“I will, and the good bottles are at the bottom of the wine cooler.” She paused and heard Emma exhale. “I love you, lass.”

“I love you too, so tell Lou to keep a good eye on you.”

She hung up and pressed the phone to her chin, thinking. It was still early enough to get something done, and she was hoping Dino’s crew had found Lizard.

“Everything okay?” Remi asked, leaning against the doorway.

“Emma was just checking in. They’re about to have a girls’ night, which means God help us when we get back.” They laughed and went back to the kitchen. “Let’s get back to what we were talking about,” she said, going back to her plate. “We have two leads to get more information on Nicola, but one is in the wind. Oblonsky, though, might be open to a meeting if we dangle a carrot for him.”

“If you want, me and Papi can take care of that,” Mano said.

“That would be good. It’s simple for him. Once Nicola reappears from the grave, she’s going to demand what she believes is hers. How successful she’ll be depends on how the family falls out. Her father was an asshole, which means he made enemies even within his ranks.” She glanced at Oblonsky’s picture again and thought of this asshole with a number of young women under his thumb.

“The whole business is disgusting.” Dino spoke up, then ducked his head and stared at his food.

She smiled and was glad he had the same makeup as Lou. Speaking your mind wasn’t always a wise move, and he seemed to realize that after the words had come out. He was smart enough to stop talking, but his head was in the right place. “You’re right. The fact that the guys follow us around all day, hoping to catch us doing something that’ll justify their existence, makes me laugh. Liquor and cigarettes are what we do. There’s no one being held against their will, and I’m not asking anyone to degrade themselves so I can live a good life. They’re watching the wrong people.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Dino said. “Finley showed me some of the pictures from the day she met Abigail. They killed all those women because one of them sent out a text message. That’s sick.”

“It’s good incentive for all of us to concentrate on finding Nicola. Any luck on Lizard?”

“Lizard?” Remi asked, laughing. “That’s the best nickname he could come up with?”

“Maybe someone gave it to him, and we can put him out of his misery once he tells us who paid him.” They all laughed, and Dino seemed more at ease.

“My guys asked around, and he’s working on some project uptown. Once they finish for the night, they’ll ask him to come over for a talk,” Dino said.