“What the fuck is this?”
Philippe watched the panel van disappear around the far corner of the lodge. But his attention was elsewhere, out into the night, down the hill to the bunkhouse, which he couldn’t see from here.
Paolo would reach the bunkhouse any minute. Philippe had the rest of his guards patrolling the manor. Representatives from the other families were due any time now. All this should have made him feel more confident than he did. But the mark’s cell phone coming alive while on this property did not sit well. That had yet to be explained, and was the most troubling of his concerns.
Ricardo, older than him by a year, but technically his nephew, answered from behind him. “Jimmy Nans decided to make a little contribution to your meeting.”
“I don’t want his contribution.”
Philippe had never learned to feel comfortable around Ricardo. Never had. Never would.
“Not the way to play host,” Ricardo chided.
“They’ll set up upstairs. Then I don’t want them anywhere near the meeting.”
Philippe decided to follow the van around the building and make sure his guys were on it. “Where you going?” Ricardo called out. “You got something going with Katie?” Philippe stopped in his tracks, then decided that the worst response was any at all.
“She’s a nervous twitch. Can’t stop moving around the house. You know what’s up with that?”
“Katrina is miserable, Ricky,” Philippe answered, using a nickname Ricardo loathed. “Everyone around here knows that. We’ve known it for a long, long time. But at least you don’t have to worry about losing her.”
“How’s that?” Ricardo asked, suddenly all the more curious.
“Because you never had her.”