Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
My father stared at his captain for a while, his curled fingertips resting against the surface of his desk. He tapped a couple times before he scanned everyone in the room. “Let’s make sure this dog stays on a short leash.”
12
WOLFE
When I entered the office, the crew was already there.
Including Francesca.
I mean…my woman.
It was hard to sit there with a blank stare on my face when she was in the room with me. She was just too important to ignore. It felt like an insult to what we had not to address her as baby and kiss her, not to show everyone in that room that she meant something to me.
It felt fucking disrespectful.
But I behaved as I should, sat in the armchair directly in front of her father.
Don Mancini stared me down.
I wasn’t sure if Francesca would vouch for me in their little meeting. It wasn’t her responsibility to defend my name, so I hoped she stayed out of it. But she was the only person who had proof that I hadn’t stolen the guns from the dock, because I’d been balls deep inside her at the time.
I got tired of the silence. “You got something to say to me, Don?”
His stare remained hard as concrete.
I knew the smart thing to do was be obedient and respectful, but that behavior got you the shitty jobs. Taking the cars in to the mechanic, tailing lesser targets, the kid stuff. But being unafraid to take up space in front of someone who was supposed to make you cower was what made you a lieutenant.
“You’re part of the crew.” He said it in a type of way, like he wasn’t the least bit happy about it.
“Well.” I gave a single clap of my palms. “That’s great news.”
“But that doesn’t mean we trust you,” he said coldly.
“Goes without saying, Don.” I rubbed my palms together. “Now that’s been decided, we need to make our move against Lombardi. Shouldn’t have wasted a day on this bullshit in the first place.” I rose to my feet and approached the desk before I turned to the others in the room, pretending Francesca wasn’t there. “We hit them hard. Take out the trash is how I like to say it.”
“We’re going to meet with Lombardi first,” Elio said. “Give him an opportunity to grovel and put him in our debt.”
My eyebrow cocked as I looked at him. “Is that a joke?”
“It’s better to have an enemy in your pocket than dead in the ground,” Don Mancini said.
“And you think they’re going to come to the table peacefully?” I asked incredulously. “They’re gonna ambush you.”
“We’ll come prepared—”
“And they’ll come prepared to kill you. I’m telling you, this is not the way to go about it.”
“We hired you to be part of our crew,” Elio said. “Not to have you in charge. That means you’re going to shut your mouth and follow orders. Or you can crawl back to Cosa Nostra.”
I stared at Don Mancini’s captain and felt my rage simmer on the surface of my skin. It took all my strength not to act on it. I’d always had a temper, even as a kid. Maybe I was just an angry person.
Francesca was the only person who didn’t make me angry.
“Cosa Nostra has incredible reach and efficiency because Don Russo trusts his lieutenants to see what he misses. Choosing not to use me is the same thing as driving with blinders on. We’re going to walk into a trap, and it’s going to be my burden to get us out of there alive.”
“We know Lombardi better than you do.”
“Really?” I snapped. “Because you missed the knife he stabbed in your back.”
A heavy silence ensued, so quiet that it seemed as if no one drew a single breath.
Don Mancini shattered the silence. “Set up the meeting for tomorrow night, Elio. We’re finished here.”
It was past eight when she texted me. I don’t want to be that girl or anything, but are you still coming?
I’d been running around all day, taking care of business that Don Mancini should handle himself. I drove with one hand on the wheel and texted with the other. I had big-ass hands, so it was easy for me to hold the phone and type at the same time. What girl?
I don’t want to nag.
That was nagging? I smirked.
I know you’re probably busy, and I don’t want to bother you.
“Bother me?” I asked with a little chuckle. I set the phone in the cupholder and then used the dashboard screen to call her. It rang a couple times, like she was staring at my name for a moment before she took the call. When I heard the click, I started to talk. “You aren’t bothering me. Text or call whenever you want.”
She was quiet over the line.