Page 85 of Above ’N’ Beyond

Saying the words, and wishing they were true, sent a wave of emptiness washing over her. Because it was a lie, and that made things so much worse.

Her phone rang, and she groaned, holding it up so Sierra could see it. Paola was calling.

“Later.” Sierra practically jumped to her feet as the phone continued ringing. Before leaving Bella’s office she turned. “Food for thought is all I’m saying.”

Not a chance. Jimmy Santoro was off Bella’s menu. Permanently. She cleared her throat, then took the call. “Paola. What can I do for you?”

“For starters, you can answer your phone faster. I’m moving up the event on Monday to tomorrow night. You’ll have to shut down the Bistro.”

“What?” She stood so abruptly the chair she’d been sitting on rolled back against the wall behind her. “I can’t close down the Bistro on a Friday night. It’s one of the two busiest nights of the week for us. You can’t do this.”

“I can, and I just did,” came her aunt’s clipped response. “Make it happen.” Paola hung up.

Bella’s mouth fell open as she stared at the phone. Shutting down the Bistro on a Friday meant losing out on a huge chunk of weekly income, and they weren’t even close to being prepared for the event. She and Lou had planned on shopping for all the high-end ingredients on Saturday, then Lou would prep everything on Sunday. Now they had less than twenty-four hours. This was insane.

All the energy in her body bled away. She sank heavily onto the chair. Just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, they had. Her head felt as if it were spinning like a top. Everything was completely out of her control, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Or was there?

Living like this—in constant fear—was no way to live at all. There was only one possible way to break free. Either she used those cameras, or she walked away from the Bistro and never looked back.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jamie pulled into the parking lot at Hook Mountain State Park and hung up the phone. His sister, Ariana, had just relayed the news. His father’s condition was going downhill even faster. Jamie’s heart felt like a ball of lead. He hadn’t thought he could sink any lower than after Bella had kicked him out of her life.

He’d been wrong.

Jax rested his head on Jamie’s shoulder, sending warm breath across his cheek. Not even stroking his dog’s ears had the usual calming effect.

Brick by brick, the emotional wall of crap had been building for months. He’d just been in denial. His dad’s diagnosis had laid the foundation. Going to prison for half a year, worrying about his father and whether he’d get Jax back had added more layers. Looking over his shoulder every second, never knowing if he’d get whacked by Tony or Marco hadn’t helped. How things had ended with Bella was the capstone on his ten-story wall of shit.

He was a powder keg set to explode, and he needed to vent.

After leashing up Jax, they headed down the path that wound along the edge of the Hudson River. The midday heat and humidity were so thick even the air seemed to be sweating. The only respite came from the breeze blowing off the river, reminding him of his time in Sing Sing. White caps pounded the rocks bordering the path. Seagulls glided on air currents, and a great blue heron flew by, croaking with an almost prehistoric sound.

Being the middle of summer, the park was fairly busy. They passed walkers, bikers, and joggers. Jax happily touched noses with a few other dogs. The beauty of the area was a stark contrast to his mood and the evil brewing not half a mile down the road.

For the last two hours, he and Jax had surveilled Paola’s mansion from a tennis court parking lot a hundred yards away and across the street, prepared to take down license plates. During that time, not a single vehicle had come or gone. The calm before the storm.

He and Jax continued north for another half a mile before Jamie realized he’d been flexing and unflexing his fingers for the last five minutes. Leading Jax to a small wooded area on the side of the path, he found an empty picnic table, then cued up another call.

“Kade, it’s Jamie,” he said when his friend answered. “I fucked up.” In so many ways he didn’t know how to begin.

“What happened?” came Kade’s worried voice. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Physically, that was.

“Bull. I can hear it in your voice.” His friend knew him well. “Does this have anything to do with where you’ve been hiding for six months?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I’ve been working a case with the FBI, but I can’t get into the details.” Saying that much was more than he’d told anyone.

“Ah,” Kade said. “You’re undercover. So what did you fuck up?”

A young couple with a stroller walked past. He waited for them to be out of earshot before replying. “I hurt someone. Badly.” His throat tightened as he recalled the stricken look on Bella’s face when he’d admitted he was an undercover cop. “She trusted me, and I trashed that trust. Bigtime.”

A knowing grunt came through the phone. “You slept with her.”

“Yeah,” he admitted.