53

As I tucked my white blouse into my skirt, Vincent approached up behind me, face concerned.

"Do we have a problem mi gemma nera?" he asked and I glanced up at him.

"If we did, I would have already had it handled." I replied slipping into my black heals. What the hell was Angela doing here though? James didn't send her. He didn't know anything about Vincent. Or does he? Maybe this was a business call for Angela. Guess I would find out. Once the heals were snug and fit, I faced Vincent fully. He was staring down at me with a side smirk. "I will handle it."

He closed his eyes and nodded in mild submission. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze before moving around him and out the bedroom. Clay was waiting on the other side, and the mask of professionalism was back on my face. I walked down the hall with Clay behind me. As we reached the bottom, one of Vincent's men were at the door waiting for us and when we neared it, he opened it with a nod.

There she stood, in her nice business suit, hair long and elegant. Her eyes lightened a bit as she saw me.

"Yara, hi." she said lightly. I stepped closer trying to shield Vincent's home and world from her.

"Angela. How did you know I was here?" I asked. She looked around the doorway for a second.

"James gave me your address. Guess he didn't know you had moved. I had to do some mild digging to find you. Can we talk?" she asked. I was mildly tense not sure if I believed or not. I exhaled some.

"Not here." I replied and raised my hand for her to move toward the sidewalk. She nodded and turned and moved with ease back toward the sidewalk. I looked at Clay who just removed his wrist from his face.

"The eyes have confirmed no police or SWAT or any agents are in the area." he said. I nodded and turned and moved behind the woman. Clay followed a few feet behind me. We moved onto the sidewalk and she glanced up at me with a moderately serious gaze.

"I know you and Jaimie aren't close." she said. I refrained from scoffing.

"You two must still be seeing each other to still use that nickname so casually my presence." I said and her jaw clenched lightly as she looked ahead, mentally kicking herself. "So did he send you for some reason?"

She looked up at me and shook her head.

"No. James does not know I am here." she said. I nodded.

"So why are you here?" I asked. She glanced back at Clay and then glanced forward.

"The Yakuza are here in New York." she said collectively. I didn't even tense as we continued to walk awkwardly down the side walk of the large neighborhood.

"And you're telling me this why?" I asked. She looked at me.

"They shot up your brother's club. And from personal intel one of the Yakuza's most lethal leaders, Ujio Takahashi, has been seen with you." she said and I kept my eyes forward as I nodded. "So why would a real estate agent have anything to do with a Yakuza member?"

"I have met many people in my job, both dangerous and innocent." I replied looking at her. "If I had met a person as ruthless as a Yakuza member how would I even know?"

She finally stopped and looked at me.

"Cut the bullshit, Yara. Look I don't know what you're into, but ever since the Yakuza set foot on American soil, my higher ups have kept an eye on them and everyone they have associated with. They will be jumping at the chance to build a case against them and anyone they can." she informed. I scoffed.

"And what evidence do you have to build a case? Even if they are Yakuza like you say, it has nothing to do with me." I replied. But why is she informing me of this?

"Well them shooting up your brother's club is evidence enough. Look I came here to warn you, that whatever business you're doing you need to separate yourself from them. We're looking into them already. We plan to bring Ujio in for questioning and his brother Kai if we can find him." she explained. I kept my face straight at the mention of the dead brother. Finally I stopped and turned to her.

"Thank you, Ms. Valdez for coming here to advise me. I will take this up with my job and handle it accordingly." I replied, my tone signaling this was the end of the conversation. I turned from her, only to feel her arm catch my forearm. I paused and we both gave each other firm looks, alpha like looks. Clay watched with a squint raising his hand to his glasses but I raised my other hand to him.

"Ujio is here for you isn't he?" she asked. I gave her a dark look, my face saying it all. "Whether it is good or bad, the fact he is here means the FBI will be all over him meaning they will be all over you. I'm warning you because-"

"You love my brother and if anything happens to me that you could have prevented he would end things with you." I concluded and she stuttered some in response. I tilted my head at her some. She's his rat almost on the inside of the FBI. Angela removed her hand from me.

"You and him… you didn't have to have these lives you lead now." she said. I looked up in thought of her words thinking what would happen if I never joined Red Lake. Then I looked at her.

"We wanted power… and regardless of the lives we led, you'd still choose my brother whether he was good or bad." I replied and she stared at me almost wide eyed before her hand slid away from me. But now I caught her hand before it could hit her side. "Do not ever come back here… or I will have you shot."

The quick emotions in her eyes changed before looking me over.

"Are you threatening a federal agent?" she asked. I inhaled calmly and just let her hand go. I didn't have time for her at the moment.

"Come back and find out." I said leisurely before turning and walking back toward Clay, the authority in my stance alone as I walked, my fingers gracefully intertwined together as I passed Clay. His face was hard and chilled as he just watched the agent. Once I passed him, he followed a few seconds behind me.

So now the FBI know the Yakuza are here. That would definitely be a problem.

"Clay find out what the FBI know so far about the Yakuza. Put a virus in the entire case. I wanted it handled." I replied. A virus could be anything, evidence taken or added to throw off the scent of a case, an actual computer virus that shuts down heavy systems like the one the FBI has in order to delete as many cases as possible or even put in false date that would take months for the FBI to crack and fix so I could get the upper hand.

"Yes Ms. St. Patrick." Clay replied obediently with a curt nod. Once we got inside the house I finally paused and sighed hating myself for what I was about to say. I glanced over at Clay with a mild look of irritation.

"And send my brother a fucking wedding invitation." I replied. I knew invitations weren't official yet, but Clay would know to invite him to get together coming up. As much as I didn't want a single member of my family tree at this event, I knew it would eventually cause a rift between Vincent and I. Plus I was sure Grandma Amara would shoot passive aggressive daggers at me for the rest of my life if I didn't do something.

Vincent was moving down the stairs looking at me curiously.

"Is it handled?" he asked. I nodded.

"Very much so. She will not be back." I informed and he smiled and leaned in and kissed me.

"Wonderful. Now I got some business to take care of. I'm sending Carmine and Carmine to… get rid of some trash. If anyone asks, I was at Bamonte's all day." he said. I nodded.

"Of course, darling." I replied and he kissed my cheek in response.

"I'll see you later and we can discuss wedding plans." he said and I nodded.

"Okay." I replied with a loving smile and he shared it before exiting the house with some of his men behind him. Clay and I looked at each other. "Let's go do some rounds. I want to make sure Ujio is tainting the entire city."