“And why the fuck are you here?”
“We want to help you.” He’s better at masking his emotions than Cecilia is.
“Do what?”
“Please,” Cecilia scoffs. “Everyone knows you want to slit every one of our throats.”
“And no one who knows the truth would blame me,” I snap back at her.
“Look, just put the gun down and we’re going to show you why you can trust us.”
“There’s no fucking way I’m ever trusting an Italian.” I speak slowly, making sure they hear every single word very clearly.We’ll kill every single one of them.Da’s voice from so long ago sounds in my head. Even decades after we lost him I still feel the pain of his absence every day. I still hear his voice whenever I’m facing a crucial choice, and especially on painful days.
Neither Lorenzo nor Cecilia have any real power when it comes to the families, and as far as I know they don’t even fucking run in the same circles—clearly, I don’t know enough.
“I want to take over the family,” Cecilia declares and holds her head high. The move pales in comparison to the way my niece does it. She doesn’t believe the words she’s saying, no matter how hard she wishes to, that much isclear. “I’m going to kill my brother and his bitch wife and take over.”
“How are you going to do that without the men’s loyalty?” I demand, and finally lower my gun. She’s no real threat, not until she does what she wants.
“Because I’m going to make them actual money,” she snaps back at me.
I think about shooting Lorenzo in the foot just for that—it’s clear they care about each other—but decide against it.
If the Italians start a war between themselves then I can just kill whoever’s left after the massacre. This would definitely make my life easier, but nothing is ever that simple.
“And I’m ready to take out my father and half-brothers,” Lorenzo says, stepping up next to her in a stupid—but somewhat brave—move.
It would seriously surprise me if it turns out these two are over thirty. They’re not exactly kids, but they still have a lot to learn.
“And what do you want from me?” That’s the one thing that doesn’t make sense.
“We want you to accept us, as a united family, into the circle with Aslanov and Chen. When the dust settles and we’ve made sure my brother’s business is done, you don’t kill us off,” Lorenzo says, and he sounds damn steady.
So maybe they don’t havethatmuch growing up left to do.
“How exactly are you planning on making all this money for your men?”
If they think for a second that I’m going to let them into any of my business?—
“By going back to basics.”
Drugs, that’s the business of the Italians, or what most of them specialize in anyway. And I’m happy to leave it to them to fight off every Mexican cartel that’s always trying to get into the city, and it’s better than what her prick of a brother is doing now. They stay silent, which is smart right now. “I guess we’ll have to see how successful you are at killing off your families first. I’m not going to promise you shit, so if that’s what you’re looking for?—”
“We knew you wouldn’t,” Lorenzo interrupts me, and fuck I want to shoot him in the knee. “All we wanted from tonight was to be clear with you about our plans, and as a sign of good faith.” He pauses to suck in a deep breath, and my finger twitches on the trigger. “I have some information for you. I overheard a phone call between my father and my brother earlier. They found a man who was sneaking around one of our warehouses just a couple of hours ago. A man they think works for you.”
“Why do they think that?” I think I know the answer, but...
“Because your men are the only ones who ever cause any trouble.” Yup, Duffy having hisfunis the one to blame for this.
“Which warehouse?” I ask, my tone deceptively calm, and I make sure I don’t react at all when he rattles off the address. “Good luck with your plans, then.” I nod at both of them and turn around, walking between Blake and Rory back into the clinic, and I only react when the doors close behind them and I’m sure no one will hear my running footsteps.
“Duffy.” I speak quickly when I get to his room. “Tell me the addresses where you had Colby as a lookout.”
“What, all of them?” he asks, a confused frown marring his face before the realization hits him. “Shit, what happened? I had him watch their stupid travel agency and then—fuck, I can’t remember all of them, but the last few were the warehouse by the highway, the one close to the tunnel, and the one that’s close to that fancy-ass gated community where all the football players live.”
None of those have the same address Lorenzo just gave me.
“Okay, you need to sleep. We’ll be back later.”
