Chapter Twelve
Gio
Anyone who thinks being part of the Mafia is glamorous hasn't a fucking clue what they're talking about. They must have gotten all their information from movies and books, and we all know that shit's not real. It's dark, it's dirty, and it's dangerous, but I wouldn't changemi famigliaif I could. I love them, even when they piss me off. Like now. I'd planned on spending my Saturday at Dangerous Curves, keeping an eye on things, and watching Carly, but instead I'm stuck dealing with the idiocy of my younger brother. Why was I dealing with it and not Pop? Because I was the one who had given Amadeo the chance to prove himself.
“What were you thinking? I put you in charge of the shop because you gave me your word you could handle it. Do you have any idea the kind of mess you've caused?”
“It's not my fault, Gio. He came at me with a knife.”
“Because you ran your fucking mouth, Deo. I watched the damn security tape. You couldn't deal with the problem with a cool head – you had to go off half-cocked. Now we've got a dead body and it's my ass on the line with Pop.” I rubbed a hand down my face in frustration. “I've got the cleanup crew on their way. You better hope this asshole doesn’t have someone who will miss him, someone who knew he would be here.”
“I'm sorry, Gio. I didn't mean to screw this up. You gotta believe me.”
“That's the problem, Deo, you never mean to do it, but it happens anyway. Just go. I'll deal with you, later.” When he hesitated I narrowed my eyes at him. “Get the fuck out of here, Amadeo.”
I watched him slink out the door, head down and shoulders slumped. I knew he meant well, but this wasn't the first time he'd fucked up. This was just the worst. Pop was going to go ballistic when he found out. Fuck.
“Hey, Boss, cleanup crew's here.”
I looked up to see my right hand, Enzo, standing by the door. “Send 'em in. We need to get this done quickly, before the cops show up. I donotneed that hassle right now.” With any luck everything would be done in time to hit the club.
When my phone rang and I saw it was Pop calling, I knew the chance of making it to Dangerous Curves was shot. It wasn't happening tonight. At least, not until late. I might make it by closing time. I hit the answer button on my phone and prepared myself for an ass-chewing. “Hey, Pop.”
“Gio. A little birdie tells me there has been a problem at the shop.”
“I've got it under control, Pop.”
“Someone is dead. How is that under control?”
“I've got the cleanup crew here. The body will be taken care of so no one will be able to connect the disappearance to us.”
“You better hope not, Gio. I left you in charge of that operation. You made the decision to put Amadeo in charge.”
“I thought he was ready, Pop. I was wrong. But I am handling it. This won't come back onla famiglia.”
“See that it doesn't. I expect to see you once the cleaners are done.”
“Yes, sir.” I wanted to throw my phone against the wall by the time I hung up. It would be a long fucking time before I let Amadeo be in charge of anything again. He just didn't have the right attitude to be in charge of such a delicate operation. In a city that didn't have a large mafia population, we had to keep our heads down. It would be different if we were in Chicago, but here in New Orleans, we had to be extra damn careful.
“Boss. We got a problem.”
My eyes narrowed at the man in front of me. “That's not what I want to hear.” The growl in my voice made him wince.
“The dead man is related to a cop.”
Fuck. “Alright. Change of plans. We need to make it look like he got mixed up in a shady deal and got himself killed for it. In no way can this be traced back tola famiglia. Understood?”
“You got it.”
I stayed to make sure it was done, and then the cleaners went through and made sure there wasn't even a stray hair in a corner that could bring the heat down on us. The last thing I did before heading to see Pop was make an anonymous call on a burner phone to 911 to report hearing a fight.
Pop was waiting for me when I reached the house. I knew he would be. “It's handled.” He said nothing, just motioned me to follow him into his office.
“What happened?”
“Deo lost his cool and ran his mouth. Thebastardoran at him with a knife. It was self defense, but we both know the cops wouldn't see it that way.”
“Amadeo should never have been in charge of the operation.”
