Free Amplify by Anne Mercier Page A

how she tried, Lucy never learned to as hard as I do, much to her disgust.
    "Of course he did." I just shake my head. Is there nothing she can’t do perfectly? When her eyes begin to droop again I pick her up, thank Joan for dinner, and carry my girl to bed. I tuck her in and she reaches for me.
    "I just have a couple calls to make, Fee. I’ll be back shortly," I promise her with a kiss to her forehead.
    "Okay. Hurry," she murmurs before she lets out a very unladylike snore.
    I smile, not because she’s snoring, but because I know from the way she’s snoring she’s finally getting some genuine sleep. Then I remember Carina. Her barging in here while Sera and I were reconnecting this morning—how she nearly damaged the progress we’d made, and then this afternoon. What was she doing in my home while I wasn’t here—while she knew I wasn’t here and who exactly was she fucking?
    I take my phone and head to my office and close the door. I push the button beneath a copy of Great Expectations and step into the room revealed when the panel slides to the side. I close it behind me. I can’t know what’s gone on here while I’ve been away, not until we review the security tapes—something Carina doesn’t realize I have, though she should know better.
    I hit the number on my phone and he answers immediately.
    "Cage."
    "I think we have a problem."
    "Tell me," is all Giovanni says, so I do. I tell him everything about Carina.
    "This doesn’t sit well with me, Gio."
    "No, nor with me. I’ve noticed the difference in her but I thought it was because of you and Serafina."
    "What do you mean?" I ask.
    The old man laughs. "Come on, Cage. I know all. I see all."
    "Yes, Godfather," I tease, and he chuckles.
    "Still so defiant."
    I grunt in response.
    "I mean, since you and Serafina have finally begun to admit you’re in love with each other."
    "That’s her problem. She knows the rules," I bite out, pissed off.
    "And she’s breaking them," Giovanni finishes. "She needs to be dealt with when the time comes."
    "She does but we need proof first," I remind him.
    "That won’t be difficult. She’s not very smart. She’s made more than one mistake so far, including leaving that ice pick in her trunk the day of her flat tire," he informs me.
    "I haven’t forgotten. I’ll need to have some of the men review the tapes here at the house. Who can we be sure she’s not fucked into a deal? Because, according to Sera, she was definitely fucking someone in one of my beds." I let out a litany of curses.
    "Definitely not the class act she pretends to be, is she?"
    "Not at all."
    "I’m not certain she didn’t have one of the enemy in your bed today. It would certainly feed that oversized ego of hers."
    I think about that for a minute.
    "What is it?" he asks.
    "She was in Denver, Gio, when everything went down with Lucy and she was late for our meeting. The timing—"
    "God help her if it was her. She will beg for death before I’m finished with her," the old man promises.
    "I’ll be there right beside you. This has eaten at Sera more than she’s shown. She let it slip this morning that she thinks it should have been her. Whoever it is knows her weaknesses and the biggest of them all is Luciana," I say.
    "Yes. And you as well as the triplets."
    "I can handle myself. She knows this. And as for the babies and Lucy, they’re under heavy guard, both in the open and hidden. They’re secure," I tell him, knowing it to be true.
    "Good. Serafina needs the same."
    "She already has it."
    "Good. Have the men review the tapes and let me know."
    "Do we mention this to Carina? The fact that I know she was in my house and do I address the fact that she’s entering without permission?"
    "The permission, yes, because you were there. That will be known by both you and Serafina, but not the other. Let’s keep that to ourselves until we know more."
    "Done. I’ll get back to you as soon as I know more."
    "Likewise," is all he says before he hangs