Page 51 of Merciless King
“That's about it. They were walking along, checking things out, when Finster showed up and took them in on suspicion of burglary.”
“Is this Finster with Rinella?” I ask.
“Doubt it. He seems straight. Apparently, he got a tip, though.”
I nod as I see the situation clearer. “Rinella forged a text to my men to lure them down to the docks and then tipped off Finster.”
“Looks like it. There’s been a lot of burglaries in the area, so it would make sense that he’d follow up on the tip.”
I’m ready to be done with all this. At this point, I can have Matteo deal with my men.
“I’m heading home. Bring the men there. And get Caro there.” I stride out of the room and see Matteo, giving him the same order.
On the ride home, I consider stopping by Piper’s to pick them up, but Lana is with me and I don’t need her harping on me about being distracted. Piper said her husband wasn’t due back until tonight, so they should be safe.
Back in my home office, Lana doesn’t waste time reminding me how this will look. “He might be just fucking with you, Elio, but it makes you look vulnerable.”
“Fucking hell.”
She doesn't back down, meeting my glare with one of her own. "You heard me, Elio. This whole thing makes you look weak. Like you can't control your own men."
I clench my fists at my sides, struggling to keep my anger in check. "Watch yourself, Lana."
“Threaten me if you want, but you know I’m right. You're so busy chasing after your high school sweetheart that you can't see what's happening right under your nose. Vincenzo is playing you like a fiddle, and you're too distracted by lust to even notice."
That's it. I snap, slamming my hand down on my desk. "Enough!"
She flinches but then purses her lips at me like I’m a petulant child.
“You want to talk about distractions? How about the fact that you're too busy sticking your nose into my business to actually contribute anything useful to this family?"
Lana's eyes widen, but she still doesn't back down. "I'm looking out for our best interests. Someone has to, since you clearly can't be bothered."
I let out a harsh laugh, shaking my head in disbelief. "You know what, Lana? I've had just about enough of your shit. I wasn’t joking about cutting you off… not just from the house but your allowance as well. It’s easy for you to sit back and judge me when you have no real skin in the game.”
Lana's jaw drops, her eyes flashing with anger. “Maybe if you’d give me a real job to do, I’d have skin in the game. I can help you, Elio. Or you can be a petty jerk.”
I take a deep breath, trying to rein in my temper. As much as I hate to admit it, Lana has a point. We need to focus on the bigger picture here—namely, how we're going to handle this bullshit with the Rinellas.
Matteo enters with my men and Caro. They all look a little nervous. Good. Someone fucked up somewhere, and I need to know who and how.
“I didn’t text them,” Caro says right away. He holds out his phone. “You can check, Boss.”
“How would Rinella have made it seem like a text was from you?”
“Spoofing?” Matteo suggests.
“We were just looking around,” one of the men says.
“For what?” I ask.
They shrug. “Anything that you might want to know about. That’s what the text said.”
“So you were spying?”
They nod. They verify my suspicions. I feel like I need to reprimand them, but for what? Being gullible? Clearly, I need to put in more protocol about orders given via text.
“You can go. Lie low." I dismiss them.