I watch as Frank is wheeled out of the kitchen, a mask secured over his mouth. He’s still out cold, but I can see the faint rise and fall of his chest. Frank’s security team works on getting rid of the guests despite his drunk wife’s insistence that he’d want the party to continue. Nothing like love and loyalty to turn my stomach sour.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, and we head out to our waiting limo.
As we climb inside, I see the woman that Sisco had been talking to. Her arms are wrapped around her body to keep herself warm as she watches them load Frank into a waiting ambulance. She’s been crying and smudges of mascara dirty her damp cheeks. She’s sexy as hell, even with tear-stained cheeks. Maybe even because of them. She’s not the sort of woman I’d normally go for though. She seems shy and reserved. The epitome of a good catholic daughter. I like my women to have more fight in them than that. I like them dirty and bent over my knee with my cock in their mouth. This woman would crumble at the first sign of seduction.
Alfonso comes out of the building, his cell phone to his ear. He scans the crowd, his features pulled tight with irritation. Finally, he spots what he’s looking for and he makes a beeline for the woman. She visibly flinches as he comes closer to her, lowering her gaze to her feet. It all becomes clear to me who she is. She’s Frank’s daughter. The one he promised to Alfonso when she was firstborn.
It’s not an uncommon practice—arranged marriage—and most women are happy enough to go through with it. And why wouldn’t they be? Their fathers choose a man from a powerful family, one of wealth and importance. The woman never wants for anything. But this woman, Frank’s daughter, visibly shudders as Alfonso drapes a heavy arm across her shoulders.
In this life, nothing is given for free.
Not respect, or money, or power.
Yet Frank has clearly tried to seal that in her future.
It’s a damn shame really. She’s striking. A classic beauty with a figure that makes my dick harder than steel. I haven’t thought about women or sex since the morning my little sister phoned me, hysterical, because our father was mutilated on the doorstep, but something had clicked back on when I walked into the library and saw her with Sisco. It’s true; she’s not my type but breaking her would be enjoyable to say the least.
“Well, that party sucked,” Joey laughs. “Are we heading out for drinks?”
He’s only twenty-four and unfazed by everything in life. He barely shed a tear after our own father’s death. He’s cold and calculated with not a drop of empathy for anyone. He deals with everything in life as a transaction. He’s like our father in many ways. One man’s death is another man's gain.
“No,” I reply sharply. “We promised Eva we’d go straight home.”
He nods despite being unhappy about the decision. Sisco pulls out a small flask from his inside pocket and takes a long drink, determined to have a party for one if need be.
My driver automatically takes a left upon hearing this, and I press a button and the partition goes up. My brothers turn to look at me, their expressions serious.
My brothers.
My crazy, fucked-up, bloodthirsty brothers.
“What is it?” Joey asks, pouring himself a drink from the minibar.
“Something felt off tonight, don’t you think?” I say.
“Yeah, you interrupted me with that fine piece of ass in the library,” Sisco laughs, always the asshole.
I shake my head. “That was Frank’s daughter.”
“So?”
“Get your head back in the game, brother. We’ve bigger things to think about than getting your dick wet,” I bark, irritated by him. “Besides, she’s taken.”
His cocky smile falls at my reprimand and I continue.
“Half of the underworld was there tonight. It was a show for them. Frank Costello may be sixty-five, but he’s still got a lot of life left in him.”
“Only he doesn’t,” Joey adds, and Sisco grunts in agreement.
Sisco is a great people reader. It’s like a sixth sense to him. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and this is one of his.
“He was arguing with someone just before I walked in,” Joey continues. “Could be the argument triggered a heart attack.” He shrugs and sits back, sipping his drink as he thinks.
“Maybe,” I agree, but something still feels off. Not that any of this should matter to me. I have enough of my own shit to be dealing with as it is. And why should I care about Frank Costello? He was nothing to me…only, that’s not entirely true. He was there at our father’s funeral and he promised that he would reach out to all of his connections and find out if they knew anything.
I didn’t trust anyone in this world, barring my family, but there had been a sense of sincerity in Frank’s proposal.
I look over at Sisco and see him staring out the window, deep in thought.
