“I like how you always find a way to agree with me that makes you sound like you’re the one who’s right.”
I grinned. “Augustine despises it.”
“Well, in that case, I want to take the sarcasm out of what I said and genuinely mean that I like it,” he said quickly, so fast in fact that it made me laugh. His hatred of Augustine was never going to change, and I was never going to try to change that about him either.
“We’ll just get a wrap then,” I said, pointing toward a corner of the park off to the side where a stand advertising wraps stood. We both made for it and ordered.
He’s always going to blame Augustine for where your life ended up.
That much I knew. Just like I knew there was nothing I could do to convince him that wasn’t the case.
That’s because you’re thinking of it in different terms. You think about that moment you joined The Family under a favorfrom Augustine. Dom’s thinking of the fact that Augustine was there at all, involving himself in your life when he should have stayed away. I mean, what was the point of showing up after all those years anyway? I think we both know Augustine showing up was for the same reason he decided to send you here.
It was not exactly a new idea that someone in Augustine’s position would want someone to eventually take his place, preferably someone of his choice, rather than end up as Will Senior had, leaving a huge power vacuum in the wake of his death. Outwardly, I would deny that Augustine would show favor to someone just because they were related to him, and I still stood by that. What I would be leaving out is that he was also the sort to look at himself, see that he was the best for his job, and assume only someone of his blood would be capable of doing his job...one day.
So no, he wouldn’t choose me simply because I was his son. Instead, I suspected he had sought me out to see what there was to work with, if anything. Once he’d discovered things about me that might help him in his future role, he stuck around. Everything since had been his way of casually grooming me for a position I would never have sought for myself. Not that anyone’s choice ever came into his calculations, but I could see the path he was starting to trace for me.
I think it might be time for you to pay attention.
I thought I was paying attention; that was the whole point.
No, to the real world. Right now.
Blinking, I looked up from my half-eaten wrap to find that the part of the park we had wandered into was empty except for three people following us.
“We...might have a problem,” I said as the three of them looked at us, and I felt a chill go through me when one of them noticed I was paying attention and began advancing.
“Something wrong with your wrap?” Dom asked absentmindedly as he popped the remainder of his into his mouth.
“Not the wrap,” I said, stiffening and taking a step back as the three men began to hurry.
“Uh,” Dom said, spotting them and dropping his wrapper on the ground. “I’m guessing those aren’t friendly.”
“An astute observation.”
“And I’m going to guess that they’re not going to want to stop and talk shit.”
“Another impressive observation.”
“Really? Sarcasm?”
“We need to move,” I said, looking for the quickest route to a more public area. I couldn’t be sure if these were Los Muertos members or just someone looking to pocket the bounty on my head, but most people were not fond of killing while there were onlookers. Not to mention, this being a college area, there were bound to be more cops than, say, in my old neighborhood. “Now.”
“Great,” Dom muttered as we turned and ran.
A shout rang up from the trio of men, and I knew they were after us. Okay, so they were definitely here for me, and they weren’t going to wait to see if they could ambush us another time. That I could work with; it meant either their original plan was ruined or they weren’t working with a plan.
“Quickest way to the street?” I asked as we stupidly ran along the path.
“Seriously? What about other people?” Dom asked.
“They clearly waited until we were alone before approaching us,” I told him as I dared to look behind and grunted when I saw they were catching up quickly. “And unless you feel like fighting off three people when I’m not a fighter, and they probably have weapons?—”
“Goddammit,” he growled, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me off the path into the woods. “I’m not taking guns into a crowded street.”
“Then what are?—”
“Shut up.”
