Always gone to him for advice.
I’m close to Ben in a way I’m not with Leo.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Leo. He’s good to my mom. He is a good stepdad to Caleb and me and a great father to Leif and Rosa. I’m just not as close to him as Caleb is.
I can’t say why Caleb confides in Leo and I confide in Ben. Or why neither of us go to Luca more. He’s ourconsigliere. It’s his role to advise us, and he ran the business and sat on The Commission for years after Dad was gunned down while we were too young to take on the responsibility. We do consult him on all relevant matters, but more often than not, we rely on Ben or Leo. Having them support and mentor us has been a godsend these past two years since Caleb and I took our rightful seats at The Commission.
“Would this have anything to do with Gia?” he asks, moving to his liquor cabinet.
“Why would you ask that?” I turn around and watch him fixing drinks.
“Call it a hunch.” He adds ice cubes to his bourbon and my scotch.
“She’s part of the issue.” I have never lied to Ben, and I’m not starting now.
He hands me my drink, and we walk toward the leather couch in front of the blazing fire. “Is Bettina the other?” I stare at him, and he answers my unspoken question. “Made men talk, Joshua. They’re worse gossips than women sometimes. She was seen running out of Chelsea market in tears. It didn’t take much to connect the dots.”
“I don’t regret the things I said to her, but it was reckless to place Gia in danger like that. I drew attention to us in public. Anyone could have seen and reported it to Liam.” It’s part of the reason I’ve been in a foul mood. I should have walked away from my ex and protected Gia. Instead, I let emotions overrule me, and I made a bad judgment call.
“True, but Gia seems competent, and there’s nothing you can do to change it now.” He swirls the amber-colored liquid in his glass. “Is the baby Cruz’s?”
I nod.
“Fuck.” Ben claws a hand through his hair. He will be fifty next year, but he doesn’t look it. He has a few lines on his face, but he’s in great shape, and there is no hint of gray in his dark hair. “Alesso will be furious.”
“I don’t know why he cares when Anais barely gives him the time of day.”
“She’s his last link to the father he never knew, and she’s family.”
“If she was my family, I’d have cut her loose a long time ago.”
“I’m with you, but Alesso is not us. He cares about his cousin even if it’s not reciprocated.”
I knock back my drink. “Cruz is a loose cannon. Are we sure he’s not involved in this? I wouldn’t put it past him to try to usurp us. He knows we’ll never let him join the board, and as long as Cristian holds a seat, he’ll never be the New York don.”
“Cristian visited him this week. He didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary.”
“Cruz is a prick, but he’s smart. He’s not going to risk his brother seeing anything, and they hate one another. It’s not like he’d ever confide in him.”
“Agreed.” We turn around as Caleb saunters into the room. “I know how we can get the intel we need,” he adds, confirming he was eavesdropping.
“No.” I shake my head, already knowing where this is going.
“She’s already messaged me wanting to meet up. Anais is the perfect person to spy on Cruz. She hates him, and she’ll want to bury him when she finds out he knocked Bettina up.”
“Alesso will string you up by your balls, Caleb.” Ben stands and moves in front of the roaring fire.
“He can try. This is bigger than all of us.”
“You have no proof Cruz is involved,” he adds. “You two have had a hard-on for him since everything went down. Don’t let bias cloud your judgment.”
“I don’t need proof.” Caleb claims the seat Ben just vacated. “He’s a power-hungry motherfucker who hates us all for various reasons. We know we have a mole on the inside. We know it has to be someone senior. Cruz has links between Vegas and New York, and he bought an airline last year. Red fucking flag if you ask me.”
Ben scrubs a hand across his chin. “It’s suspicious for sure, but going after another don could cause a full-blown war, and we can’t afford that right now.”
“Which is why my plan makes sense,” Caleb crosses an ankle over his knee.
Ben slowly nods. “I hate to agree, but it’s the easiest way of keeping tabs on him.”
