With dread pooling in my stomach like molten lead, I fiddled with my phone on the desk and debated whether to risk calling Taylor. I felt like I needed to warn someone in the Riot about Andrea coming to Vegas. Surely, Lore knew, but… I needed to show her where my loyalties were. This was the last time I answered to the Lupi Selvaggi. Staring blankly at the phone’s screen as I rocked it from corner to corner on the desk, it startled me when the screen lit up and Reggie’s name appeared on it. He and Felicity were the only two people in my life who had this encrypted number; actually, now three since Lore somehow managed to contact me on this phone before. Even now, I tried desperately to keep them separate from my dealings with the mob.
I sighed and gathered what little restraint I had left before answering. “Hey, Reggie.”
“A warm greeting, as always,” his gruff chuckle came through the line. Something creaked on his end, and I could imagine the old green recliner he always sat in that made that noise. It was so threadbare it had almost lost all the color where his body sat every night after dinner, but Felicity couldn’t get him to give up the old piece of furniture. He would always say it’s finally ‘broken in.’ Imagining him in his spot, nursing a coffee half-filled with creamer, brought a little smile to my lips despite the shit morning I’ve had.
“Sorry,” I cleared the lump of emotion from my throat. “It’s been a crap day.”
“And it’s only…” The chair squeaked again like he was leaning back to check the wall clock. Like he didn’t have the time on his cell phone pressed to his ear. Reggie was still getting with modern technology after living a long time off-grid. “Seven in the morning my time. What’s goin’ on, kid? Where are you?”
I scoffed. “You know I can’t tell you anything.”
“Ain’t your phone one of them special ones? No one can eavesdrop or whatever?”
“Again, it’s more than that and you know it. You’re out of the mob life. It’s not your business anymore, is it?”
Why couldn’t he understand what I sacrificed to keep it that way? What I continuously dealt with and gave up, so Andrea would leave Reggie and his family alone. Surely, he knew when he signed me over to the Lupi that he was cut out entirely. And by association, I was cut out from his family.
“Grant,” Reggie’s voice sounded old beyond his fifty-two years. “I… We tried to do what we thought was best by you, you know that, right? Andrea offered an education, a paid position, protection… all things we couldn’t give you. Felicity and I… we loved your parents. You were like a son to us before we everadopted you. And Andrea is… not the same man I knew ten years ago.”
“I know you did.”
“So you know that, even though I’m not a made man anymore, that don’t mean I’m not worried about you all the time. And maybe, if you opened up a little, I could help with whatever has you all twisted up.”
The offer was tempting. Reggie was a good man, despite his dabbling in the shifter underworld. He was middle management, not someone particularly close to Andrea, so I doubted he would know anything about his uneasy alliance with Lore. However… “Did you ever hear Andrea associate with someone named Elio? I’m assuming he’s also a mobster.”
A stiff silence fell between us, so much so that I had to pull the phone from my ear to check I was still connected. Reggie’s breath shuddered out, almost like he was… afraid. “Heard of him, yeah. He’s a fuckin’ psychopath. Runs in the same circles as the Heathens’ boss, Ryan McGregor, who’s another piece of shitty work. If karma really is a bitch, I hope she hits him with her car then puts it in reverse.”
Unease began to wind its way through my veins in chilling tendrils, and I stiffened in my chair at Reggie’s uncharacteristic aggression. “What did he do?”
“Beyond the usual?” Reggie sniffed. “That dick runs the largest skin trade in Europe. Almost all of the trafficking crimes are by him; I can almost guarantee it. Even sold off his own fucking daughter! Andrea wanted nothing to do with his ass until Elio offered a sweet deal between the three of them for an international trafficking ring.“
I almost bit my tongue hard enough to taste blood. He couldn’t know I was with said daughter. The further he was away from this shitstorm the better. “Yeah, sounds like a real piece ofwork,” I answered in a tight voice. So much for not being suspicious. “Hey listen, I gotta go, Reg. Tell Felicity I said hey.”
“Grant.”
Reggie was rarely a serious person. I don’t know how he survived in the mob with his goofy sense of humor and happy-go-lucky attitude, but I could count on one hand how many times the man actually seemed anxious about something. The low tremor of his voice now stilled me.
He continued. “Just… be careful. I know I’m not a part of that life anymore, and I know I’m partially responsible for pushing you into that world. It’s something I will regret for the rest of my life. But I hope you know, Felicity and I just wanted to give you the best chance to use your skills in a way that wouldn’t put you in a jail cell. Andrea Caruso may be a lot of things, but he wouldn’t let you rot in prison if you’re useful to him. Just… stay useful, okay? Don’t get yourself into shit you can’t get out of.”
I wasn’t dumb. Back in my hacking years as Bloodhound, I got into my fair share of trouble with the law. And I’m sure Andrea was the reason I didn’t get caught by greasing some palms to close investigations against me. But this was the first time Reggie showed concern for me in Andrea's service. Was it some acute instinct for my well-being, or was this something Andrea put him up to?
“I know, Reggie. You did the best you could. I need to go now, I’ll call you again soon.”
Despite my hesitation to face Andrea head on, I found myself stepping onto the curb of Tio’s Eatery at precisely five fifty-five. Even though my whole day was spent brainstorming, I couldn't come up with a decent excuse as to why I was showing up to our meeting empty-handed. Andrea had been abundantly clearI was meant to bring Lore. I only hoped Andrea wouldn't be so impulsive as to kill me off immediately, since he'd invested quite a bit of his money in my education and employment the past eight years.
For it being a weekday, the restaurant—and the general vicinity—was suspiciously empty of the usual traffic. If that wasn’t enough of a dead giveaway that I was walking into some deep shit, two burly men in black suits and dark sunglasses were posted on either side of the entrance for an extra intimidation factor. I wasn’t wholly familiar with Andrea’s security, but they usually knew who I was by my close association to him. Neither of them showed recognition toward me.
“Mr. Black?” One of them asked in a no-nonsense tone.
I eyed the man warily. He didn’t seem armed, but that meant nothing under a suit jacket. “Yes, that’s me.”
The other one reached to open the door for me. “Head straight to the back, the private room is the first right, down the hallway.”
Walking into the completely empty restaurant had me instantly on edge. “Is Mr. Caruso waiting for me?” I asked the man holding the door.
He just stared at me from behind his glasses. Shit.
Trying to swallow down the rising anxiety bubbling up from my chest, I tried to appear as confident as possible walking through the main dining area to the back, where I’d been directed. Seeing the place so empty was… eerie. Foreboding, almost. I was most definitely going to die tonight. And my only regret was not making Lore my mate in its entirety. Or telling her what an amazing, resilient, strong woman she was for dealing with all the shit life’s thrown at her.
