Read Online Relentless: A Bad Boy Romance (Bertoli Crime Family #1) by Lauren Landish - Free Book Online Page B

investigation called me yesterday and said that they are doing their best to find him. They think he might have fled the country, but he wouldn’t say why they think that.”
    “There’s a chance of that,” Uncle Carlo said. He sighed and set his silverware down. “I've had some of my people looking into his background. It was surprising, considering your description of him, but he’s a scary man.”
    “Besides being a psychopath? He's a fifty-year-old man with a tub gut and bad taste in clothing and music. What else is there to worry about now that you’re on to him?”
    Uncle Carlo shook his head, sighing. “Vincent Drake is more than that, sadly enough, and he's fifty-three. I'm not surprised the police didn’t tell you, or perhaps the fucking morons don't know yet, but Vincent Drake is former military. His public service record is fairly tame. He was in the Army for eight years, getting out just after the first Iraq War. According to the public record, he was a Public Relations Specialist, and reached the rank of Staff Sergeant before an honorable discharge.”
    “You say that like he’s more than just a former journalist,” I said, my mouth going a bit dry. I took a sip of my water, trying to clear the knot in my throat. “What is it?”
    “The posts that he was assigned—they don't have media specialists,” Carlo said simply. “My sources dug some more, and found that Vincent Drake was more than that. He was in the Psychological Warfare division and was involved in the capture and interrogation of Noriega back in the Panama invasion. He was Special Operations, Bella. We don't know exactly what training he went through, or what it did to him, but the man is not some artsy palooka who just went off his rocker.”
    I shuddered, my appetite suddenly lost. “That’s not good news, but I’m confident Daniel will keep me safe.”
    Uncle Carlo nodded, taking another bite of his fish. “Your mother and I talked about this yesterday on the phone. She told me how highly you spoke about Daniel, and she was a bit worried. After a phone call I got this morning, I am too.”
    “Why are you worried?” I asked. “I mean, me being at odds with Daniel would only make things more difficult.”
    “Getting along is good, but you sounded to your mother like a girl with the beginnings of a crush,” he said. “I have to caution you on that.”
    “Uncle,” I said, trying not to whine. I took a deep breath. “Okay, I'll admit, Daniel’s a handsome man. But I don't have a crush on him. Even if I did, is that really a bad thing? You said yourself that he is a man of honor, and I could probably do a lot worse.”
    Uncle Carlo sighed and rested his forehead in his hands, shaking his head back and forth. “Bella, I know what you’re saying, but Daniel, at least when it comes to ladies, is not to be trusted. And even if that wasn’t the case, it won’t change what he does for a living . . .”
    I sat there, fuming, feeling like I was being talked down to, and not liking it too much. Godfather or not, leader of the Sea-Tac families or not, I was a twenty-three-year-old woman, not a twelve-year-old-girl saying she had a crush on some television heartthrob. “Well, maybe he can change. And he doesn’t have to do that for the rest of his life . . .”
    He shook his head. “If it was anyone other than Daniel, I'd have pulled him from the job already. But with what I’ve learned about the man who’s stalking you, I can’t afford to have anyone other than the best of my men protecting you. In terms of doing his duty to protect you, I can trust him, and his honor will make sure that he does the right thing. But outside of that, Adriana, he knows the rules. No man under Bertoli family employ is to touch you. They do, and they will pay with their lives, very simply. I won't compromise on this, nor will I listen to any arguments otherwise. Now, I would like to finish my dinner. Is this conversation finished?”
    “Yes,