“Wow,” I chuckled. “That’s saying something, considering I get jumped every time I run into any of the Family. So what do you want then? You didn’t come here just to tell me that, did you?”
“No,” he sighed. “I’m here to ask, no, plead with you to come back. I managed to convince them this time, but I won’t be able to come up with excuses for you forever. If you would just--”
I stood abruptly before he could finish speaking.
“Thank you for the warning,” I smiled cynically. “And for the information. This little chat has actually given me an idea for how I can interrogate Lorenzo.”
“Nick,” Alessandro called, clearly angry that I was ignoring him. “I’m not playing around right now. It would be safer and more beneficial to everyone involved if you would just come back into the fold. At the very least, can’t you promise me you’ll keep your head down and stop drawing attention to yourself?”
“I gotta get back to work,” I continued on, pointedly ignoring his question. “I ordered a cafe latte. You can have it when it gets here.”
I turned and stalked away before he could respond. I was a little annoyed at his sudden appearance, but the talk had actually given me the ammunition I needed to break Lorenzo finally.
I walked quickly back to the office, eager to put my theory to the test.
37
Jase
Nick was already back from his own lunch by the time I made it into the building and up to the eighth floor.
“Hey.” He smiled as he caught sight of me. I could see Bette standing just behind him. He looked furious, and I wondered what had happened in the time it had taken me to get here.
“Please don’t wander off without him next time,” she huffed at me. “I can hardly put up with him on a regular basis, let alone when he’s loose.”
She stalked away haughtily, and I turned to Nick with an expectant look.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“I dunno.” Nick shrugged. “She came up to me and started whining about me being here. I pulled a Lorenzo and just ignored her. I didn’t say a single word to her.”
“That probably just annoyed her off more,” I chuckled.
“What doesn’t annoy her?” Nick scoffed.
“When it comes to you?” I grinned. “Everything annoys her. Anyway, I’m surprised you’re back on time. Early, even. I’m almost impressed.”
“Don’t be.” Nick grinned. “I would have been later, but I came into some interesting information while I was out.”
“What do you mean ‘interesting’?” I asked suspiciously. “What did you do?”
“Nothing!” he protested indignantly. “Why do you assume I did something?”
“You’re always doing something,” I sighed. “And dragging me into it.”
“Well, whatever.” Nick shrugged. “Anyway, let’s go interrogate Lorenzo. I think I know how I can get him to break.”
“All right,” I replied skeptically. “The guy was a rock, though. For an entire hour.”
“Yeah.” Nick smirked. “But I’m about to take away the thing that’s making him feel so confident.”
I led the way back into the interrogation room. Lorenzo was still sitting there, staring resolutely ahead.
“Hello, Lorenzo.” Nick greeted him with a smile as we both sat down across the table from him. He only briefly glanced up at us before turning back to stare straight ahead. “I just had a nice chat with Alessandro.”
That got his attention, and honestly, it got mine too. Nick hadn’t spoken to his brother in years, and now he’d had two meetings with him in almost as many days.
For a moment, Lorenzo’s steady facade broke, and he turned to stare at Nick with a wide-eyed look of surprise. He caught himself quickly and tried to regain his former stoicism, but I could tell he was rattled.
“Would you like to know what we talked about?” Nick smiled. “It turns out you were wrong about the Family having your back, Lorenzo. Quite the contrary, it seems like they’re all pretty mad about what you did.”
“That’s a lie,” he growled, his stony composure finally breaking.
“It’s not,” Nick grinned wickedly. “Seems like you forgot that one of the most important mafia commandments is to hold other member’s wives sacred. A lot of people are pretty unimpressed with what you did to poor Samuel.”
“N-no!” Lorenzo stuttered, his face going white. “That isn’t-- I mean, I didn’t…”
“Hey, I’m not the one you need to convince.” Nick shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m not a member of the Family anymore, remember? You should be more worried about what they’ll do to you once we let you go.”
Nick smiled sadistically as Lorenzo started to shake. It was such an unnerving glare that I was glad it wasn’t being directed at me. I’d been curious about what Nick’s secret plan was to get Lorenzo to talk, and now I understood what his aim was. Lorenzo had felt confident because he believed that he had the support of the mafia. Now that he knew he was on his own, he’d lost his sense of security.
“They might dislike me,” Nick jeered, “but at least I’ve never threatened the family of a fellow member or attacked an innocent kid. You’ve inadvertently replaced me as enemy number one.”
Lorenzo swallowed nervously, and his eyes began to dart back and forth.
“Of course, there might be a way we can help you out.” Nick hummed. “The SDCT has the ability to offer protective custody for those who are believed to be in danger. You’d still go to jail, of course, but you’d be alive. That’s more than I can say for what might happen to you if you try to return to the mafia.”
“How do I know you’re not bluffing?” He growled.
Nick turned to look at me. Up until now, I’d been watching silently, curious about what Nick intended to
