“Luca lost his head to some bitch who ended up with Delarosa, and from what I hear also lost his grandfather, Santino. Carlos Luis is the only one who worries me. He stood silently behind his father for years, and he learned the business much better than his idiot cousin and aunt.” The city skyline was visible from the top of the high-rise bridge over the intercoastal canal, and he stopped to admire it. “Instead of making a play for his share, we might have to meet to form some sort of alliance.”

“Is there anyone or anything else that worries you?”

“Jasper Luke and Vinny Carlotti have the backing of the alliance Casey formed with old man Carlotti and the Jatibons. Casey says she doesn’t dirty her hands with drugs, but she protects those two with everything in her arsenal.” He stretched his hands out from the fists he’d formed and took a deep breath to calm down. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to stand for her or her cronies benefiting from everything I’ve put into motion.”

“Sounds like we have a lot to do,” his father said, patting his shoulder.

“We do, and our first step is gathering all the information my guys have been getting for me. After that, we need to find a place to operate from that isn’t a hotel room.”

“You’re planning to stay here? Is that a smart move?”

“I’m planning to leave someone like Pablo here, but until we’re so insulated that we’re untouchable, I’ll need a place to lie low when I have to visit the States.” The smart play would be to find a place out of the way of all the players, but he was no coward. If you were going to play the game, you had to be close enough to study your opponents.

“I’m with you all the way, no matter what.”

“Then we’re going to be impossible to beat.”

Chapter Twelve

“From what I understand, this place was once the most bugged place in Chicago,” Cain said as they sat in one of the booths in Joe’s Stone Crab. The restaurant was in an old building and had been an old mob hangout in its day.

“I’ll try to refrain from laying out my plans for any criminal activity while we’re sitting here, then,” Emma said as she leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Their meeting with Nathan had ended, and they’d made their reservation time. The rest of the night would be all about Emma. “Good idea, lass, and I’ll follow your lead.” She picked up her glass of wine and waited for Emma to do the same. “To the most beautiful woman in this world, and the fact she’s mine. I love you.”