“Oh shit, this thing is heavy!”

My heart stopped. I stared at the office door as I heard the voices speaking below. Slowly, I walked over and peeked through the crack in it.

“Why do you need another bookcase? You haven’t even put that one together,” a man complained, his Italian accent clear.

“I’m putting it together tonight,” Enzo answered. “So I wanted another to work on when I’m done.”

“Goddamn, you’re weird,” the man countered. “My idea of a good night is fucking and drinks, and yours is building a bookcase.” He paused. “Is it because you’re distracting yourself from a certain cop?”

There was silence. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Have you been keeping an eye on him at least?”

“Of course,” Enzo said. “He went to that girl’s house tonight, and they tend to stay together for several hours. I’ll go by his place tonight and make sure he’s there.”

My body broke out in a cold sweat. Enzo knew I was a cop. Had he been watching me from the start? My heart dropped into my stomach, and I gripped it through my shirt. Shit. He knew who I was all along.

“Fine,” the man answered. “Just make sure you’re doing what Benito says, or he’ll be on both our asses.” He grunted. “I’m getting out of here. You take care of that last cop?”

“Yeah, Ramada,” he answered. “Found him on our casino boat and took care of him.”

I felt like I was going to pass out. Ramada? It couldn’t be the one from my precinct, right? I felt like the Earth was shifting beneath me. Enzo being a bad guy wasn’t news, but it was still shocking to hear them talk about ending human life so casually.

“Good job,” the man said. “Get some rest, okay? Night, Enzo.”

“Night, Gin.”

The front door closed, and my throat squeezed. I shuffled back to the computer and found the copy was at ninety-five percent. It would have to be good enough. I yanked it out and restarted the computer. It was quiet when I approached the stairs, and I waited.

Carefully, I walked down. Enzo was nowhere in sight as my heart pounded in my chest. Maybe he stepped out with his brother? I had to find some way to get downstairs and out of the building without them seeing me. Slowly, I walked to the door only to stop like a deer in headlights when it started to open.

“Enzo, I forgot my goddamn keys,” Gin bellowed.

Something hard slammed into me, and I flew back into the kitchen. I crashed to the floor, and Enzo stood there, his eyes wild as he stared down at me. He shoved a finger against his lips, shook his head, and walked away.

“You left them by the front door,” he said. “Try this table.”

My heart sped up so fast I couldn’t breathe. Did Enzo just protect me? His brother hadn’t seen me, is that what he was after? The brothers talked, the keys jingled when they were found, and I couldn’t stop feeling the urge to puke again.