His sixth sense was screaming at him.
The toilet was supposed to have been fixed last week.
Marco made his way into the bathroom, flicking on the light in his wake.
There did not appear to be anything wrong with the unit as he flushed it experimentally it, his eyes scanning the porcelain for cracks or leaks.
He lifted the lid of the tank to be sure, eyeing the almost pristine parts inside.
The toilet was brand new.
There’s nothing wrong with this toilet. What the hell is going on?
There was only one explanation that Marco could think of.
The same reason that Sofia would not be home two hours after her shift was over.
Why do I keep picking such fucking bitches? He thought furiously, slamming out of the bathroom to grab his shirt.
He would have to catch her in the act or else she would deny it, just as Mara had.
Marco paused for a moment, trying to get a grip on his anger.
She’s not Mara, a small voice whispered in his head but he silenced it.
He was not about to make the same mistake twice, not when he had finally let his guard down with someone else.
Never again, he vowed, clenching his even, white teeth. I can’t trust anyone, not even myself, apparently.
Slowly, he put on his shoes, recognizing that he was deliberately taking his time as he went through the motions, hoping Sofia would come home before he left.
He didn’t want to storm out of the apartment with unanswered questions. He wanted to demand she tell him where she had been and why her superintendent visited her apartment in the middle of the night.
I want to fight with her, goddammit! And have a loud, rip-roaring argument so I can rip off her clothes and bend her over the sofa’s arm until she pleads for forgiveness for upsetting me.
Once more, his shaft began to tighten in his pants and Marco found himself wracked by conflicting emotions.
He didn’t want to walk away from Sofia, her stunningly beautiful face etched in his mind, the way her lips parted into a breathless “O” of surprise when he draped her legs over his shoulders and tasted her dripping center.
Marco began questioning his own doubts and it filled him with consternation. But then that little voice of reason chimed in.
I’m overreacting to circumstantial evidence, he told himself, the words somehow calming his incensed mind. You don’t own her. If she wants to go out after work, she can. And she has no control over when her idiotic super comes calling.
He flopped back on the sofa, trying to sort out his thoughts.
It had been such a long day, a long week, a long fucking life.
I’m so tired of all the shit, he thought suddenly. My life is full of incessant doubt and suspicion. I can’t fucking enjoy anything anymore. This is no way to live.
His pulse was regaining normalcy and he decided to remain in the apartment and talk to Sofia – if she ever decided to come home.
I can’t make assumptions. I need to talk to –
His thoughts were cut short as he heard a distant chiming, unmistakably that of a cell phone.
He bolted upright, his ears perking toward the sound coming from the bedroom.
Is her phone here?
Marco was certain he had not heard it ringing when he had tried to call her several times earlier, but he was just as sure that the noise he had heard was a cell phone.
Inside the bedroom, he looked around for any sign of a cell phone, but he saw nothing.
He pulled his own phone out of his pocket and texted Sofia again but when it was sent, no answering tone rang through the bedroom.
Was it a neighbor’s phone? He wondered, but there was no way the walls were so thin in the unit. There was a cell there, he knew it. He just had to find it.
With an almost overwhelming sense of guilt, Marco pulled open the dresser drawers and rifled through the cupboards of the nightstand.
Everything here is new, he realized idly as he searched under the bed, silently urging the phone to chime again so he could make out from where the sound had come.
He pulled up the mattress and between the box spring and the bed sat an old-style burner phone laying on the plastic covering, separating the set.
Marco reached for it, swallowing the slight shame he was feeling as he peered down at the screen.
He knows who I am. Why does he care who Sofia is fucking?
His guilt was overcome by a tsunami sized wave of anger again. He sat perfectly still on the bed, trying to rein in his temper and plan his next move.
She’s fucking the super. She has to be. That’s what all this means.
The phone dinged again as he tried to make sense of what he had learned.
Dark spots flashed before his eyes as realization slammed into him.
He tried to deny what was staring him in the face.
He wanted to look away.
But the truth was impossible to ignore.
She’s not fucking anyone but me. Sofia Moran is a fucking cop and now we’re both fucking dead.
Chapter Twelve
“I can’t believe this,” Tracey muttered, glaring at Andrea as she drove toward Fort Lauderdale. “You really don’t look like the type.”
“I’m really not the type,” Andrea sighed, raising her pistol to level it again at the bartender. “These are extreme circumstances.”
Tracey’s mouth parted slightly.
“Crap! I get it now. You’re a cop!” she accused, her foot falling hard on the brake of her car. “Oh, fuck me – “
“Keep driving,” Andrea growled. “I don’t have time for this right now.”
Tracey’s mouth formed a thin line, but she obliged, racing her Miata out of Miami.
If this is a trap, Andrea thought, I’m as good as dead.
But she had a feeling that Tracey was speaking the truth.
There was no reason for the bartender to supply her with the random information, especially since Tracey didn’t appear to know Mara’s real name.
Could this just be a matter of Valentina wanting to escape her life with the FBI and live with her lover?
