Ruined Secrets (Perfectly Imperfect #4)

“And what would that be?”

“Banging Lorenzo’s wife while she is, supposedly, at her regular manicure appointment,” I say. “Who else?”

Damian crosses his arms over his chest and leans back, smiling. “Santino D’Angelo is undecided.”

“Well, Santino is not fucking anyone except his maid, and his wife knows about it. Shame,” I say. “But his oldest son, Dario, is neck deep in debt. With the Albanians.”

“Gambling?”

“Yes. The last bit of information I have is that it’s close to three hundred grand, but that was last month. It’s probably more now. Dario has a huge influence on his father.”

“If we buy out his debt, perhaps he’ll be able to steer Santino in the right direction?”

“Most probably.” I nod. “Any other problems?”

“None for now.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “Where did you get this information?”

“Definitely not in spas or from fashion magazines.” I smirk. “Don's position is not only about doing the job well. It requires closely watching those who want to stab you in the back, and involves a good deal of blackmailing in order to steer people in the desired direction. My grandfather had Orlando Lombardi’s driver on his payroll, as well as two of the maids working for Santino D’Angelo. He had at least one person in each capo’s household, and paid them triple their salary to update him on anything that might be useful.”

Damian’s body stiffens at my words. “He had someone here, as well?”

“Your previous gardener.”

“Domenico? The ancient guy who spent half of his time trying to get under Grace’s skirt?”

“Well, I don’t know whose skirt he was trying to get under while he was here, but he was providing some rather nice intel. He’s working for Franco Conti now.”

“I’ll be damned.” He shakes his head. “Giuseppe had his own little nest of spies.”

“Yes. My mother and I have been handling them for the last two years since my grandfather got sick. We can continue doing so, but Luca will have to take over the funding.”

“I’ll talk with him.”

“He also needs to call all the big shots in the Family over, after he officially takes over the don position. A month or two from now would work fine.”

“My brother is not a fan of parties.”

“He’ll have to throw one anyway. It’s expected.”

“You can give Luca a shitload of weapons of any kind, and he’ll find a buyer in under an hour. But he has no idea how to organize a party.”

“Good thing he has me, then.” I smile and rise to leave. “I’ll need fifty grand.”

“Fifty grand for a party?”

“It may end up being closer to seventy-five, but let's start with fifty for now.”

I fire another round into the target across the field, testing the weight as well as the accuracy of the scope, then put the rifle down on the makeshift table in front of me.

“It’ll do,” I say and turn to Bogdan. “We’re taking four hundred as previously agreed.”

“You can wire the deposit to the usual account.”

“No deposit for the next three shipments.”

“What? I don’t take orders without a 20 percent down payment.”

“You do now.” I take out my phone and start walking toward my car. “Until I’m convinced there won’t be any mix-ups of the containers in the future. That’s howIwork.”