“You want to hang out here or in the car?” he asks.
Shifting my gaze forward, I notice that there is a black SUV parked and running right in front of me. I should probably go sit in the back of the car, but I shake my head once before I speak.
“I’ll stay out here.”
GOOSE
Once Cidney is out of earshot, Lorenzo clears his throat. His gaze finds Bullet’s, and he holds it for a moment. Both of them stare at one another, neither of them backing down. It’s comical because I think Lorenzo is used to men backing down. I don’t know what he fucking expected. Not one single Vicious Reaper would back down from him, especially not our president.
But what the fuck ever. I want this shit done.
“My son thought, in his infinite wisdom, at least, he was doing what I wanted.”
“By trying to kill Cidney?” I growl.
Lorenzo rolls his eyes, then shakes his head once. “Not that,” he says with a grunt. “He thought it would be wise to merge our two organizations. When he discovered that Cidney wasn’t part of the Vicious Reapers as he originally thought, he panicked.”
“And in that panic, he was going to kill her?” Bullet asks.
Lorenzo shrugs a shoulder. “She knew too much. He was trying to bring her into his world in an effort to merge with yours. He knew that I had been in love with Cidney’s mother, and he thought that if we could merge and eventually take over the Reapers’ operation from the inside, it would somehow vindicate her leaving me for one of yours.”
“And he just came up with this all on his own?” Bullet asks.
Lorenzo doesn’t deny or confirm the question, which tells me everything I need to know. He indeed was part of this, but wewill never be able to prove it. And in the end, it doesn’t matter too much.
“Well, we had no idea we were protecting your shit. I don’t know if that makes you feel any type of way. But our operation and agreement were always and will always be with Robin. It has and will never have to do directly with you,” I explain.
Lorenzo dips his chin. “So we just call this a mistake and walk away, pretend it never happened?”
I like that Lorenzo is so optimistic. That he lives in an alternate universe where blood is shed, and nobody has to atone for it. Unfortunately, that is not this universe, and this motherfucker needs to pay for what he’s done.
“I don’t think that’s a viable option, Lorenzo,” Bullet murmurs. “Goffredo did a lot of planning and manipulating. He targeted one of the women of our club, tried to use her. Then, when he fucked up, he tried to kill her and spilled the blood of one of our members. There is a lot to unpack with what he’s done, and you know as well as I do that we have a code.”
Lorenzo doesn’t respond immediately. I can tell he’s thinking about what he’s going to say next instead of just popping off with some shit that would piss us off and start a war. That little weasel of his started all this shit because he wanted to be a big man.
If Lorenzo wanted to teach him a lesson, he’d let him fight his own fucking battles, but I can tell that Goffredo has never had to own up to his own shit a day in his life. This is the sole reason he felt as comfortable as he did behaving the way he did.
“Paul,” Lorenzo calls out without breaking eye contact with Bullet. “Bring out Goffredo.”
It’s as if a hush falls over the entire restaurant, or maybe the sound of my blood rushing through my ears is the reason for the sudden silence. I’m not sure, and I don’t ask any questions, either. I’m too focused on the kitchen door opening and that little prick walking through.
To his credit, he doesn’t carry himself like the puffed-up peacock I expected. He knows he fucked up, but as small as he attempts to carry himself, he also doesn’t look remorseful. He’s sorry he got caught and nothing more.
“Apologize to the Reapers for what you’ve done,” Lorenzo announces.
I almost laugh in their faces, because an apology ain’t shit when blood has been spilled. Take the whole Cidney part out of the equation. He shot and almost killed one of our men. You don’t just get to walk away from that, and the fact that his father is the head of the Front Mob Family is the only reason he’s not already dead.
“I’m sorry,” he says. To his credit, he appears sorry, but not for what he’s done.
“This doesn’t fix anything,” Bullet states.
Lorenzo dips his chin in what I assume is understanding. My patience is thinning by the second. Lorenzo waves his son closer. He takes two steps until he’s standing directly at his father’s side.
“What would fix this? I can promise you that Goffredo will never attempt to do anything like this again. He’s been stripped of his title and his crew. He’s going to have to work his way back up the ranks.”
That makes my lips twitch into a smirk. It’s still not enough, but I love the fact that he’s been knocked all the way fucking down. As a matter of fact, it fills me with fucking joy. Leaning back in my chair, I watch as Goffredo’s gaze flicks from his feet to meet mine. He narrows his eyes before he shifts them back down to his feet.
“I’m not sure I can let this go that easily,” Bullet says.
