“Right under our fucking noses the whole time.Then you have your men get the information we need from them, confirm without a doubt that they’re rats, and then we tell Dad.Until then, we stall.”
Leandro looks both ways, and makes a turn at a four way.“That’s not going to go over well.”
“You have a better idea?”I ask my brother.“We can’t just tell him that Jimmy and our men took his men and are questioning them.He’s going to go berserk thinking we’re overstepping his hires and that we’re looking to catch him spying on us.He’s going to turn it into a sign of disrespect and Jimmy could take the hit on that one,” I tell Leandro.
I don’t have to look into the back to know that Jimmy appreciates that we’ve got his back.It’s a complicated fucking situation grabbing the very men the don himself hired without his explicit say so or even knowledge.
Which means that while Jimmy and his boys work on getting the information from the traitors, I not only get to bring my dad up to speed on the Amorte deal I made without his knowledge or approval but also tell him that I’ve ordered the men he put in place to be picked up by Jimmy and his men.That’s going to go over like telling him the world’s suddenly out of fucking Jack.
But Jimmy is not going down for this on my watch, and I can deal with my father no matter how angry the hothead is, how many glasses of whiskey he’s downed, or how many he throws, as long as they bounce off the fireplace and not off my head.I’ll deal with just about anything to have the Amorte and Roselli arrangement finally done.It’s taken far too many hours from our lives.
Now I can concentrate on dealing with the Gallinis and if we get what we need from the rats they planted, like who the fuck put that letter under Sophia’s door, and we fucking better, then it’s game over for them.We call them on their shit and go in powered up with our soldiers.Any crime family around will say it’s justified after infiltrating our family and what they pulled with our trucks.But there’s still going to be Dad to deal with because these decisions, they just keep putting us in danger.At some point in the near future, he’s going to have to hand over the reins.And that may be the biggest conflict of all.
28
Sophia
Along run on the treadmill in the gym and a hot shower, and I’m bursting with energy.In just short of a month, it will be exactly one year since I arrived at Massimo’s estate.Soon, the Jersey shore will be back to fall.It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year.A solid year with Massimo, and over that year we’ve gone from enemies to lovers, in the most literal sense.I squeeze my waist as I look in the mirror.I believe every single word he said to me and have no doubt he’s going to do everything in his power to make things right for us so that we can have a future and perhaps one day a family.
But the families who have been at war for so many years, it’s going to be a huge concession on all sides.There’s still a part of me that finds it hard to believe, but I do trust that his love is real, and he is not stringing me along no matter what his father or my father will say.
I settle in on the balcony and open my laptop, clicking on the first link that Massimo sent.A drawing of the lower level of his home, currently stark white, but in this drawing it’s so much more.It’s captivating, the renderings he’s had drawn up since our night in Carnal Sins should have taken so much longer than they did, but with his pull and team of designers having already done his club, the different options are coming along far more quickly than one would think.
In one drawing the white walls have been transformed with images of implements hanging from hooks, similar to the way the walls of his private suite at Carnal Sins looks.In another, the implements are a smaller part of the space, with a larger bed taking center stage, a large ornate bed, with D rings and cuffs hanging from the headboard, cuffs attached to the foot of the bed, and pully devices ornately designed into the four-poster design.
In all drawings, the same St.Andrew’s cross with the Roselli name on it stands tall and erect near an adjoining wall that I have no doubt will in the future be able to conceal the cross as it glides in and out of the secret space summoned only by a button in Massimo’s pocket.
My blood runs hot.How in the world he thinks I’ll be able to decide is beyond me.I have so much to learn.Elsie comes out to find out if I’d care for an iced coffee, a glass of tea, or water.“Tequila.I’d like Tequila, a very big, large fishbowl glass of tequila while I do some very in-depth and important research,” I tell the woman who is fast becoming a very good friend.
29
Massimo
The minute we pull up to Dad’s house, I turn to Jimmy.“Go with Mario and Enrico.I don’t want Dad to know you were here.I gave you the order to pick up those men.”
His eyes go wide.“Massimo, I didn’t tell you so that you could take the heat.I did it to protect this family.”
“And you fucking did, but you and I both know how he gets.I don’t want him turning against you because of this, capisce?Do what I ask, Jimmy.Best case, you never get asked.Worst case, you stick to that fucking story as though your life depended on it, because it just might.”
His jaw tightens and he looks from me to Leandro, who gives him a nod affirming exactly what I said.“Do it,” Leandro tells Jimmy.“He’s trying to protect you, we both are.Now get the fuck out.”
Jimmy leaves, heading over to the SUV with the guys, and Leandro turns to me.“This is going to be a fucking shit show.You want me to call Gino, Tristano, and Renato?”
I shake my head.“No, we can handle it ourselves for now.Let’s hope it goes well enough that we can call them once we’re done.Look Leandro, there is a very real chance here that I’m going to have stepped across the last line that he’s drawn.I knew it before I went to the Amorte’s, but it was my decision.I’m done with the arrangement, always have been, but now I’m done pretending to go along with the arrangement.Sophia is my world and if Dad wants to hand you the business as next son in line that hasn’t disappointed him, I’m good with that, brother.I have no doubt in the world that you’re ready for whatever life and this family has to throw at us.”
His dark intense eyes meet mine.“We’re a team.Where you go, I go.He’ll have to accept what we’ve decided and come to terms with having to talk to the Italian family about the promises he’s made that aren’t going to come to fruition.I’m with you a hundred percent.You’re the next fucking boss and I’m the underboss.That’s the way it’s going to be.”
I choke back the emotion.“Let’s get this fucking over with.I hope Mom’s not home, he’ll just upset her and try to get her to talk some sense into us.”
We walk toward the door, and it opens before we get to the porch.“It’s about fucking time,” our father roars, leaving the door wide open as he retreats to the great room, clearly expecting his sons to follow in his stride.His glass is half empty and his face is flushed, a warning if nothing else that his temper is liable to flair.He slumps into his leather recliner and doesn’t look at either of us before taking a drink.“Help yourself if you want anything, I gave everyone the day off.”
Leandro and I meet glances over his head.The meeting between old man Amorte and myself is on me, so I take a seat across from him.“I didn’t want to talk about Amorte last night because I was too keyed up, too pissed off, and you were too tired.”He knows as well as I do that it wasn’t simply tiredness, he was plain ass drunk, but there’s no reason to throw gasoline onto a highly volatile situation and I know it.
“Tell me your side of it.I’ve heard from everyone except my fucking son, the one person I trust to run my empire,” he says, not even bothering to look at me.
We both know that’s a fucking lie, and I’m not letting it go.“No, you don’t trust me, or you wouldn’t have men in your employ hired to spy on your sons and report back to you every move we make.We put up with it because we too have people on the grounds, on the streets who give us information that keeps us in the know, but not about you, Dad.That’s where we draw the line.We don’t pay people to keep tabs on you and we don’t appreciate you doing it to us.”
His dead looking eyes meet mine.“How does that have anything to do with Amorte?”
