"And what's that?" he murmurs softly into my ear, his warm breath tickling the nape of my neck.
"Get in the bath, Evan Hart," I command, and he chuckles.
"Damn, woman, you don't have to tell me twice."
§
Evan
I WATCH AS MY men file out of the large HC conference room. It's been nearly twenty-four hours and we just debriefed on the Balducci operation.
The room is clear, except for Ry and Coop, when Tommie enters with Carys and Anna in tow. I don't normally do this, in fact, never, but I promised Carys, and myself, no more secrets.
I contemplated not including Anna, but realized that was my ego talking. Anna's eyes are wide open where the mob is concerned and I'm willing to guess she has a pretty good idea what took place.
Anna smiles at us, blushing when her eyes land on Coop. He nods in return, averting his gaze from me, as Ry clears his throat with a sly grin. Before I can dwell on what the hell that was, Carys plants a kiss on my lips and then glances from Coop to Anna with a knowing look. What the fuck am I missing?
Once we're all seated, Tommie dims the lights and an aerial view of a shipyard is now visible on the screen.
"Our mission was to destroy Balducci's latest shipment before his crew had a chance to distribute." With the cursor, she points a black arrow at a row of shipping containers. "These, right here, were the target. Each container was rigged with explosives, which were to be detonated all at once. One batch went off early, while some of the team were still retreating."
Tommie pauses and Anna looks to me, as Carys squeezes my hand. It had been a close call, but fortunately, I was far enough away that I was only thrown from the blast and nothing hit me. We've surmised that one of the detonators might have been faulty and went off while teams were getting into position.
"We're investigating what happened, but it's likely equipment failure that resulted in the early explosion."
Tommie sounds so professional and removed, despite how shaken she was from the near miss. We had a long talk this morning and I hope I alleviated her fears.
She prides herself on being the best and by extension, working with the best. The thought that someone screwed up, resulting in the near loss of my life, pisses her off. Frankly, me too, but I doubt that was the case.
"We successfully destroyed all of it, and so far, there's no indication that law enforcement knows of our involvement or that they suspect Mari, although I wouldn't be surprised if his name comes up at some point," Tommie says.
"I know you guys are good, but weren't there cameras? How did you get in and out undetected? And how do you know that HC or one of you hasn't been mentioned?" Carys asks.
My line of work fascinates her and my lack of sharing is evident in her curiosity. I prepare to respond, when Ry surprises me, beating me to it.
"We're better than good, we're fucking awesome."
His smartass comment earns him a scoff and an eye roll from his sister. Carys is serious. She wants to understand and I'm more than happy to indulge her. Ry may feel differently, likely wanting to keep her away from this, but for me, her needs come first.
"Tommie intercepted the camera feeds with a loop of the shipping yard from an hour before we arrived. We're also monitoring the FBI, ATF, you name it, as the investigation unfolds, so we can keep on top of any leads they may get," I say.
///
"And we'll continue to do so for the unforeseeable future," Tommie adds.
"What was in the containers?" Anna asks.
"At first glance, it looked liked just stolen electronics, but on closer inspection, there were also drugs and firearms," Tommie replies.
"What? Why would Franco want that destroyed? What if it was for the overall outfit? He'd be delivering a direct blow to the boss," Anna says, puzzled.
"Yeah, that's what we're trying to figure out. We don't know if any of it was intended for the Cavallo organization, or if Balducci's doing this on the side. We're looking into it," I say.
"Thank you," Anna says for the millionth time.
"Anna," I start at the same time Coop says, "Stop that shit, you don't need to thank us."
Her cheeks redden and she glances down into her lap. Carys wraps an arm around her and adds, "They'd do it again, in a heartbeat."
As I watch my sister, my gut twists because we've got a lot of work ahead of us. I have every intention of finding out what Balducci is up to and why he and Franco are at odds.
We just need to lay low for a bit, until the dust settles. But I'm not done with Franco Mari, as long as he has his hooks in Anna.