The door that led to Cain’s heart was locked once again, but now Emma was sitting on the inside where no one could touch her.
*
They took their time showering and getting ready for their evening out. Cain stayed with Emma the entire time, watching as she put on makeup and fixed her hair, wearing a new set of underwear. Seeing so much skin on display, Cain was flooded with memories of Emma’s pregnancy with Hayden, and she couldn’t wait to see Emma like that again. At the moment she felt like a spoiled child who wanted the shiny new bike she’d admired forever, but needed to clean her plate before she was allowed to have it. Big Gino was now her only barrier to the future she wanted.
“Are you all right, honey?”
Cain looked up as Emma stood before her with a bow tie in her hand. “Sorry, you caught me daydreaming. Did you say something?”
“I asked if you needed some help.” She held up the tie and received a nod. “You can daydream all you want as long as I fit in somewhere.”
“You dominate my dreams, lass.” Finished putting everything on but her jacket, Cain stood to help Emma get ready. They had to attend a dinner before heading over to the club, but they weren’t in a hurry.
“Thank you for saying so, but now I need you to focus on tonight.” Emma stepped into the dress she’d picked up earlier and let Cain zip her up. “Are our friends still out there?”
Cain walked to the window before answering. Stepping out to the balcony, Cain could see two surveillance teams. She lit a cigar as she observed the observers, pulling out her cell phone with a wink for Emma, who was slipping into her shoes. Cain knew that the watchers almost always wanted to ignore these types of calls, since she never used something so easy to listen in on.
“Lou, give us about twenty minutes. Then pull the car around.”
“We’re on it, Cain. You want to go out the back?”
Before she could answer, Emma joined her. “When you’re married to someone like Emma Casey, you always escort the lady out the front door.”
“Truer words, boss.”
The camera captured the embrace followed by a kiss, and the powerful mikes recorded the words. “Think they’re going to dinner at Carlotti’s?” Claire asked.
“There’s no way they won’t be there,” Shelby answered.
*
After weeks of silence and inactivity, the opening of Emma’s signaled more than a new place to dance in the city. As trucks made deliveries to Carlotti’s Italian Restaurant, a wiretap on the office phone caught a conversation between the restaurant manager and his boss, Vincent Carlotti.
Vincent had told him to bump a major anniversary party scheduled in the private dining room. At first the agents assigned to him hadn’t given it much thought, until the agents assigned to Ramon Jatibon reported two new arrivals at the Lakefront Airport. Ramon’s twins Remington and Mano had flown in on their private plane, traveling very light.
“The families are circling the wagons, and they’re probably going to discuss whatever’s bought them all together in that private dining room tonight.” More agents than Shelby thought worked in New Orleans now surrounded the restaurant owned by Vincent, waiting to catch snippets of the conversation. “The only ones missing are Giovanni and his boys, but that’s another story they’ll probably cover tonight.”
Claire nodded and readjusted some of the gear for better reception. “Vincent’s kid, Vinny, I know from my prior assignment, but what’s the story on the Jatibons?”
“Street name Snake Eyes, the twins are the next generation of that family’s empire. The daughter Remi will be the next head of the family, while her brother Mano runs their Las Vegas holdings. In a lot of ways Remi reminds me of Cain, at least when it comes to the revolving door on her bedroom. Just like our friend up there, Remi has had her fair share of beautiful women. The old man, Ramon, much like Vincent in his organization, still calls the shots, but the young guns wield a tremendous amount of power and influence within their respective families.” Shelby tapped her finger to her chin, trying to remember what else was in the file she’d read earlier when they were informed of the twins’ arrival.
“From what I know,” said Claire, “part of the holdings of all three families is legitimate.”
“True, but we’re interested in the part that’s not,” Shelby said. She clicked the camera again, catching the Caseys across the street with their heads together. “And they’re all smart. Dalton, Vincent, and Ramon raised pit vipers, but they’re anything but stupid. All of the children are college graduates—Remi even went to law school— and all of them are master tacticians.”
“Then how do we bring them down?”
“My father loves to build models of famous naval ships,” Shelby said.
Claire laughed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“He taught me that no matter how good the design of any ship, it always has flaws. Most are minor, but they’re flaws nonetheless.”
She concentrated on Claire, knowing Cain wouldn’t give up anything but soft whispers to Emma. “Find those flaws, and enough of them, and you can sink anything. These guys are smart, but no one’s perfect. Our job is to find the flaws.”
Chapter Forty-Six
“Welcome back to Carlotti’s, Mrs. Casey.” The head waiter escorted them through the din of the main dining room to where the rest of the families were waiting.
“Thank you.” Emma was perfectly content to walk at a leisurely pace while hanging on Cain’s arm. “It’s good to be back.”
For once the notoriously prompt Cain was fashionably late, but Emma could tell by their gait that Cain wasn’t worried about it.
“Is everyone here, Dominic?”
