Her stomach plummeted as her suspicions were confirmed. No way was she going to let the Feds know she had an idea why they were visiting. Adopting her concerned doctor face she lifted her chin and looked Agent Whittaker in the eye. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Whittaker’s eyebrows rose a fraction. “Can you confirm that you are the daughter of Giovanni Moretti, currently residing in New Jersey? Also the suspected leader of the Moretti drug cartel.”
And there it was. The name she’d sworn never to think of again after she’d walked out of the house and headed to college. Her father had agreed to release her from any familial obligations. Until he needed a surgeon, of course, and then he used her. Why did she have to be working the night Uncle Vittorio got shot? Actually, it probably wouldn’t have matter if she hadn’t been working. No her father, he’d have taken her from her house. She wasn’t stupid enough to think he didn’t know where she lived. The irony of her moving to New York to do her surgical residency wasn’t lost on her. If she’d had any sense she would’ve gone to a West Coast Hospital.
“Ms. Moretti? I didn’t think my question was that difficult to answer.”
No not difficult, just admitting out loud what she was trying hard to forget but knew she couldn’t. How could you forget your heritage? No matter how bloody that heritage was.
“Yes I am Giovanni’s daughter.”
“Are you a surgical resident at Bridgedale Hospital in Brooklyn?”
“Yes.”
“Did you perform an unscheduled surgery last night in a non hospital environment?”
How the fuck did they know about that? She was in a no win situation: lying to federal agents could have her spending time in jail. Telling the truth and the family she longed to forget would come for her. Either option would put her career in jeopardy, and she’d be damned if she’d lose everything she’d worked the last eight years to achieve.
Shit, she hated her family for dragging her back into their snake pit.
“May I remind you Ms. Moretti, lying to a federal agent will land you in serious trouble.”
“I’m aware of that. Yes, I performed a surgery last night.”
Agent Whittaker scribbled something in his notebook, and then looked back at her. “Are you permitted to perform surgeries away from the hospital? You’re still a resident aren’t you?”
Memories of the previous evening burst to life in her mind in all its technicolor glory. “You know, when you get snatched off your feet as you’re walking to your car. Shoved into the back of a van, taken to some hole in the wall facility to perform surgery on a man you haven’t seen in a decade, all while being held at gunpoint. You don’t have time to say—hey I’m a fourth year surgical resident. I’m not supposed to be performing surgeries unsupervised just yet—all I was thinking about was keeping myself alive.”
She hadn’t meant to reveal so much but once the words started she couldn’t stop them.
Agent Whittaker make a couple more notes before he stood. “I think that’s all we need at the moment.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim black folder. He extracted a card and handed it to her. “I’ll be in touch and if you need anything, and I mean anything at all, please call.”
Maria took the card knowing full well there was no way she was going to contact the agent. She wanted nothing to do with the feds and she especially didn’t want anything to do with her family.
***
A yawn ripped through Maria as she studied the case files for her up and coming surgeries. All pretty straight forward, nothing nearly as complicated as the one she’d performed the previous evening. Even under the less than sanitary circumstances, and without all the equipment she was used to having, she’d saved a life. The fact the life she’d saved didn’t deserve to still be breathing today. She’d honored her oath. An oath her father knew she wouldn’t ignore, which was no doubt why he’d tracked her down.
Her pocket vibrated and she pulled out her phone and smiled when she saw Melody’s name pop up.
“Hiya, Melody, how are you? How’s Tex? And the girls?”
“Hey Maria. I’m good. Tex and the girls are great.
“I bet Hope is getting bigger with each day that passes. And I’m sure all she has to do is smile and Tex is putty in her hand.”
Melody laughed loudly. “You have no idea. Hope is growing like a weed And, as for Tex, well sometimes I swear he loves that girl more than me. He melts whenever Hope giggles or smiles at him.”
“The big bad seal humbled by a toothless grin.” Maria couldn’t keep the jealousy out of her voice. She loved her career and was super proud of what she’d achieved. Except there was a whole in her life, she had no one special to share her milestones with. No one who put her first and made her weak at the knees like she knew Tex did to Melody.
“Oh, trust me, he’s still the big bad seal and whenever I take the girls anywhere without him, he always checks the location and all routes to get to said destination. He always has eyes on us to makes sure the girls and I are safe.”
If Tex had eyes on her maybe she wouldn’t have been in this dilemma, but then again, why would Tex be interested in what she did or where she went.
“You’re lucky, Mel. I need to come and visit you guys.”
“Yes, you do. But,” Melody’s voice turned serious. “How are you doing? Is everything okay?”
Maria opened her mouth to spill her troubles, but held back. What if somehow her dad had managed to bug her phone? Melody was one of the few friends she had. With her family connections it was safer to keep a distance between any relationships she made. Even though Melody had Tex and a whole Seal team looking out for her. When it came to the mob, even the military couldn’t penetrate their walls.
She couldn’t expose Melody to the dangers of her family, no matter how much she wanted to talk to someone about everything that had had happened to her in the last twenty four hours.
“Everything’s fine. I’m just tired, still working insane hours.”
“Are you sure that’s all?”
Maria had never told Melody about her mob family. She’d met Melody when they’d both been vacationing in Philadelphia. Maria had been lost and Melody had helped her out. They’d been friends ever since. But still, Maria had been shocked when she’d found out that Melody had been stalked and Tex had rescued her.
“Yep, long hours and early wake up calls don’t make for a very happy Maria.”
“Look,” Melody paused. “I know about your family, and if you need any help at all. Tex and I are here for you.”
The words rushing out of Melody’s mouth struck her speechless. She knew about her family? No, it was impossible. How could she know?
“What are you talking about?”
“Tex, being Tex, looked into your background. He did that with all my friends after the Diane incident.”
Her stomach bottomed out at Melody’s declaration—they knew she was the daughter of the head of the infamous Moretti Mob. And they hadn’t breathed a word to her. “And he still let you be friends with me?”
Melody chuckled. “I love Tex, but I also treasure my friends, I told him I didn’t want to cut you off. I don’t deny he had concerns. I told him you’d never once given me any reason to be concerned about you. If you were as heartless as your father, you wouldn’t be a surgeon saving lives.”
“Thank you for your belief in me. I’m not sure I deserve it.”
“Trust me, you more than deserve it. So, now that’s out of the way, you wanna tell me what’s really going on with you.”
Still not knowing if her phone had been compromised, after all it had been in her backpack when she’d been taken, and not wanting to put Melody at risk, Maria didn’t want to say too much over the phone. After today she was off for the next three days, a very rare long weekend. Maybe a trip to Pennsylvania would be good for her. Give her some breathing space between what happened and the fallout from it.
“Are you up for
a visitor?” Maria asked.
“You don’t need to ask. When can we expect you?”
“I can be there tomorrow morning. I’ll catch an early train. I’ll find a hotel and will call you once I get settled.”
“You’ll do no such thing. You can stay with us. And I’m not taking no for an answer and neither will Tex. Even with Hope, we’ve still got a spare room.”
Maria knew arguing with Melody would be pointless. Plus she was too exhausted to argue. Knowing she had a friend who she could unburden herself to lightened the load on her shoulders.
“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow. And Mel?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks.”
A couple of days out of town was just want the doctor ordered. Lucky she was good at self-diagnosis.
Also by Nicole Flockton
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Fighting for Love
Fighting for Redemption
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Sweet Texas Fire
Sweet Texas Series Boxed Set
Bound Series
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Lovers Unmasked Series
Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series
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