Page 121 of Humility

I ran my hand through my hair and sucked in a deep breath. “Riker, it’s Angelo.”

“Are you calling to say you’ve changed your mind about the deal,” Riker asked.

“No, why would I do that?”

“No reason. What can I help you with? You don’t strike me as the social call type,” he said.

“I need your help, and I’ll pay whatever price you ask of me. I don’t care what it is. I’ll be forever in your debt.”

“You screwed up and lost her, didn’t you,” Riker said. There was something annoyingly father-like about his tone.

“I don’t want to talk about what happened, but I need to borrow your jet,” I said, sitting on the edge of my desk, the only thing that wasn’t destroyed.

“Let me get this straight. You want to borrow my multi-million-dollar jet, but you don’t want to tell me why? I don’t think so. For all I know, I could be helping a fugitive. Oh wait, you already are.” He chuckled, and I ground my teeth together.

“Are you always like this,” I asked, and he laughed harder.

“Minny would ask the same question, but now she just rolls her eyes,” he said.

“Come on, what do you have to lose? What did you do?” Riker persisted.

“There is too much. I don’t even know where to begin. I fucked up. Can I have the jet now?” Talking to him was worse than talking to my father. I had a similar conversation when I had gotten a speeding ticket in his Bentley.

“Let me guess this about her mother’s heirloom you stole?” How the hell did Riker know it was her mother’s? “She didn’t know it was you, and when she found out from someone else, she left? Am I close?”

“What the fuck? Are you spying on me?”

“Please, like I have time for that. I told you, I like to know who I’m dealing with. Let’s just say I had a feeling she didn’t know. You seemed pretty uptight when I danced around what you did. Tell me, Angelo, did you sell it?”

I ground my teeth together, annoyed that he read me so easily. “No, but it doesn’t matter. She didn’t want to hear about it, why, or anything else I had to say. That’s why I need the jet. I have to make this right and see if she will give me one more chance,” I said.

Riker laughed, and annoyance flared in my chest. Who the hell was he to laugh at me?

“I’m impressed. I didn’t know if you were serious when you said you’d happily go to hell for her. Good on you.” I stared around my office and then at my phone. Did he have me bugged?

“How did you know I said that? I don’t remember saying that at dinner?”

“You must have. What the two of you have is true love. Love like that is rare, and you never stop fighting for it. Take it from someone who knows what it feels like to lose your soulmate. When I thought Minny was forever lost to me…I didn’t care about anything anymore.”

“Which is why I need the jet. I need to try. She is my everything. I would give everything up for her. Not only that, but I think she’s in danger. Two men attacked her here, and if my hunch is right, they will try again, and she has no idea they’re a threat. Riker, I wouldn’t come to you unless I was desperate.”

“Fine, you convinced me. My jet is still in town. You can use it. I’ll text you the address of my private airstrip,” he said, and a glimmer of hope sparked in my chest. If I could convince Riker to help, there was hope for me yet.

“Do you have a private hanger everywhere?”

“Pretty much, I don’t like people.”

That explained a lot. “Thank you,” I said.

“Don’t thank me, just go, and when you get back, we’ll talk about the business. I have a few ideas. That is if Don Falcone doesn’t shoot you in the head, of course.” And just like that, he dashed the hope. He laughed as the phone clicked in my ear.

“Ass,” I mumbled as the door to the office opened, and Dario and Enzo walked in with large black duffel bags in hand.

Dairo threw one at my feet. “We’re going after her. You’re already packed.”

“How did you know I was talking Riker?”

“Riker? How would I know you were talking Riker?”