“About the pig farm?Se, Capo.” He gulped, and I saw the fear in his eyes. “Sure thing.”
I stepped toward the exit but, on the threshold, paused. Didn’t turn back. Just called out, “Remember, we reward loyalty. If, however, you betray the house of Valentini, this’ll be your fate.”
I left the warehouse as Dante punctuated my declaration by dry-heaving.
Unable to do much more than turn his head, suffocation would occur soon enough.
Wholly satisfied with the day’s work, I stepped into the open, relieved to be smelling the less-than-fresh Brooklyn air rather than Dante’s stench as I checked my cell.
“What the fuck?”
Chad’s muttered hiss caught my attention. But not before I noticed Taube leaning against my town car, arms crossed, but her hands were tucked practically under her armpits. The posture came off more like self-soothing than smug.
My brow furrowed as I cast a look between Chad and her, but her interest rested with me and I didn’t trust the smile playing on her lips.
“What are you doing here, Taube?”
She didn’t reply until I was a few feet away from her. “I’m here because men suck.”
“For fuck’s sake, Lucinda!”
She dismissed Chad by talking over him: “And I had to do my due diligence seeing as I already let Kitty Frasier down once.” She punctuated that with a sniff. “You’re welcome, Custanzu.”
“What did you do?”
I stiffened. “Taube?”
“Just showing her the kind of guy you are,” she purred, ignoring the other man entirely.
“Where the hell is this coming from? This isn’t our first collab. You know what kind of guy I am.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t reflect on the here and now.”
“I savedher,” I pointed out.
Chad cleared his throat. “Saved whom?”
This time, we both ignored him, but neither of us referenced the private job I’d hired her for.
One that had saved the life of a supposed enemy…
One that had saved the life of my friend.
She’d been leaning against my fender, but my words flipped a switch. She withdrew a baton from only the fuck knew where and pressed the tip of it to my temple. “A single strike, Custanzu, and that’s you—as gaga as that poor fucker in there.”
The control I’d maintained over my temper fizzled into dust.
“Tell me what you did,” I spat.
She gently patted my head with the tip of her weapon before rumbling, “Every woman should look out for her fellow sisters. Especially against you treacherouscocks.”
On the brink of grabbing the baton, my hesitation came from not wanting to alienate this batshit cunt. “What the fuck is happening here?!”
Chad rasped, “Cin, stop this.”
“Too late. It’s already done,” she declared in a singsong voice. “Don’t think I didn’t hear you too.”
Cutting a look to the side, I saw Chad blanch.
