“I can assure you, Ms. Poletti, we would never step on your business. I heeded your warning last time. Your informant is wrong,” Joe answers, standing up from his stool at the bar, jerking his jacket over his gut that’s hanging over his pants. His thinning brown hair is slicked back, his beady eyes running over Les. I have to grit my teeth to keep my mouth shut.
“I wouldn’t take another fucking step,” Ryder warns menacingly, not bothering to stay quiet.
“Let’s talk about this like adults, shall we?” Joe offers like he’s talking to a bunch of children.
“This happens when you let a woman run a man’s empire!” Jerry explodes from his seat. Not everyone accepted Les in her role, but they don’t have a fucking choice, and she runs it better than most men.
“Shit,” I hear Leo mutter, already figuring out that this is going to shit. Fast.
Gage snorts. “Like you run yours? You weak fuckers couldn’t even control the little piece Alessa allowed you to have without messing it up.”
“This is how this is going to go.” Les steps up closer to Joe. “We,” she gestures between us, “will burn this place to the fucking ground with you in it if you don’t shut your limp dick, brother up.”
I love seeing her like this. Shoulders pushed back, head held high, dishing out threats I know she will follow through with.
“We didn’t break your rules,” Joe insists.
“No,” Les says, “But he did.” She points at Jerry.
“Bullshit!” Jerry says, but I can see sweat gathering at his temples. He looks just like his older brother and just as slimy.
“Cut the shit,” Les barks at Jerry, running out of patience. “You have a decision to make. Give me your supplier, or I will ruin you.” Jerry stares at her, his jaw locked. “Have it your way.” She turns to Gage and jerks her head toward the door; he jogs outside with a grin.
“Wait a damn minute,” Joe says, hiding behind his guards like a coward. “You got the wrong information. He wouldn’t do anything without my knowledge.”
“Oh, but he would.” Ryder smiles wide. “And he did.”
Gage jogs back in with two full gas cans, handing one to Ryder. “Burn, baby, burn,” Gage says before he and Ryder start shaking gas around the floor.
“Wait!” Joe yells. Les holds up a hand, and they stop pouring. “You can’t just come in here and burn down my fucking bar without proof!”
“I have proof, but I don’t have to prove anything toyou.Poletti’s word is the law, whether I have a pussy or not.” She aims that last bit at Jerry. He jumps from his seat, and she has a Glock out of her holster, a round in the chamber, and pressed to his forehead before he even touches her. “Sit. Down,” she says between clenched teeth.
Fuck, she’s glorious.
“You heard her,” I tell him, jerking him back down in his seat.
“Why are you blindly following her?!” Jerry asks, shooting daggers at Les with his eyes. Some men can’t handle a woman in power, but women like Les in control are what this old-world mafia life needs.
She tilts her head to the side in that creepy way. “They don’t blindly follow me, you misogynist piece of shit.”
“We respect her and choose to follow her,” Gage says. “Can you say that about your men?”
None of the guards reacted to Les pulling a gun on Jerry; they stayed more protective around Joe.Interesting.
She presses the gun harder, never taking her eyes off Jerry. “What’s it going to be, Joe?”
“Tell her what she needs to know. Now!” Joe demands Jerry. There doesn’t seem to be any love lost between the brothers. Jerry doesn’t say a word, just glaring at his brother past Les’ gun. “NOW!” he yells again.
“I will find out one way or the other,” Les warns. “So, save me the trouble.”
“I’m not telling you shit, you stupid cunt.” Jerry insults.
Goddamnit.If anything will trigger Les, it’s that word. It’s what Frankie’s men called her the whole time they had her. You can call her any other name in the book and not get a reaction.
She pushes the gun harder into his head, her fingerhovering over the trigger. “What did you just call me?” she asks in that deadly tone.
“You heard me,” Jerry says, calling her bluff. “You stupid cu...”