The idea filled her with happiness and homicidal urges simultaneously.
On one hand, she was thrilled to learn her cousin was alive. On the other, she had risked her life to learn the truth – and her family had suffered so much! And now what was she supposed to do? What about the investigation? The FBI? My life? Andrea wondered with anger.
If she’s alive, I’ll just walk away from this, she vowed. Tell Draggan I want out and no one has to be the wiser. Then, Marco and I can continue with our lives…right?
Andrea admitted she hadn’t hashed out all the details, but she knew she was not willing to give up whatever she had found with him.
In her haste to leave, she had left her cell at Il Toro by accident. She hoped he wasn’t worried about her.
In the morning, everything will be settled, she thought, a sense of relief warming her body.
She reminded herself not to count her chickens quite yet.
I have no idea what’s waiting for me, or if Tracey is even taking me to Valentina.
“So, what? Are you like, a jilted lover or something? You’re going all Fatal Attraction on her?”
“Stop talking, Tracey. You sound like an idiot,” Andrea sighed, but couldn’t help the tiny wry smile that appeared on her face. Jilted lover? She chuckled inwardly. Twenty minutes ago, I wouldn’t have believed that Valentina was gay. And now her lover is jealous because she thinks I want to get with her again. Holy hell, she had no idea.
Or maybe Tracey was playing some elaborate game here and Andrea was the one who was in the dark. Who knows? Bu
t I’m not telling her anything, she vowed. At least not until I know whose side Valentina is on.
“What do you want with her?” Tracey asked after a long silence. “If you hurt her, Sofia, I will spend my life searching for you…”
Andrea scoffed.
“You don’t even know who she is,” she snapped, eyeing the blonde warily. But she didn’t elaborate further.
If Valentina faked her own death to start over, me showing up will ruin whatever future she has with Tracey.
What a clusterfuck this was turning out to be!
Andrea would be pissed at her cousin for the deception, but at the same time, a part of her understood how leaving an unhappy life behind to build one with the love of your life would be tempting…
Andrea wondered if she was thinking about Valentina – or about Marco.
If he ever finds out who I am, he’ll never forgive me. Hell, he might even kill me himself. And could I really blame him for being furious? Could I make him understand that I did it for my cousin?
She shoved the idea out of her head.
“Marco cares about you,” Tracey said as if reading her thoughts. “And you’re going to break his heart.”
“Like Mara did?” Andrea asked pointedly.
It shut Tracey up for a few more minutes, giving Andrea more time to her own thoughts.
He never has to know. Very soon, I could be free of Draggan and whatever half-assed undercover operation he has me involved in. I came to find out the truth about Valentina, and soon I will either know that she’s alive and well, or I’ll likely be dead. In either circumstance, I’m done. And Marco doesn’t need to know.
Tracey pulled the car into a gated community and Andrea sat forward with excitement.
“She’s here?”
“I guess you’ll see, won’t you?” the bartender retorted. “I can’t believe how wrong I was about you.”
“Actually, you’d be surprised how right you were,” Andrea sighed.
Tracey didn’t respond and the car stopped at an A-frame two-storey house halfway inside the complex.
“You first,” Andrea instructed, waving the firearm at Tracey, a flash of shame coloring her cheeks.
This girl was kind to you. She tried to protect you when August came after you and now you have a gun pointed on her.
Andrea reasoned it was for the greater good.
When she understands why I had to do this, she’ll be okay. Hell, we might even be friends one day.
The raven-haired beauty almost rolled her eyes at her own unbelievable thought.
Tracey unlocked the door and pushed inside.
Before she could even flick on the interior lights, the blonde’s voice shot out through the house.
“Mara, run! She’s got a gun!”
Andrea groaned aloud and shoved the barrel into Tracey’s shoulder blades as a scuffle of movement from the second floor caught her attention.
“Tracey what the -?”
Valentina appeared on the landing, her own hands ready to pull the trigger on a black Beretta.
“Put it down!” Andrea ordered, her voice trying not to crack under the extreme pressure she was feeling. “It’s me. Put it down now!”
She prayed her cousin would recognize her in the dim light.
Valentina released a low gasp and lowered her weapon, falling back against the wall in shock.
“You do know her?” Tracey demanded. “What the fuck is going on, Mara?”
The cousins eyed one another warily before Valentina seemed to understand that Andrea was not there to arrest her.
“She’s my cousin,” Valentina sighed. “Andr – “
“And can you come and give your cousin Sofie a big hug?” Andrea interjected, shooting Valentina a warning look. “It’s good to see you, Mara.”
Valentina’s face seemed to fall as she realized her near-blunder, but she cautiously moved toward the staircase, her hand on the railing.
“How did you find me?” she whispered as she neared Andrea, embracing her tightly.
A small sob escaped her lips as Andrea realized how much stress she had been carrying with her since starting this operation.
“It’s a long story,” she replied gruffly. “Can we talk somewhere alone?”
Valentina drew back and stared at her cousin with haunted eyes.
