The pure agony in his eyes pacifies my disgust.
I spend the next half hour making Milo bleed while he begs, cries and chokes like a pussy. By the time he’s dragged naked and barely breathing to the edge of lake, where a dozen set of glowing eyes lay in wait, the Beast is satiated.
Johnny B. holds the prehistoric man-eaters off with a long stick, while Gunnar and I drag Milo into the water and drop him with a splash.
I meet the eye of one of the large predators moving in quickly. “Bon appétit, motherfucker.”
***
After a hot shower, the first call I make is to my father. I’m out on my balcony, staring at the sleeping city. For now, my mind is calm, my body relaxed. My father doesn’t sleep, so I’m not surprised when he answers on the second ring.
“Hello, Son.”
I don’t feel like having a long conversation about this topic, so I get to the point. “It’s done.”
A grunt of approval comes over the line. “The Commission will be pleased.”
I move on to what I really want to discuss. “I have something else to talk to them about, but I want to run it by you first.”
“Go ahead.”
I stare at the North Star, its light shining brighter than the others making up the little dipper. Just like my girl. “It’s about Lennon Kelly.”
There’s a pause. His voice holds a hint of concern as he says, “Son, you know she can’t officially be a part of your life.”
“I have some new information that may change that. It turns out that her father is Mac Donelly.”
“Mac “The Mako” Donelly? The Irish boss in Chicago? How?”
“Do you want me to explain the birds and bees?”
“Don’t be a smart ass you know what I mean.”
I chuckle. “Yeah. That Mac Donelly. It’s a long story and she just found out. But the important thing is Donelly wants an alliance with us and help to establish a presence in Tampa.” Hopefully, that will be the truth soon enough.
“I see.” There’s a scraping sound like he’s dragging something across concrete. He’s a little breathless as he says, “They’ve lost a lot of ground to Italians in Chicago, so that doesn’t surprise me. Though, be careful son, the old man still has teeth.” He suddenly huffs out a sharp laugh. “This is working out quite nicely for you. You didn’t make a deal with the devil for this girl, did you, Son?”
Quiet amusement rumbles in my chest. “No.”But I would have.
“All right. Let me talk to The Commission first. Get them warmed up to the idea. Meanwhile, you find out exactly what Donelly wants.”
“I’ll let you know.”
Chapter 43
Alessandro
Gunnar, Killian, and I step off the private plane at the small Chicago airport. There’s a black limo waiting for us. Gunnar and Killian are bickering over the Bear’s versus the Giant's defense as we cross the warm pavement.
I’m ignoring them. I have more pressing concerns.
On the flight, I did some research into the Donelly family’s outfit. My father was right, they’ve lost most of their revenue to the Italians over the years. That would make me his enemy.
The Irish syndicate now mainly deals in illegal gambling, union and labor racketeering, strip clubs and drug trafficking. That part is good news for me. If I can offer to help them get a piece of that pie in Florida, they have no reason not to jump at expanding their territory. Except for pride maybe. Why form an alliance with the very outfit that pushed you out of your home territory? This all hinges on what kind of man Mac Donnelly is. How he perceives us. And how big his ego is.
As we pile into the limo, I glare at Gunnar and Killian, who are still going at it.
Gunnar is usually quietly observing but for some reason, he seems to be enjoying the banter with Killian as he says, “Come on, man, Lawrence Taylor was the greatest defensive player in history.”
