“Yeah. Rossi killed him on Stefano’s orders. He was supposed to completely incinerate the body but he didn’t. He kept your brother and a few others as leverage should he ever need it.” He cleared his throat, his expression softening. “They’re in an industrial freezer, well preserved. He knew this day might come. He’s turning evidence against Stefano and giving the location of all the bodies. Those families deserve closure and so do you. And it will bring down that entire criminal empire in Chicago. I’m so sorry, Tegan. Truly.”
She clenched her jaw and squeezed her hands together to stop them from shaking. Aaron just pulled her closer, his presence the only thing keeping her from breaking down. “What’s he getting in return?”
“They’re taking the death penalty off the table. And he gets to choose the prison he wants to go to. It’ll be a supermax, high-security prison but he still gets to choose where. He’ll be in solitary confinement, though. For his protection.”
She and Dillon—and other innocent people at that park—could have been killed by that man. It was a miracle no one had been injured except Kali. Wetness covered her cheeks and she realized she was crying. Deep down she’d known her brother was dead but there had been that stupid, tiny spark of hope that refused to give up.
Aaron’s arms were fully around her before she could blink. She buried her face in his chest, unsure how long she remained there, letting the tears come. Eventually she raised her head when she trusted herself to be able to talk again. “Why did Gina—uh, Grace, lie?”
Carlito scrubbed a hand over his handsome face. “I could give you a diplomatic answer but the truth is she’s fucking stupid. From what I gather, she thought with you dead, you wouldn’t be around to testify, so things would go easier on her sentencing and on Enzo. Even though she turned evidence against him, she apparently still cared enough about Enzo to try to give him that. I don’t know what was going on in her head. Her lawyer’s pissed at her. She has no leverage now. The woman is a fucking moron.”
Tegan nodded, glad the woman would be going to jail.
She looked up at Aaron, her miracle. She didn’t care if it was too soon or if she was assessing her feelings while on emotional steroids, but she loved him. Clearing her throat, she looked back at Carlito. “Glad she won’t be able to get out of it. I think I know the answer, but how did Rossi find me?” She hadn’t even thought to ask Carlito when the cavalry had arrived, because she’d been too worried about Kali.
He’d had an ambulance race Kali to the vet and, breaking all sorts of protocols, had let Tegan stay with Kali for the first part of her surgery. Once she’d come through the worst of it, Tegan and Aaron had gone back to the police station for a crapload of questioning and paperwork—though Carlito had gotten them out of there as fast as he could. For that she was grateful. If she never saw the inside of a police station again, it would be too soon. She was tired of people trying to kill her and tired of stupid questions.
The detective lifted a shoulder. “Your phone. He’d actually figured out who you were staying with after that clip of you on the news, leaving the station with Aaron. But he just tracked your phone to the park this morning when you turned it on. Illegal as fuck and he’ll be charged with that, too. He’s being charged with everything we’ve got. He’ll never see the outside of a prison once he goes in. Hell, he’s been denied bail completely so he won’t have any freedom from this point forward.”
Tegan nodded, her throat tight. “Thank you for coming to tell us.”
“I’m just sorry for all the hell you’ve been through.” He stood and took a step toward the door before stopping. “Now I get to go deliver the good news to Enzo in person. He’d been planning on turning evidence against his cousin. With all Rossi’s information, the Feds don’t need Enzo at all. He’s not getting a deal. Can’t wait to see the look on that fucker’s face when I tell him he’s going down.”
Tegan blinked. “You told us before him?”
Carlito nodded, standing. “Figured you should know in person. That guy will never hurt you or anyone again. And he’ll know for a fact that his own cousin betrayed him and took those diamonds. You’re not on his radar anymore. You’re nothing to him. He’s going to spend the rest of his life behind bars, probably plotting how to kill his cousin and Rossi. I’ll keep you up to date with everything.”
Once Carlito was gone and the door had shut quietly behind him, Tegan’s shoulders slumped and she turned toward Aaron once again. She wrapped her arms around him tight. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” He’d taken her into his home, kept her safe, and saved her life twice in a matter of a few short days. Her chest felt hollowed out. She couldn’t take another blow—wasn’t sure she could handle it. Aaron was the one bright spot in all this mess.