I shrug and lean back in my chair. “Not my problem. I gave you a job and am severely disappointed that you failed so epically. You're lucky you hold the position you do, Chief. Otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate to remove you. Maybe I will anyway… Fire Chiefs are so easy to replace after all.”
He blanches. “I'm sorry, sir. I hope you can still trust me; I won't let you down again.”
I sigh. “I know. Now, go. Get out of my sight before I toss you in front ofthem. Think about your poor wife once they get a hold of you…”
He scrambles up. “Thank you, sir. I promise, I'll do better.”
“Of course, you will. You don't want to disappoint me again.”
“No, sir.”
“Get out.”
He leaves and I rub at my temples. Fucking incompetent idiots. You'd think he would have known better. No matter… As I said, Fire Chiefs are so easily replaced.
Picking up my phone, I dial the number from memory.
“Sir?”
“I need you to take out the Fire Chief. I don't care how, but I want it done by tomorrow morning.”
“It'll be done…”I can feel the hesitation in his voice, and I bite back a sigh at having to stay on the line with him for any longer than I need to.
“My contacts…they gave me some interesting information this morning. You beat me to this phone call.”
“Get on with it…”
“The Martellis and Amatos…apart from the Bosses, have left the Martelli mansion. I don't know where they went, or why—I'm looking into it now—but…this could be used to our advantage. If they're trying to cover more ground, or splitup for safety reasons…being divided means we have more opportunities to grab them.”
“Or it could be a trap. Don't let your idealistic side get too far ahead, boy. You're my proxy, but you still have a lot to learn about this life.”
He sucks in a breath.“Yes, sir. I’ll try to dig more. But as I said, this could be a boon for us.”
“We’ll see,” I say, making sure the doubt can be heard in my tone, even as I’m thinking of all the ways thiscouldgo in our favor. “Bring me more information, not speculation or your useless ideas, Kieran. I want results, not ifs or buts.”
“Yes, sir.”
I hang up without another word. Fucking useless children. I don’t want rumors and speculation, I want facts, things I can use to take those fuckers down. If Kieran doesn’t start pulling his weight soon… Well, then I’ll just have to marry Cecily off so I can still have an heir.
Pushing those thoughts to the side, I pick my phone back up to call the child that’s actually useful, hoping she can shed some light on her brother’s dumbassery. Because I’ll give the boy one thing, he might be useless, but his contacts aren’t.
And something tells me we’ll need every single one in order to reach our end goal. Those assholes think they’re smarter than I am? I’m about to prove them all wrong…
Irun my fingers through my sweat-soaked hair, cringing at the sensation. Still, it’s been honest work to get everything in place. As a bonus, it gives me less time to think about how I left a piece of my heart behind, though I’m not sure my heart even exists anymore. Fuck.He may as well have killed me…
“Lio! Company!” I blink at Marcus’s booming voice and jog toward the front door, stumbling to a stop when I see who is there.
“It’s good to see you, Emilio.” I blink rapidly, but nope, it’s still Allesandro’s uncle standing in front of me.
“Uh, hi. Is there something you need?” I rock back on my heels, hoping he’s not here on Allesandro’s behalf. I can’t handle that right now.
He gives me a gentle smile before stepping inside further and gesturing behind him. I glance over his shoulder and noteseveral men and women standing there, all in uniforms. “I wanted to bring you a present. My nephew does not know about this.”
“You’re uh…gifting me people?” My voice raises in disbelief, because what. The. Fuck?
His laughter fills the foyer, and I relax slightly. “Not quite. As you know, before I moved, we had several staff members. While we lost some during the fire, others survived. I reached out and most either wanted to come back, or they put me in touch with others who were looking for work. You need staff for the house. I can’t help you with soldiers, but I can at least help you run the home.”
I stare blankly at him, because this is a social situation far above my capability. Thank fuck I’m rescued by Benjamin. “That’s really thoughtful. Why don’t you and Lio go talk in his new office, and I’ll gather everyone in the study to get their information, so Hollis can do their background checks. We trust you, of course, but it’s not just us here.”
