My continuing punishment starts with an edict from the don forbidding me from leaving my apartment. If any of my guards catch me trying to vacate, they’re to use “any means necessary” to keep me in place. It’s embarrassing to be sure—essentially grounded in my thirties—but nothing I can’t handle. I’ve got plenty in the apartment to keep me occupied, and I’m perfectly capable of running my side of the business from here.
Then, true to the cold, calculating bastard he is, Dad’s fury comes down in a form that makes even me sit up and pay attention:
He reassigns Aron.
Javier relays the edict, reducing me to a fractured mess. I spend hours pacing the apartment, alternating fits of screaming and throwing things with bouts of silent, drunken depression. I try to call Aron, praying that he’ll tell me he’s disobeying Dad’s orders, but my best friend doesn’t answer his phone. Is he ignoring it of his own will, or did Dad put him up to this?
Part of me worries that Dad had Aron taken out, but that doesn’t make sense. Dad is big on making the responsible party pay, not targeting friends and family members. Besides, Dad’s almost as close to Javier as I am to Aron; he wouldn’t risk jeopardizing that friendship, wouldn’t put out a hit on Aron just to prove a point to me. Still, it’s concerning that he’s not answering …
Wait—Did one of Dad’s enemies find out about my feelings for Aron? That could be even deadlier than crossing Dad directly. Even though we’ve run off most of our rivals, it would be a small matter to take out one of Dad’s employees to prove a point.
Questioning Beto and the other guards proves fruitless. They either don’t know what’s happened to Aron, or they’ve been ordered to keep quiet.
I don’t like this. Don’t like being away from Aron, don’t like being in the dark about things.
Where’s Aron? Is he okay? Is Emily? Did something happen to them?
Chapter 5
Aron
I don’t know what Matt supposedly did, but he’s got the don’s panties in a bunch over it.
I can’t see Matt. Like, at all. The order came down from Tito himself while Dad was informing my best friend of the consequences of his actions, which no one will explain to me. What the fuck did he do?
The rumor mill gets to me before Matt can. I didn’t know it, but Tito had his tech guys block Matt’s number from my phone for a few days. Nothing harmful, but it’s gonna piss Matt off.
I hear from Vinny who heard from Beto who swears he witnessed it that Matt got the shit kicked out of him by Tito. At first, I’m not sure what to believe. Tito has thrown a few punches in his day, sure, but to beat the crap out of his own son? I don’t know …
Then Tito calls and tells me to take a week off. Tend to Emily.“Don’t worry about Matteo,”he says.“He’s fine.”
That alone tells me that he’s not fine, that something happened. I’ve known Tito my whole life. I can’t imagine him hurting Matttooseriously, but the fact that he’s warning meaway is a sure sign that it’s bad enough.
Matt and I know the rules as well as anyone: If Tito dishes out the punishment, no treatment is allowed. Matt’s on his own.
Fuck, this sucks. Matt needs me.
I have Emily’s phone in my hand before I realize what I’m doing. I slam it on the end table and back away. Shit, I almost called Matt from her phone! What am I doing? That could get her in trouble … Matt, too, if anyone in the Syndicate finds out.
Gotta find a burner phone. All the ones I have on hand were supplied by the Syndicate, so I can’t use those. Would Emily notice if I disappeared for an hour or so to grab a new one and check on Matt?
“Hey, Em? Honey?”
She answers from the kitchen. “In here, babe. Need something?”
I find her on a footstool, stretching to reach something in an upper cabinet. I’ve warned her a thousand times to get me if she needs anything up high, but she’s as stubborn as Matt, and just about as hard-headed. “Em, sweetie, be careful. If you fall, you’re falling for two, you know. Your balance isn’t what it used to be.”
The smile she flashes me as she steps down daintily is radiant. “Oh, hush. I’m fine. See? No catastrophe.”
“Nothing catastrophic this time. Next time, ask me, please.”
“Nonsense. You’ve been busy with work calls.” Emily brushes a golden curl out of her face, leaving a smear of flour in its place. “Everything okay at work? It’s not like them to give you so much time off.”
I laugh away her concern and wipe the flour off with a kitchen towel before kissing the spot. “It’s fine. My boss is taking a brief leave of absence, so I’m not really needed right now.”
“A brief leave of absence, huh? He’s not sleeping with the fishes, then?”
That earns an eyeroll and another kiss, this time on the lips. “Nice try, honey. You know I can’t talk about my boss’s line of work. Suffice it to say that he’s fine. No fish sleepovers.”
