Even though we’d apprehended Lorenzo, there was still the matter of the next potential victim. We didn’t know the identity of the woman who had carried out the hit on Senator Rothschild, and we didn’t know who she wanted killed off in return. Unless we could figure out a way to make Lorenzo talk, we’d be no closer to finding the next victim before it was too late.
I groaned in frustration, and he smirked.
“The Family will protect me,” he finally spoke. It was literally the first thing he’d said since I’d come in here.
I slammed my fist onto the table and stood up. I strode out of the room without another word. I wasn’t getting anywhere this way, and at this point, I was so worked up that even Lorenzo could tell.
“You okay?” Jase asked as he followed me out of the room.
“Yeah,” I replied bitterly. “I’m going to go get some air and clear my head for a minute.”
“All right.” Jase agreed. “It’s a good time to take a lunch break, anyway. How about we meet back here in another hour?”
“Sure.” I nodded, my mind already miles away.
I walked through the office quickly, barely registering the snide comment Bette tossed my way as I went. I’d only meant to go outside and take a few calming breaths, but now that he’d mentioned it, lunch actually did sound good.
I decided to leave my car behind as I left the building. It wasn’t too unbearably hot today, and a short walk would help clear my head.
The SDCT office building was located in Downtown Miami in a large business park, and only a ten-minute walk away from a busy suburban shopping area. The majority of the stores were overpriced and catered to the kind of snobby people who had more money than taste, but there was one place tucked into the middle of an upscale strip mall that I’d gravitated toward ever since I’d discovered it.
It was a small, inconspicuous cafe nestled between a pair of ritzy clothing boutiques. From the outside, it didn’t look like anything special, but inside was an entirely different story. It was called the Sambalatte, and the interior was decorated in a minimalist style. Shabby, mismatched tables dotted the main floor, and a massive continental map spanned the entire length of the wall. Best of all was the wrought iron staircase that led to a small loft area above the cafe. This area functioned as a miniature library, where guests could enjoy their coffee and snacks while they read.
Normally I would have headed straight up to the library, but since Jase had asked me to meet him back at the SDCT office in an hour, I didn’t have the luxury of settling in with a book. Instead, I decided to sit on the outside patio after placing my order at the register. The weather was more temperate than it had been the past couple of days, so it was a good opportunity to enjoy some fresh air.
I settled into my seat and turned to watch the people passing by. The majority appeared to be women toting around shopping bags as they flitted from store to store. One woman was screaming into a phone, her face contorted in rage and her two young kids cringing with embarrassment behind her.
There was a group of teenagers standing by one of the cars in the parking lot. They were holding ice cream cones and seemed to talk about something really funny, judging by the way they kept bursting into laughter.
On the other end of the shopping mall, a man was walking up and down the sidewalk. He kept looking down at his phone and then back up at the storefronts, as though he was lost and trying to find something.
I chuckled to myself as I continued to watch the surrounding people. It was calming, in a weird way, to catch small glimpses of another person’s life and wonder what kind of person they were.
A shadow moved into my periphery, and I turned to look, assuming they were going to ask if they could take the other chair from my table. My eyes widened with surprise when I realized it was Alessandro.
He pulled the other chair away from the small, two-person table and took a seat across from me without bothering to utter a single word. I raised an eyebrow as he stared at me silently.
“Well, this is a surprise,” I scoffed. “You came out in public without an entourage? And to a strip mall, no less?”
“You never come to see me,” he replied curtly. “So I had to come to you.”
“Ha,” I scoffed sarcastically. “The last time I went to see you, you spent the entire time berating me, and it’s not exactly safe for me to be waltzing in and out of the lion’s den either, is it?”
“There wouldn’t be a problem if you would just come back,” Alessandro replied, his usually calm and collected demeanor cracking as he raised his voice.
“Again with this,” I sighed. “Listen, I came here to relax. If you’re just going to annoy me again, then go away.”
“Stop being an idiot,” he snarled at me as he slammed his hand down onto the table. He was angrier than I could remember him being in a long time. “I was up all night fixing the mess you created! Do you know what it took to convince the Family not to come after you?”
“Enlighten me,” I replied coldly.
He grumbled in frustration before answering me.
“They wanted to take you out,” he told me plainly. “You worked with the feds, you took down one of the Family, and you did it all in the most scandalous way you could.”
“Sorry I didn’t let Lorenzo shoot a toddler in the head,” I bit back sarcastically.
“Lucky for you,” Lorenzo scoffed, “the fact that he did that is probably what saved you. The
