He stepped into the room. “Are you going to offer me a drink?”
“Of course.” I stood up.
“You sit down,” he said to me. “Didn’t you almost die?”
“Yeah,” I grunted, and sat.
Cassidy went to the bar. “What would you like?”
“Whisky.” He looked at me. “I’m glad you survived, young Rafa.”
“Thank you.”
Cassidy gave him a glass and he took a small drink.
“We should talk,” he said.
“What about?”
“Your visit with Ernesto this morning.”
I sat very, very still, not sure what to expect. I had figured Ernesto would go to Arturo, but I’d never expected him to go straight there. I’d figured the guy would at least get his people in line before talking to Arturo.
“He tells me you threatened him,” Arturo said. “Which is good, considering the shit you saw on that tape.”
“Did he show you?”
“Yes,” Arturo said.
I didn’t know what fucking game Ernesto was playing, but that man was totally fucking stupid.
“And?” I asked.
“And Marco is dead, or at least about to be dead. And Ernesto won’t be bothering you anymore.” He walked over and sat at the table. Cassidy joined us.
“Ernesto knew about Marco.”
Arturo shook his head. “He didn’t.”
“How can you be sure?”
“If he knew, he wouldn’t have come to me right away. It took my boys ten minutes to find the leak, and Ernesto was as surprised as me.”
“So he gets away with it.”
“No, he doesn’t. The men involved are being rounded up, and Ernesto’s crew is going to be seriously weakened.” Arturo smiled at me. “Which is good for you, right?”
“Right,” I answered.
“Funny how it works out that way. The Spiders give you the perfect bit of information.”
“Yeah. Funny.”
He smiled at Cassidy. “You did well.”
“Thank you. It was all Rafa’s plan.”
“I’m sure.” He took another sip and then sighed. “This part is awkward.”
“What is?” she asked.
“I need more from you, Cassidy.”
“No,” I heard myself say.
There was a short silence as Arturo looked at me.
“You’re very protective of this girl,” he said finally. “I understand that she is carrying your baby, or at least you say that she is, but you must know your place.”
“She’s been in enough danger.”
“And she won’t be in any more. I simply want her to contact her Spiders again, and let my people try to trace their signal.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Cassidy said.
“That’s okay. You can try.”
“Okay,” she said simply.
I wanted to flip the fucking table.
This had not been part of the plan. I didn’t want her to get more involved with the mob, let alone personally involved with Arturo himself. She needed to fly under the radar, let the organization forget about her so that she could slip away and live her life again. Instead, she was inserting herself in the middle of a damn mob war.
“Cassidy,” I said, but Arturo held up a hand.
“If the girl wants to help, let her help.” He stared at me. “She already got you out of one jam. Maybe she can do more good.”
I bit my tongue and stayed silent. I knew I was only going to do more harm than good if I kept speaking out, so I clenched my jaw and didn’t say a word.
Arturo stood up. “We’ll give it a try tomorrow,” he said. “Rest up, young Rafa. Feel better soon.”
He left the room, shutting the door softly behind him.
I stared at Cassidy, and she smiled sadly.
“Why?” I asked. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I owe you,” she said. “I got you into this. I nearly got you killed. At least I can try to get something from the Spiders for you and your people.”
“You don’t owe me shit,” I said. “Fuck, Cassidy. You should be running away, not trying to help. We’re the damn mafia.”
“I know that.” She bit her lip. “I’m not helping the mob. I’m helping you.”
I leaned back in my chair and sighed. “This is a mistake.”
“Maybe. I’m making a lot of those lately.”
“I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
“I know that. But if I can get something for Arturo, I think that’ll be the end.”
“It’ll never be the end,” I said softly. “That’s what they do. They use you and then destroy you.”
“We’ll see,” she said.