Twisted Cravings (The Camorra Chronicles, #6)(47)

Adamo chuckled. “I’m the least dangerous option, you mean?”

I let out a small laugh. “Walking into Vegas seemed like a bad idea, even in my head, and you fascinated me from the moment I began to research your family.”

“What fascinated you?”

“The racing, definitely. But more than that, it was the conflict I sometimes saw in your eyes during cage fights. As if a blood-thirsty part battled with your conscience. You reminded me of myself. My father thinks I belong in the light, but I don’t fit in there.”

Adamo propped himself up so his face hovered over mine but it was too dark to make out more than the general outline. “The blood you thirst for, is it in Vegas?”

I didn’t say anything. Over the last couple of months, my goal had shifted.

“I’d wanted to find out more about my past, and I knew only Remo could tell me what my father wouldn’t. I didn’t have much hope that he would divulge any information. Maybe if my father and he would still cooperate, but now that their relationship has turned hostile, I knew the chances were slim. But I had to take my chances. Part of me hoped, you’d know what I wanted to know.”

“What do you want now?”

My heart sped up whenever I tried to determine what exactly I wanted.

Deep down only one option sounded satisfying. “I need to do what I’d originally planned. Find out everything before I can really decide what I’m going to do next.”

“I have the CDs in my car. Do you want them?”

I quickly shook my head. “Not yet,” I whispered. One day I’d try to watch them, but not now, even if they’d show me the cold, hard truth in every disgusting detail. I wasn’t ready for that confrontation.

Adamo cupped my cheek. “You want me to take you to Vegas? To meet Remo. Right?”

I’d imagined meeting the man who’d saved me from possibly years of abuse countless times over the years. My father had never talked in very favorable words about the Capo. Now I guessed the reason for it was that Remo had kept my mother and not allowed my father to kill her. I wasn’t sure why. It seemed unlikely that Remo Falcone had qualms about ending the life of a woman.

“Yes.” Adamo’s silence filled the darkness between us. “I know you’re loyal to the Camorra and I’m not asking you to betray them. I want to officially meet Remo if he allows it.”

“We can drive to Vegas after the next race.”

“Won’t you have to ask Remo first?” Even if Adamo was the Capo’s brother, there were some rules to be followed, unless the Camorra operated completely different from my father’s organization, which I seriously doubted. All crime organization were based on a strict hierarchical structure.

“During my last trip to Vegas, I mentioned that you might want to see him to talk. He agreed.”

I pushed up. “How did you know? Maybe I’m supposed to assassinate your brother for keeping my mother all these years? You can’t know my true motives. I could be lying.”

“You haven’t revealed your true motives yet, maybe even you don’t know them in their full scope at this point, but Remo can protect himself and he’s the master of games and cunning. Tricking him is difficult, far more difficult than tricking me.”

I huffed. “I think you’re putting yourself down.”

“Nah, I’m very good at reading people, and even at manipulation if I want to be, it’s the Falcone gene, but Remo is the fucking master at it. He might as well have invented it.”

“So Remo wants to see me to determine my motives? He’s going to find out if I pose a risk to him, you or the Camorra.”

Adamo stroked along my arm. “No, I doubt that’s why he wants to meet you. Remo kept your mother and the videos for a reason, but he didn’t divulge everything to me. You and he both hide part of the truth, and by bringing the two of you together, I hope to uncover everything.”

“But you have your suspicions why your brother did what he did?”

“I know Remo. His values haven’t changed over the years. They are as twisted and morally doubtful as they used to be.”

“It’s not like your morals are socially acceptable.”

Adamo laughed. “I’m a Falcone. Twisted morals are in my gene pool.”

“I wonder when you’ll decide I’m not worth the trouble?”

“Oh, I have a feeling you’re worth every trouble you might put me through.”

I bit my lip, unsure how to respond to that. Every day I spent with Adamo, he grew more on me. I missed him when he wasn’t around and I kept thinking about him and how it felt to be with him. I wasn’t sure where my path was taking me but I hoped Adamo would join me on it, at least for a little while longer. I didn’t dare look too far into the future.

“Dima can’t come with us to Vegas. That wouldn’t go over well with Remo,” Adamo said.

Dima and I didn’t talk much but he’d returned to camp with me after my last trip to Chicago. I wasn’t sure if it was on my father’s orders or if his own protective streak had come through. “Then we’ll have to sneak away. I doubt he’ll listen to me if I tell him to stay behind. If my father gave him orders to guard me, he won’t let anything stop him.”

“Then we’ll sneak away after the next race. He rarely stays long for the afterparty. And maybe you can slip a couple of sleeping pills into his drink.