky warned me before we went in to never turn your back on anyone. I was fuckin’ stupid and turned to put the money in the truck, but he shot one of the men before they got me. I remember a loud gun going off, and for a split second, I thought it was me, that I was dead. Then when I came to my senses and turned, Marky was standing behind me with a gun in his hand, and the douchebag he shot was on the fuckin’ ground beside me.” He shook the memory from his thoughts. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I owe my life to you. I can make it all go away for you guys.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m the lead investigator in the Sorrento case. Due to cuts in funding, I only have two men working under me. There wasn’t enough money for wiretapping, so we have to figure out everything from word of mouth or video surveillance, which isn’t much. At the end of the day, we write down transcripts on a daily basis. You and Jimmie can easily be erased from those memos.”

  “But . . .” Jimmie chimed in, knowing that there was a catch.

  Vinnie leaned into the desk, adjusting his position so that he could take a good hard look at the both of us. “In two weeks, Lou himself will have his largest trade yet—one hundred pounds of cocaine worth five million dollars.”

  Jimmie whistled. “With whom?”

  “Salvatore Lombardi.”

  That was fucking huge. Salvi was the boss of one of the largest mob organizations in New York. He had been around a lot longer than Lou, knew all the ins and outs of the trade, but they’d remained friendly rivals. The two of them together caught by federal agents would be the largest mob bust in history.

  “Do you know what this would mean if we had both Lou and Salvi?”

  “Yeah, a fuckin’ death wish.” I spat as I sank back in my
chair.

  “Not without help from the two of you.”

  Jimmie raised a brow at that comment. “And how do you propose we help?”

  Vinnie stood and walked around his chair, gripping the back of the seat. “There’s surveillance all over the club except for the basement, which is where the trade will occur. We need surveillance in every corner of that area. No blind spots.”

  “We can do that.” Jimmie said with a shrug.

  “But I’m sure that’s not all you need from us.” I added with a raised brow.

  Vinnie nodded. “With the low funding, I don’t have the pull or power for back up. I only have two men on my team: One is looking after Mia. The other just provides info when needed. The team that’s working on the Lombardi case in New York is going to handle this bust with us.”

  “But?”

  “We need someone to make sure it happens, someone to let us know their every move: what time they arrive, when both Lou and Salvi are spotted together, and the time of the exchange.”

  “You do understand that Lou doesn’t trust us now, right?” I leaned back in the chair, placing both of my hands on the back of my head. “How do you expect us to retrieve that info? We didn’t even know about the Lombardi trade.”

  “Lou hasn’t trusted you in months, Marky. Ever since he was suspicious of you and found out the info on Mia, he’s been watching you. I’ve been watching you for him. We had a meeting a few days back. He took you out as second in command and gave it to Gio, so you know what that means.”

  I absolutely did. It meant that, if for some reason Lou was killed, the second in command would take over. I was supposed to be the one that would take Lou’s position if there was ever a hit on him. I never wanted it to begin with, and it didn’t surprise me that Gio took over my position.

  “Okay, so the question remains: how do you expect us to retrieve that information? Do you really think he’ll let us near the job at this point? No, he won’t. His trust in me is shot to hell.”

  “I just need you to be at the club on the day of the exchange. I don’t know for sure what your involvement would entail, but that Sunday morning, we can meet up, probably here, go over all the details with my men, and then move on from there. You have my word. If you two do this for me, you will not be mentioned at all.”

  Jimmie shook his head in disbelief. “But the bust will take place at the club that Marcus owns. With all the media attention that has occurred in the past couple of years increasing people’s suspicions about our involvement with the Sorrentos, how would you pull that off?”

  “Well, I’ve thought of that. Every month there’s inventory done at the club?” He raised a brow in question. I nodded in response. “Well, the two of you will be at the club for inventory that week.”

  “What about the media?” Jimmie questioned.

  “We’ll take care of them. Granted, no matter what, the media will have their own take on things. Reporters may mention your names, no doubt about it, but if we play it right, we can pull it off.”

  We sat there for a few moments silently, taking in that bit of information that had been provided. Jimmie turned his head and looked at me with a raised brow. Even though he didn’t speak, I knew he was waiting for my take on it. After another few minutes, I nodded my head at him.

  He looked at Vinnie and with a shrug said, “Okay, we’re in.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  MIA

  Two weeks. That’s how long it’d been since I’d seen Marcus. He had texted me a few times, but his messages were short. I wasn’t bothered by it as much as I thought I’d be, because I knew he was busy with work and I was distracted with school. I aced my last exam, which was a huge stress reliever. My next exam wasn’t for another couple of weeks, and then the final was in December. I was certain that if I continued the way I was going, I’d pass the class.

  Because I had busted my butt for the past few weeks, I had decided to take Saturday off. I had texted Marcus to see if he wanted to go out to dinner or stay in or just spend some time together, but he was busy that night, which turned into a night of wearing PJ’s, eating junk food, and watching old movies. That was until Megan barged out of Jeremy’s room.

  I jumped at the sound of her slamming his bedroom door behind her. “I can’t stand him!” She rushed over and slumped beside me on the couch. With a wrinkled nose, she crossed her arms and huffed.

