by Mia Taylor
“Who? Luca?” Tanya asked, her face fraught with confusion, but Angela was no more enlightened.
Val turned and met her cousin’s eyes, shaking her head sadly.
“No, babe. Not Luca. Terry Duggan.”
A cold chill swept through Angela’s body, the heaviness of Val’s tone piercing her dramatically.
“Who the hell is Terry Duggan?” Tanya wanted to know.
Oh God… what have I done? Angela thought, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
“He was my boss…” Val took a deep breath inward and stared directly at Tanya. “He was my superior at the FBI.”
~ ~ ~
“She could be calling DiMarco right now!” Angela grumbled, pacing around the room, but Val waved her hand dismissively.
“She’s not calling DiMarco,” she retorted. “If she did, she’d be turning herself in and a lesbian at the center of operations is not going to look good for the Menottis. No, she’s just off cooling down. Trust me. I know Tanya.”
Angela didn’t miss the affectionate tone to Val’s voice but it was hard to appreciate under the circumstances. She wasn’t sure she shared Val’s confidences but she could do little else than accept her cousin’s assurances.
She did all this for love, Ang thought, the mixture of emotions making her dizzy. The absolute fool. What the hell was she thinking?
“You’ve lied to her for five years, three of which you have been living with her,” Angela reminded her. “That can’t be easy to forgive.”
“She is pissed,” Valentina agreed. “But she’s not stupid. And she does love me.”
Inadvertently, Angela thought of Luca. The parallels between what she had done and what Val had were not lost on her.
Tanya will tell him the truth about me. There will be a mob hit on me after I leave here. I have to get out of Miami. There is no future with Luca as Teresa Milano or anyone else for that matter.
Angela was consumed by a physical sense of loss which almost brought her to her knees. She had lost Luca after barely finding him and the feeling was too much to bear.
My protector, my lover, my friend… he’s going to see me as someone who betrayed him. Unless I get to him first and try to explain…
She wondered in what world he would ever forgive her. What could she possibly say to make any of it right?
“You’re sure that Duggan doesn’t know you’re here?” Valentina asked for the third time. “How long have you been under?”
“Only a few weeks, Val. The only reason I’m under is to find you.”
She scoffed, her mouth firming into a frown as she turned away.
“You aren’t the first who has come looking. I can’t believe he’d stoop to recruiting my family. Christ, Ang, you were supposed to be back in California, working for the police department. How did you ever let yourself get roped into this?”
“He wants to know what happened to you!” Angela snapped, shaking her dark hair in disbelief. “How could you just up and disappear without a word to anyone? What about your mom? Your partner?”
Val whirled and looked at Angela as if she had spontaneously sprouted another head.
“Are you kidding?” she gasped. “You’re asking me why?”
Angela stared at her blankly, her own anger mounting at the dubious expression on Val’s face.
“Because you’re in love?” she snapped. “You let your mother think you’re dead because you’d rather she didn’t find out you’re a lesbian? That’s cruel and if you can’t see that, you’re not the same woman I thought you were.”
“You can’t be that naïve, Ang.”
Valentina inhaled shakily while Angela waited, wondering what she was missing.
There has to be more to the story than this. She couldn’t be so cold and cut off the world like that because she wanted to live in sin with Tanya.
Val exhaled, shaking her head in stunned disbelief.
“You really don’t know, do you?” she clucked, a moan of despair escaping her lips.
“Know what?” Angela demanded impatiently. “Tell me.”
Val exhaled in a whoosh of breath.
“Duggan set me up to be killed during my undercover sting with the Menottis. He had arranged to come intercept a shipment, cash in, and kill the witnesses under the guise of ‘policing’. That was the raid which he told everyone I died in. Every other agent and soldier was killed during that sting. I was supposed to be among them.”
“But you weren’t there. That was just the story he used. He told me.”
“Yes,” Valentina whispered. “I was there and I saw what he did. I knew I had to get out of there. Tanya and I had been carrying on for a few months by that point and I told her I just wanted to get away from Luca, but he learned I was cheating on him before I could make my break. I had to get away before Duggan sent someone in to finish me off.”
Angela’s jaw dropped in shock.
“Are you saying that Duggan is looking for you to kill you?”
“Yes,” Valentina sighed. “And you have to get as far away from him as possible now. You’ll just be a loose end for him to tie up, Ang. There have been others who have come close to finding me and they just ‘disappear’. You won’t be far behind.”
A feeling of sick seized Angela’s stomach.
I really stepped in it. I thought I was protecting Val and instead, I put an even bigger target on her head.
“I’ll get you some money,” Valentina said. “And I can see about a passport—”
“No,” Angela said firmly. “I’m not running away from Duggan.”
Her cousin’s eyes widened in shock.
“You don’t get it, do you? There is no taking on Duggan. You are nobody. He’s better connected than some of the people in the mob.”
She peered at Val, wondering when her cousin had become so scared, so meek. Duggan had created a fear in her that hadn’t existed before.
