Carla nodded. “You mentioned journals. Does Mario really keep written records of all his criminal activities? He couldn't possibly be that stupid.”
Gio nodded. “Yeah, the asshole's got such a big fucking ego that he's positive no one could ever find them, or crack the code they're written in. But he's got all his heists in there, all his deals and sit-downs with the other families, and everyone he ever bumped off.”
“But you found them?” Carla prompted. “And you can translate the code?”
“Sure,” Gio answered.
“If we can get those journals,” she said, “and have you sign affidavits verifying their translations, we'll have everything we need to put Mario away for several lifetimes, along with all of his associates. We can put you in Witness Protection so you'll be safe.”
“But then what?” Gio asked. “This life, these people...it's all I know.”
“You can start a new life,” Carla told him. “You can do anything you want. Behind your whole gangster act, I've seen that you're a lot smarter than you let on. You could run another restaurant, legitimately this time. You could pursue your sexual needs without having to hide them from your father.”
“But not with you, right?” he said, his eyes suddenly filling with suspicion.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean once all this is over, I'll be in Arizona or Alaska or wherever the hell, and you'll have gotten what you need from me,” said Gio. He took his hands away from hers. “You'll go back to work trying to catch guys like me, and that'll be that. This whole 'take my hand, Gio, I really care about you' thing is just a con so you can get what you want from me. They probably taught you this shit in Fed school.”
Carla said, “Gio, I do care about you. I didn't expect to, but I do. I can see that your decisions haven't really been your own, and I really do want to help you. And...” She paused, took a deep breath, and continued. “I also didn't expect to enjoy being your submissive, but I did, and it's been a lot for me to try to work through. If you want us to keep exploring this relationship when this is all over, we can definitely talk about that. I'd like to.”
“No, bullshit,” Gio insisted. “All you Feds will say anything, promise anything to guys like me, if it'll get them to flip on their families. But you're lying, I know it. I can't trust anyone anymore.”
Carla took Gio by the shoulders and kissed him.
He hesitated for a brief moment. He wanted to remain suspicious of her—he didn't want to be some sucker who could be fooled by a kiss.
But as her soft lips pressed against his for the first time and their breath mingled gently, Gio felt himself swept away by the passion and sincerity of her kiss. He felt like a drowning man clutching his salvation and he held on tightly, embracing her, never wanting to let her go.
They stayed that way until it was time for the restaurant to open.
Chapter 26
Don
“Journals?” Don repeated into the phone. He leaned back in his office chair. It was the third time he'd uttered the word, but he still couldn't bring himself to believe it.
“Yes, journals,” Carla confirmed patiently. “Containing every dark deed Mario's ever done. And we've got the codebreaker, ready and willing to cooperate and testify.”
“If this is true, then Mario must be the dumbest Italian since Nero, keepin' all that written down,” Don said, mystified.
“If it's true, Don—and I'm positive that it is—then this could be one of the biggest, most far-reaching LCN busts in the Bureau's history,” said Carla. LCN was FBI shorthand for La Cosa Nostra, or the mafia. “Not only will we have Mario and his immediate associates dead to rights, but we'll also have detailed accounts of all the times they've cooperated with other organizations. We could bring down three or four major crime families at the same time.”
“Well, let's not go countin' those chickens,” Don warned. He'd participated in plenty of investigations that had seemed like slam-dunks until some small misstep tripped them up in the end, and he'd long since learned the value of cautious optimism. “We still gotta get our hands on those journals, an' even then, we gotta squirrel Gio away an' put him in protective custody before Mario figures out he's been double-crossed.”
“I've got that covered,” Carla assured him. “Gio's getting the journals now, and then we're going to meet at his place so I can officially take him into custody.”
“You want me there for that?” Don asked. “When you're in the home stretch on somethin' like this, a little backup's generally not a bad thing.”