“Please. He’s a good man, Nico. He has a daughter. He was just doing his job. Let him go.”
Nico sighed. He had done this to himself. He had married into a family of strong women. The pain was just beginning.
“You don’t need to beg for him.” Nico motioned for Big Joe to stand. “I’m giving him a pass. He saved my life and the life of one of my men. I owe him a debt.” He turned to Big Joe. “Consider it paid.”
Big Joe stood, his brow creased in a frown. “Then what’s all this?”
“I couldn’t let you just walk away without sweating a little.” Nico grinned. “I have a reputation to protect. But I wasn’t expecting you to be so stoic about it. We were hoping for a bit of a show. Maybe a few tears, begging, calling for your mama.”
“Jesus Christ, you’re a bastard.” Big Joe leaned against the vehicle and took a deep breath. “I almost pissed myself.”
“That would have been entertaining.” Nico kicked at the sand beneath his feet. “I might embellish it a bit for Luca when he gets out of hospital. Especially since you’re going to have to hitch a ride out of Nevada and it would make him laugh to think of you sitting in your piss in some trucker’s cab.” His voice dropped low with regret. He’d miss Big Joe. Couldn’t imagine the crew without him. “You know you can’t come back.”
“He doesn’t have to hitch a ride. He has me.” Kat’s hands found her hips and she glared at Nico. He couldn’t believe how much she’d changed in such a short period of time. Gone was the soft, gentle kitten and in its place was a lioness just learning to use her claws. He hadn’t told Mia about his plans for Big Joe, but now that Kat had got wind of them, he could just imagine her reaction.
And he could imagine just what he would do to calm his little tiger down.
“So this is good-bye.” Big Joe shook Nico’s hand. “I meant it when I said it was an honor.”
Emotion welled up in Nico’s chest. This was the part of the business he didn’t enjoy. When the political became personal. When he lost a friend.
“If you ever stop being a cop, you know where to find me.” Nico pulled open his door.
“If you ever stop being a wiseguy…” Big Joe shook his head. “Nah. It will never happen. You were born to be a wiseguy.”
TWENTY-NINE
Act like a Mafia wife …
… with a punk-rock attitude.
Mia swept past the security guards and into the high-stakes room at the Casino Italia, her high heels clicking firmly on the newly tiled floor. The police had come quickly after the 911 call, but not quickly enough. They had found only Vito’s body, shot by an undercover officer in the line of duty, alongside an innocent guest, Luca, in the high-stakes room. Eyewitness, and consummate actress, Kat Cordano, explained she had been gaming alone with Luca when crazy Vito burst in and started shooting unprovoked after ordering the cameras turned off.
Dante’s body was “found” in a burned-out car in the desert the next day, his death reported as fallout from the civil war between Mafia families. Although Mia couldn’t forgive his crimes, she was glad that Dante had at least found peace, and she remembered him for the fun-loving brother he used to be.
She spotted Nico right away, sitting on the far side of a blackjack table. She studied him for a moment, intensely aware of the strength hidden behind that tailored suit, the power he now wielded as the boss of a new family faction, the fearlessness with which he had entered the war with Tony and his crew.
As if he knew she was watching, he looked up. His lazy gaze drifted over her body, taking in her vintage 1950’s Paul Sachs black tuxedo lace cocktail dress, a little punk rock with a nod to Mafia-wife style. Since she couldn’t wear her long socks with heels, she’d gone for stockings with a lacy garter belt that had tiny skulls stitched into the fabric, and chains instead of garters. She’d never worn lingerie for Nico before, but she suspected he’d appreciate her style.
Nico gestured for Mia to join him at the table. “You look very nice, bella.”
“If you’d told me where we were going, I would have had a better idea how to dress.” She checked out the cards in his hand and the bets that had been placed.
“You are perfect.” He gestured to his stack of chips. “Bet.”
Her lips quivered at the corners, and she pushed all his chips forward. “Go big or go home.”
“I like a woman who’s not afraid to take a risk.”
She leaned over and pressed her lips to his ear. “I’ve taken much bigger risks than that.”
Nico gave a soft growl of approval and put his arm around her waist, his thumb stroking in and out of her curves. Her hand tensed, ready in case he dived beneath her skirt and found the surprise waiting for him under the crinoline layer.