“Are you sure that Tanya won’t rat us out?” Angela asked slowly, a plan beginning to form in her mind.
“She won’t,” Val said confidently. “But that doesn’t mean you’re safe from Duggan.”
“I can handle myself against him,” she told her cousin softly, knowing that there would only be one way to deal with Duggan when he came for them.
“Ang! What are you going to do?!” Val cried but Angela had already spun toward the door.
“I’ve got this,” she said, her heart hammering as the details began to solidify in her head.
I need to get back to Luca and explain everything to him. He will help me and together we can get Duggan. That rogue agent is nothing against two dragons.
“Ang!”
Angela turned back and offered Val a weak smile.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Angela told her cousin. “Your secret is safe with me, but I gotta tell you, your mother is devastated without you.”
Guilt shone in Val’s eyes and she bowed her head, nodding.
“If I can take Duggan out of the equation, I’ll reach out to her.”
“You promise?”
Val nodded, visibly swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.”
“Good luck with everything, cousin. I hope to see you soon.”
Their eyes met and Angela knew that it was likely going to be the last time she ever saw Val. No matter what she claimed, Ang realized that Val had become Mara now and the life she had created for herself was something she would always struggle to keep.
Angela understood that deeper than she could explain.
She bolted out the door, the keys to Tanya’s car still in her hand.
How much time do I have before Duggan gets impatient? What if Val speaks to the Office of Personal Responsibility and tells them what she knows? The FBI would open an investigation against Duggan and we would be safe—at least from Duggan.
It was a long shot, three years after the incident, and Valentina would hardly be considered credible in light of what had happened.
Her cousin woul
d be regarded as a deserter, a selfish former agent who had started a new life because she was afraid to come out of the closet.
There was no proof of what Val claimed and it would only put Tanya in danger with the mob if they ever learned the truth.
No, it is all on me. I have to talk to Luca and—
“Hello, Angela.”
She started at the sound of her name, her eyes locking on Luca, who stepped toward her, his face shrouded with malice.
A gasp of shock fell from her mouth, the plan she had formulated dissolving as quickly as it had been formed when she read the expression on his face.
He knows my name. My real name.
“Luca!” she breathed. “I was just coming for you!”
He snickered mirthlessly.
“I bet,” he growled. “You and Mara both, right?”
Tanya stepped out from behind her car and Angela knew it was all over.
She and Val had both played a dangerous game in love and as a result, had likely just lost their lives because of it.
Chapter Thirteen
The Great Escape
The idea to track Tanya’s phone had come after Luca had Carmello trace Teresa’s and learned it was still at La Perla.
The information had confused him and he called the restaurant where he talked to Gus, the busboy.
“No, she’s not here, Luca,” Gus explained. “She left with Tanya in Tanya’s car after their shift.”
“Where did they go?” he demanded, his patience expired.
“No idea. They don’t talk to me,” Gus chuckled. He hung up, furious that he was wasting precious time with the busboy.
Luca got back on the phone with Carmello.
“This goddamn job,” their resident tech complained. “If I had known you stronzos were going to be calling me at all hours of the day and night, I never would have agreed to this. Tell me whatever you want can’t wait until the morning—”
His whining was abruptly cut off by Luca’s hissing.
“If it could wait, I would have waited!”
Carmello heard the fury in his tone and relented.
“What is it this time?” he sighed.
“Track Tanya’s phone.”
He waited, listening as Carm’s fingers worked over the keyboard through his Bluetooth speaker. The entire matter was taking far too long for Luca’s liking.
“Well?” he demanded impatiently. “Where is she?”
Where are they? Is Tanya a CI too? Oh, I can’t believe I have to deal with this right now.
“I’m on it,” Carm assured Luca. “They seem to be in Fort Lauderdale.”
“What the hell is there?”
“No idea, Luca. I’m sending you the location now.”
Luca was already out the door when the text with the locale came in, his Saab zooming out of the small parking lot toward I-95.
She’s off clubbing or some shit like she’s not a liar, pretending to be someone she’s not.
On a whim, he dialed Tanya ’s number.
“Luca!” the bartender gasped, answering after the second ring. “W-why are you calling so late?”
“Where the hell is she?” he hissed.
“W-who?” Tanya breathed.
She knows exactly why I’m calling.
“I’m already on my way to you, Tanya. If I come all the way over there and she’s not with you—”
“I swear to God, I didn’t know anything about this until a few minutes ago. Please, Luca, I didn’t know about her or Mara or—”
“About Mara? What about Mara?”
His voice was oddly flat but somehow, Luca wasn’t surprised to hear that there was a connection between the women. His subconscious had been trying to tell him as much all along.
There was an abrupt silence as Tanya realized she had said too much.
“What about Mara?” he asked again.
“She’s here too,” Tanya breathed and he could almost taste the fear in her voice.
Teresa and Mara were working together. I didn’t just allow one cop into our house. I’m an FBI magnet.
“Luca, I think there’s more going on than we—”
“I will deal with you after. Don’t you move from there, Tanya!” His tone was a thousand blades cutting through the phone.