  Before I could ask what happened, Jeremy stormed out of his room and came over to us. “Seriously, Megan? You won’t even let me explain anything . . .”

  “I’m not speaking to Jeremy at the moment, Mia. Can you please let him know that?” She asked me as she turned her head, looking away from Jeremy.

  When my eyes glanced up to Jeremy, he’d rolled his eyes in frustration. “So we’re five now? Awesome.”

  “Shut up, Jeremy!” She angrily wiggled in her seat but kept her glare toward the wall beside her.

  Jeremy shot me a look that said, “Can you help me out here?” Since I had no idea what the hell was going on, I shrugged my shoulders in response.

  He let out a heavy sigh and tossed his arms in the air. “Fine, act that way, Megan. I’m out!” He turned his back on us, marched toward the door, and grabbed his keys by the table before slamming the door shut behind him.

  Megan sucked her teeth. “Can you believe him? Ugh.”

  Still alarmed by the entire show, I asked, “What happened?”

  “It’s a long story. Let’s go out.” She jumped from the couch and reached for my arm. “We’ll find something hot to wear and hit Club21.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, Megan I was sort of content with just chillaxing at home.”

  “Come on, Mia. Please.” She pleaded with her big hazel eyes. “I can’t stay here, and I need to let out some frustration. Drinks and the dance floor will do the trick, but I need my best girl there. Please.” She begged again.

  Why I allowed her to influence me in any way was beyond me. Her lips curled into a slight grin, after my nod. “Can I borrow an outfit?”

  I rolled my eyes and nodded again. I knew that was coming too.

  ***

  “I’ll have a cosmo, please. Thank you.” The bartender nodded before heading toward the end of the bar to prepare my drink.

  Letting out a deep breath, I sank my chin into my hand. I knew tonight was supposed to be a fun girls’ night, but Megan refused to mention what happened between her and Jeremy. It was just the two of us, and I hate to dance, so as Megan demolished the dance floor, I sat by the bar and tried to drink away my boredom.

  “Can I buy you a drink?” A deep tone pierced through my thoughts. Turning my head, I was presented with a familiar face. At first, the name didn’t dawn on me.

  “Gio, right?”

  “The one and only.” He gave a charming half grin.

  “Well, it’s nice to see you again. How are you?”

  “I’m doing a lot better now.” He said in a seductive way and then winked at me.

  I felt my cheeks turn a burning red. The bartender brought my drink right on time, allowing me to hide the embarrassment with a few sips of my cosmo. I’d only met him once when he stopped by Marcus’s house, but there was something about him that was pleasant. I didn’t feel uncomfortable around him. Maybe it was his upbeat persona. Yes, he was a very good-looking man, but I was madly in love with Marcus. Gio didn’t compare to Marcus, not in the least. No man could ever win my heart except for Marcus, but I wondered if he still felt the same about me. It was hard not to think that way because he had been so distant lately.

  Gio straightened up and ordered a beer before speaking. “So where’s your man?”

  “I have no clue.” Though, I wish did. “I’m here with my cousin, who’s out there on the dance floor, sweating off some frustration.” He looked over to where I pointed at Megan. She was shaking her hips, swinging her arms, and grooving to “Locked Out Of Heaven” by Bruno Mars. She was also pushing away every man that had tried to da
nce with her. Megan was beyond angry and needed to let loose. After a few shots, she was doing just that.

  “Ah, I must have a talk with Marky. I mean if I had a beautiful woman like you I would never leave your side.”

  Rolling my eyes, I cocked my head aside and stared at him for a few seconds before replying. “Marcus is a busy man. That’s all.”

  His eyes slightly squinted as if confused by my response. “Busy doing what exactly?”

  “On jobs. What else?”

  Laughing once, he took a long pull of his beer then placed the bottle on the bar. “Is that what he’s been telling you? Marcus hasn’t handled a job in the last four weeks. Vinnie and I have been taking care of them.”

  Staring at Gio in disbelief, my throat closed and instantly felt very dry. All the excuses Marcus had given me sprinted through my mind: he was busy; he couldn’t make it; he was sorry, but he needed to work on a few things.

  Why would he lie about it all? He promised that he wouldn’t keep anything from me. Suddenly, I felt more detached from him than I’d ever felt. “Excuse me, but I have to go.” I muttered while grabbing my clutch from the bar. I tried to stand, but Gio put his hands on my shoulders and forced me to sit back down.

  Angrily, I snapped my head and glared at him. “What are you doing?” Just because I was a bit comfortable around him, didn’t mean he knew me well enough to put his hands on me.

  “Look. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that to you. Maybe he was given a separate job to handle.”

  “Bullshit. Don’t try and cover his ass now.” I crossed my arms while tapping my foot along the leg of the metal barstool in front of me. What was Marcus doing on those nights if he wasn’t on a job? Jealous thoughts began to take over, causing my blood pressure to rise.

  “Look at you! You’re working yourself up over something that’s not even an issue. Come on. Let me grab you another drink.” Raising a brow, he flashed a wide grin. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was overreacting. He ordered us another round of drinks after I let out a deep breath and nodded.