“Hmm. Well, so long as he doesn’t interfere with whatever Matteo is doing, then we won’t have a problem.”
“How is our friend Cusenza, anyway?” I ask, hoping to finally hear he’s six feet under or swimming with the fishes.
“Alive, but barely,” Vincenzo says grimly. “Once he serves his final purpose, he’ll meet his day in hell. You have my word. You’ll be the first to know when the deed is done.”
I nod. I wanted to kill the fucker myself for the danger he put my daughter in and the role he played in Maggie’s death, but Cusenza has the connections we need to take down an even bigger fucking problem than himself. One that’s been looking to settle a score.
“You said Sadie told you I needed your help. What exactly did I need help with?” Wanting to get this meeting over with and get back to my woman, I cut to the chase.
“To save Christmas, of course.” Vincenzo smiles. “Sadie called and said you needed me to be Santa Claus.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“You have children here who are anticipating Santa Claus coming tonight and leaving them gifts under the tree. Yet, you have nothing here to give them, right?” Vincenzo starts. “Sadie told me where to find all the presents needed for the kids, andI sent my men to collect them all and bring them here to be carefully placed under the tree after the children all go to sleep.”
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” My head’s spinning. “The fuck do you mean, you collected everything? Where the hell did you find all that shit? Everything around here’s closed.”
“I didn’t buy them, if that’s what you’re asking,” Vincenzo states, smiling. “I collected them.” I wait for him to explain the rest. The asshole leans forward with his elbows on his knees and whispers, “I took them from your people’s houses.”
“You broke into their homes? How? Do they know?” I’m up on my feet now. “I find it hard to believe any of my men would trust any of yours to just go through their homes without them being there.”
“Gabriel.” Vincenzo shakes his head. “As I understand it, you gave permission for Sadie to just handle things. So, she did.”
“How Goddamnit?” I shout. Mason comes through the door with his gun drawn. “The fuck you doing, Prospect?”
“Sorry, Pres.” Mason says, tucking his gun away. “I heard you shouting. No one’s on the door, but I knew who you were in here with,” he says sheepishly. “You two have a history of arguing and guns being drawn and shit. I was coming in as backup.”
“Fucking hell,” I grumble.
“Gabriel. I often wonder about your men,” Vincenzo says smoothly, pulling a cigarette from his coat and lighting it. He takes a long drag and then fills my office with smoke. “I can’t decide if they are all truly brave or impressively stupid.” He looks to Mason. “You would’ve lost your life if I didn’t like your President. But we’ve become friends of sorts, and you still owe me your end of our deal for the favor I’ve done for you, so I’m willing to overlook your ignorance this one time.”
“What deal?” I glance between the two of them. Having had enough, I pull my gun from under the desk and aim it back and forth between the two of them. “Someone better fucking startexplaining what the hell you two are on about or I’m going to put a bullet in both of your asses. Then your doctor friend can spend Christmas playing nurse to the both of you.”
“Easy, Pres,” Mason says, with his arms up in a placating manner. “You told me to get the kids handled. To get anyone I needed to help. So, I asked Sadie to call in a favor.”
“Youwhat?” I bark. “And what do you owe him for thisfavor?”
“He will owe me a favor.” Vincenzo shrugs, standing up with his hand now in his pocket. The other holding his cigarette.
“Because of course, you couldn’t do something out of the goodness of your heart.For children.Fucking asshole.”
Vincenzo narrows his eyes at me. “I did the favor for the children for nothing. I would never hold a debt over a child. The favor your prospect owes is for all the B and E my men had to do to get the shit here. And the cost of using my helicopter. I had to have it brought up here from Baron’s Edge,” he says it like it’s the most obvious fucking explanation.
“Jesus Christ.” I turn back to Mason. “You had Sadie hack into all the security systems, didn’t you?”
“He had to get into their houses, and you know as well as I do, none of the guys would trust him to go into their space.” Mason at least has the decency to look scared.
“And you think they won’t have your ass, or that patch, for what you’ve done?” I growl.
Mason shrugs. His shoulders sag and his face falls. “I’ll take whatever they dish out. Kaylie deserves to have a nice Christmas. And Everly deserves her own Christmas miracle. That woman works her ass off to take care of that kid, and she never does anything for herself. Not even taking a break.” He goes on. “Carter and Lilah deserve to have a good Christmas too. If the guys wanna beat my ass for it, then fine. But I’m betting thewomen will all be grateful not to have disappointed children tomorrow morning.”
“You’re banking on the women saving your ass.” I smile. That’s actually pretty damn smart, and probably accurate. There’s no way Skyler or Violet will let Ethan and Declan beat Mason’s ass after making their kids happy. “I don’t know if you’re insane or a genius. I guess we’ll both find out tomorrow after the kids get their shit.”
“So, are we good then?” Mason asks.
“For now,” I tell him honestly. “But I can’t promise Hawk will be as forgiving. You used his woman to fuck with his system—again. That girl will be lucky if she’s able to sit for a week when he finds out. You may not be so lucky.”
Mason scrubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know, but Sadie assured me she would handle Hawk.”
