“Sit on the couch and relax while I get you something to eat? Yeah, you can do that,” he said, giving me that one-dimple smile.
Miko moved away, trying to give me some privacy as I sat on the couch and reached for the remote just to have something to do.
It wasn’t long before I had a coffee in my hand. And just a few more minutes for an omelet to appear before me, loaded up with mushrooms, kale, and gooey mozzarella.
“Do all of you know how to cook?” I asked.
“Most of us, yeah. Some better than others. Dunno what you’d get if you asked Zeno to make something for you.Whatever it was, I’d bet it would be overcooked because he forgot he was cooking.”
“What about Gav?”
“He got the same training we did, but I don’t know if I’ve ever heard him say he’s cooking anything. He’s a fan of takeout.”
“But not when they don’t respect his ‘leave at the door’ note,” I said, getting a big smile out of Leo.
“Exactly.”
“I find his grumpiness charming.”
Just then, the door opened.
And I needed to quickly lift my plate out of the way as Goya came bounding over to me.
“Hey, buddy. How was your walk?” I asked, rubbing his head with my free hand. “Did you see any squirrels?”
“Just a bunch of pigeons,” Nico said, walking over to me. “How are you feeling?”
“So much better. Leo cooked for me,” I said, settling my plate back down.
“Thanks,” Nico said to his brother, getting a shrug in return.
“We’re gonna let you guys talk,” Leo said, leading Miko out the door so we could be alone.
“That sounds serious,” I said, steeling my stomach for bad news. “Did something happen?”
“Here, bud,” Nico said, grabbing a chew for Goya and tossing it over on his bed so he could sit down next to me. “So, yes and no. We did finally find Ronny, Tom, and the aunts.”
“Oh,” I said, thinking of them with ankle weights in the Hudson.
“When shit went south, they boarded a plane to Argentina.”
“Argentina?”
“Apparently, that’s where Tom’s family was from. Or so Zeno says. Jury’s out whether he actuallyhasfamily there or if it was just the first place they thought of when the shit hit the fan. Wedon’t know if they’re running from us, or the guys Matt welshed a deal with, or both, but they were gone late last night.”
“What happens now?”
“Well, we’re certainly not going down to Argentina to get them,” Nico said, shrugging. “Zeno somehow managed to put them on a no-fly list. So if they want to come back to the States, they’re going to have to figure out how to do it by sea. Or trek all the way through South America and Mexico and cross the border. So we’re not going to hear anything from them for a long time. If ever.”
“What about Danny?” I asked, noticing his name had been absent from the flight information.
“Danny is not a problem any longer.”
I was pretty sure that was mafia-speak for Danny being dead.
I knew I was supposed to be shocked, upset, or horrified by that, knowing someone had to have killed him. Possibly even one of Nico’s brothers. That said, I’d seen the fury on his face when he’d struck me. I’d heard the excitement at the idea of getting to “play with” me later. And I’d seen him leering at me so many times over the years when I was married to his brother that I believed he was absolutely capable of doing horrific things to me.
I couldn’t muster up even a small bit of grief for him.