“Are you alone?” she asked, looking at Tracey. Both women nodded.
“I’m alone,” Andrea assured her. “I swear.”
Valentina exhaled deeply and nodded, grabbing her cousin by the arm.
“Oh, hell no!” Tracey snapped. “You think I’m just going to let you two go pow wow somewhere when I’ve just been held at gunpoint? No fucking way!”
“Babe, you need to let me talk to my cousin for a few minutes,” Valentina insisted. “It’s important.”
“She’s a fucking cop, Mara! Did you know that?”
Andrea lowered her head, biting on her lower lip.
“I know,” Valentina whispered.
“You know? You could have mentioned that your cop cousin would come looking for you one day!”
“Trace…”
“Mara, no…don’t,” Andrea said, realizing that Val was about to spill the entire truth to her lover. “It’s fine. You don’t need to – “
“It’s gone on long enough and I know now that he’s going to keep looking for me. I should have known there was no escaping from him.”
“Who? Marco?” Tracey asked, her face fraught with confusion, but Andrea was confused too. I was so sure Marco didn’t care that much about Val!
“No, babe. Terry Draggan.”
A cold chill swept through Andrea’s body.
“Who the fuck is Terry Draggan?”
“He was my boss…”
Valentina took a deep breath and stared directly at Tracey.
“He was my boss at the FBI.”
**************
“She could be calling Giovanni right now!” Andrea grumbled, pacing around the room, but Valentina waved her hand impatiently.
“She’s not calling Gio,” she assured vehemently. “If she did, she’d be turning herself in. And a lesbian in the center of operations is not going to look good for the Capreses. No, she’s just cooling down. Trust me. I know Tracey.”
Andrea was not so sure, but she could do little other than accept her cousin’s assurances.
“You’ve lied to her for years, some of which you’ve been living with her,” Andrea reminded her. “She’s gotta be pissed.”
“She is pissed,” Valentina agreed. “But she’s not stupid. And she does love me.”
Inadvertently, Andrea thought of Marco.
Tracey will tell him the truth about me. There’ll be a mob hit on me after I leave here. I have to get out of Miami. Damn, I really screwed everything up!
Andrea was consumed by a physical sense of loss which almost brought her to her knees. The feeling in her chest threatened to tear her apart. Half was the utter loss she would feel if Marco turned against her, but the other half was the sorrow at the pain she would cause him. Andrea knew that Marco didn’t trust easily, but she also knew that he trusted her. And the betrayal he would feel if he ever found out about her would make him hate her. For good.
My protector, my lover, my friend…he’s only going to see me as someone who betrayed him. Unless I get to him first and try to explain…
She wondered if there was any scenario in which he would ever forgive her.
“You’re sure that Draggan doesn’t know you’re here,” Valentina asked for the third time. “How long have you been under?”
“Only a few weeks, Val. The only reason I’m under is to find you.”
She scoffed.
“You aren’t the first who has come looking. I can’t believe he’d stoop to recruiting my family.”
“He wants to know what happened to you!” Andrea snapped, shaking her dark hair in disbelief. “How could you just up and fuck off without a word to anyone?�
��
Valentina whirled and looked at Andrea as if she had spontaneously sprouted another head.
“Are you kidding?” she gasped. “You’re asking me why?”
Andrea stared at her blankly.
“Because you’re in love?” she snapped. “You let your mother think you’re dead because you’d rather she didn’t find out you’re a lesbian?”
“You can’t be that naïve, Andy.”
Valentina inhaled shakily while Andrea waited.
“Draggan set me up to be killed during my undercover sting with the Capreses. He had arranged to come intercept a shipment, cash in and kill the witnesses under the guise of ‘policing.’ That was the raid which he told everyone I died in. Every other agent and soldier was killed during that sting. I was supposed to among them.”
Andrea’s mouth gaped as understanding dawned. “But you weren’t killed.”
“Right,” Valentina whispered. “I was there and I saw what he did. I knew I had to get out of there. Tracey and I had been carrying on for a few months by that point and I told her I just wanted to get away from Marco. But that morning he learned that I was cheating on him – before I could make my break. So instead of it being my last day undercover because the sting should have ended with the shipment, I had to get away before Draggan sent someone in to finish me off. I also realized I couldn’t go back to Marco’s place after that morning. It was a whole damn clusterfuck that day.”
Andrea reeled, trying to get her mind around the danger her cousin had been in.
“So Draggan is looking for you to… kill you?”
“Yes,” Valentina sighed. “And you have to get as far away from him as possible now. You’ll just be a loose end for him to tie up, Andy. There have been others who have come close to finding me and they just ‘disappear.’ You won’t be far behind.”
A feeling of dread seized Andrea’s stomach.
“I’ll get you some money,” Valentina said. “And I can see about a passport – “
“No,” Andrea said. “I’m not running away from Draggan.”
Her cousin’s eyes widened in shock.
“You don’t get it, do you? There is no taking on Draggan. You are nobody. He’s better connected than some of the people in the mob.”
BREAKING THE LAW Page 10