“And I’ll fix that,” I promised. “Take care of my niece-slash-nephew.”
Nicole’s voice turned dreamy. “The baby’s swaddled in love.”
“You really should have done a gender reveal,” I said dryly. “How am I supposed to pick out the right gifts?”
“That’s part of the fun, not knowing.” Nicole was smiling. I could hear it in her voice. “I love you, sis. Have a good week.”
“You too.” I cut the call and proceeded to gather my things. I had a list to do and a plan to guide me. I was set.
Chapter 14 – Vincenzo
“My orders are clear, I’m not to engage.” Liam stared at his tumbler of clear liquid. “It’s fecking grand.”
“But you know where they are.”
“Of course I do.” Liam lifted his gaze. Those light blue eyes were stormy and grey. “I know where they sleep. Where they work. Hell, I even know which bleeding hookers they pick up on the Common Drive.”
I folded my hands over my chest. “It sounds like you need an exterminator.”
And that was why Don Morelli sent me. I was here to offer help, to start the process of forming an alliance that would bind our organizations. It would be more beneficial to us, since we were a smaller outfit, but we wouldn’t be seen as a leech. We would pull our weight, and the Irish would be grateful for the help.
So far, I’d played the part of negotiator well. Liam was interested.
“Yea, but Da won’t go for it.” Liam’s jaw tightened. “Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to obey the orders of old heads?”
That might be a casual question, a mere point of discussion between friends. But I knew the green devil sitting across the booth from me. His favorite pastime was deep sea fishing, but Liam McDonagh was known to cast a line in the canal in his spare time just to see what genetic mutations bit.
I didn’t trust him, which was nothing personal. I didn’t trust anyone. Not even my brother. Especially when it came to divulging my innermost musings on how things were run.
Don Morelli might have welcomed me back to the fold, but I wasn’t risking a careless observation in a seemingly casual conversation that might make its way back to the don’s ear. He needed to see me the way I wanted to be seen. I came back from prison two years ago as a loyal soldier, obeying every order and notquestioning my place. It served me well, a cover story while I worked on my own plots and schemes.
What Liam really wanted to know was if I was as frustrated with my leash as he was with his. I wasn’t. The chain of command was a formality, one that I was interested in keeping in place. Would it be easy to invoke a coup and reign as king of the Morelli Famiglia? Absolutely. But why? It was a small organization, running limited operations. I already had a thriving empire, more power, and a hell of a lot more wealth than most organizations in Boston. I let Don Morelli run things his way, acting as the son of a capo should, because it served the bigger picture.
And I dreamed….
Dreamed of the day I wouldn’t be a criminal, but just a businessman who didn’t run the risk of going back to prison. Granted, I would never stop working with criminals. They made excellent business partners. But as long as the paperwork was clean, I had nothing to fear.
My answer was careful. There was no reason for me to shoot the breeze with this prince of the underworld and risk upsetting the delicate balance I maintained. “If your father doesn’t want to start a war, he likely has good reason.”
“The bleeding war’s already started, V.” Liam sat straight, wrenched the tumbler off the table, and downed the contents. “We’re in real danger if we don’t act. Will Morelli stand by us? Or is he going to sit this one out?”
Of course, he would intervene. That was why I was sitting on this hard fucking booth, drinking whiskey. But I wasn’t going to show my cards. Not yet.
I grunted. “Depends.”
The empty glass cracked against the polished wood.
Ah, there it was. The famous Irish temper.
The man in front of me could wear the best suits money could buy. He might have the best seats at the Celtics’ home games. But he wasn’t fooling me.
He craved blood.
I smiled. “What’s it worth to you?”
Liam flicked his glass, sending it spinning in a violent circle, only to catch it before it launched off the table. “The McDonagh clan has lived in this land for nearly three hundred fecking years.”
I stifled a groan. Here came the story.