“I won’t,” she promised miserably and as he hung up, he had to wonder how much she really knew about what was going on.
Probably more than me, he thought bitterly.
As he made the drive to Fort Lauderdale, his blood boiling, he didn’t know what he was going to do.
If Giovanni finds out about this, I’m dead too. I have pushed my limits with the old man over the years but not like this. Bringing an undercover agent into his restaurant, into his business—this is unforgiveable.
By the time he pulled up to the gated community, he knew he only had one choice; he had to kill Teresa—Angela, whatever her name was. It was the only way to keep Giovanni from finding out about what had happened.
The idea did not fill him with glee and as he thought about it, he knew he wouldn’t be able to do it, even if she wasn’t a dragon.
Pulling his vehicle to the curb, he watched the front door open and the female Judas walking out onto the driveway, her head down as she appeared lost in thought.
Look at her, carrying on with her life as if nothing was wrong. How could I have fallen for that? I don’t deserve to be capo.
Despite his anger, Luca could not deny the flood of emotion he felt for her.
She’s a traitor, he thought furiously, jumping from the car. She needs to know what will happen to traitors if they mess with the family.
But the bravado in his head did not match what he felt, as if the words were planted there by rote.
Whose words were they? His father’s? Giovanni’s? They weren’t his, that was for sure. His heart wasn’t in the familia. It was inside this treasonous witch who had betrayed him in every possible way.
“Hello, Angela.”
She started at the sound of her name, her eyes locking on Luca, who stepped toward her, his face shrouded with malice.
“Luca!” she gasped. “I was just coming for you!”
He snickered mirthlessly.
“I bet,” he sighed. “You and Mara both, right?”
Her complexion was opaque as Tanya appeared in view, her expression defeated.
“Get Mara and get into the car,” he growled at Tanya, but she shook her head.
“No,” she told him, standing firmly on the pavement, her arms crossed over her chest. “I can’t do that.”
He raised his gun toward her but he instantly noticed that his fingers trembled.
“Tanya, go get the other one,” he hissed. “Now.”
The blonde did not need a second instruction and she bolted toward the house, leaving Luca to stare at the woman he had been so sure about, so wrong about.
“Get in the car,” Luca snapped, willing his hand to steady, but Teresa stood where she was, showing her own weapon as she raised her hands.
“You’re not going to shoot me, Luca.”
“You don’t know me!” he spat. “Don’t pretend you ever did.”
“I do know you,” she replied softly, gingerly stepping toward him. “That’s why I know you’re going to hear what I have to say before doing anything you’re going to regret.”
“You’re a damned cop!”
“No. I’m not.”
Confusion overtook him and he lowered his gun slightly.
“You’re not?” he echoed disbelievingly. “Is that the story you’re going with?”
“I was a cop,” she sighed. “But I’m not anymore.”
He peered at her, his jaw locking in defiance, but he read the truth in her face.
She can’t hide what she’s feeling, he thought. She’s a terrible actress, a terrible liar.
He loathed that he was lowering his guard, reading her face for absolution but not finding what he needed there.
&nbs
p; “I was sent here to find the woman you know as Mara,” she explained, taking another step toward him. “But I wasn’t authorized to be here.”
He processed the words, trying to see if they fit with what he already knew.
“Why were you sent to find her?” he growled. “Is she a cop too?”
The brunette paused as if considering his question, but Luca felt a stab of betrayal as he understood the truth.
“She’s hiding from the same man who enlisted me to find her, a rogue agent who stole from the Menottis. He needs to be stopped, Luca, and you need to help me stop him. If you do that, you will never see me again, I swear.”
The agony in her voice was apparent but he closed his ears to it.
She couldn’t be trusted and he wouldn’t fall for it again.
He chortled without humor and raised the pistol again, waving her toward the car.
“I don’t owe you anything,” he spat. “Get in the car.”
“No,” she agreed, unmoving. “You don’t owe me anything. You have saved me a dozen times over in just a few short weeks.”
Unexpectedly, he found himself moved by the words but he forced himself not to show his feelings.
She’s manipulating you. You can’t believe anything she’s saying. You have to kill her and Mara. Your own life depends on it.
Instinctively, he looked up toward the doorway and out walked his ex-girlfriend, her face gaunt as she stared at him imploringly.
“No!” Mara cried out, seeing the gun. “Please, Luca, put that away.”
“You have no right to tell me what to do,” he spat back at her. “Shut up and get in the car.”
“Luca,” she whispered. “I had to get away from Duggan. I had no choice.”
“Looks like you’re doing just fine.”
“I’m not!” Mara insisted, shooting Angela a wary look. “Duggan is still going to come after me, after us.”
“Us?” Luca echoed. Mara nodded.
“Now Angela is on his list too. We know too much, Luca. He recruited my cousin to find me and now he’s going to take her out too.”
He looked from Mara to Teresa and suddenly realized that he felt absolutely nothing toward the woman he had spent years furious with.
There was no more anger, no sense of loss.
It was as if he were staring at a total stranger.
