I caressed Boyan’s hair, wishing I could give him and Lou what my family had given me. They deserved to grow up without fear. They deserved not to worry about food. They deserved a good life.
“As long as we do it while Marlene is at work, and you help me clean up, I’ll try to make you the best brownies you’ve ever had. But you have to sleep now.” I kissed his head of hair. “Go to sleep, little chip. Tomorrow will be a better day.”
Soon, his breaths evened out to match Lou’s from above. The huffs and puffs of his exhales cooled against my arm. I looked back toward the desk with my torn family photograph only half assembled. No one was ever going to fill the holes their deaths created, but maybe, just maybe, growing up alongside Boyan and Lou could build bridges over those holes and allow me to hope and dream once more.
Through the slats of the metal blinds, the full moon glowed. As I’d once done as a little kid, I wished on the moon.
Chapter 6
RAVAGER
You’re the reason I’ll never feel safe again.
“Iwantadate,Iannelli,” Don Giambrone of the Las Vegas Italian mafia croaked. A harsh thud sounded through the phone line. “No more pushing it back. I gave you time to grieve out of respect for your father. That ends today. I’ll be walking my daughter down that aisle by the end of this year. I don’t care how you do it. I don’t care how much it costs. But you will put a ring on her finger in the next six months, or I swear you’ll regret it.”
A beat of silence broke his tirade.
“Are you done?” I asked. “Good.” He stuttered a protest. “No, it’s my turn now. I suggest you review the contract you signed with Elio. No deadline was ever set, and you’ll not be setting one.”
“Our families—”
“Have onlyrare ties since I cut off trafficking. I have no problem having even less if you ever make threats or demands of me again.”
“If you break the contract, I’ll make sure every outfit from Vegas to New York cuts you off. See how long you survive when they all know your word and honor are only as strong as a thread.”
“What did I say about threats?”
“The Giambrones and Iannellis will be joined. I’ll have your head if they’re not.”
A double knock on my office door thankfully gaveled the end of this conversation.
“Goodbye, Francesco. Tell Michaela not to wait up.”
“You bastard. I’ll—”
I cut the line and massaged my temples as the door opened. Mentioning his daughter was in poor taste, but honestly, I didn’t give a shit at this point. I refused to marry a woman chosen by my father and be joined by law to his business partner who had a hand deep in the same shit that took my sister.
“What do you have for me?” I asked with a steady calm that didn’t match the inferno blazing inside as Vinny strode into my office, two files in hand. I watched his rigid face for tics and tells, my hands clamped around the edges of my desk.
The interrogation two days ago yielded only a vague rumor about the Armenian brotherhood in Hollywood allying itself with the Sahin clan of the Turkish mafia from Los Angeles in order to facilitate human trafficking, and we had yet to make headway. I only hoped it wasn’t a dead end. I refused to accept another one.
“Spit it out,” I said.
“Got you a meeting.” Vinny tossed the files onto my desk. The manila folders slapped the surface and slid my way. “WithStathis Dimakos. In two nights at a scrap yard just outside Los Angeles.”
I slowly released my breath. “What does he want?”
“Money and the condition you come in person. Alone.”
I snickered. “Amusing.”
“He approached me,” Vinny added. Such proactive behavior in an uninvested third party rarely boasted good tidings.
“And this is?” I opened the first file. The deed to the property of one of my competitor’s businesses, already filed in my name, stared back at me.
“Proof of goodwill, he called it.”
“More like a bribe.” I shoved the file away. This Stathis Dimakos was far too invested in making me show up. “The Greeks are known to keep a close eye on the Turks. If he can confirm what the biker told us, we may finally have a lead.”
