“Then, um…”
She stared at him.
“I guess I don’t need anything, either.”
She flashed him a humorless smile and started to leave.
“Grab us some beers before you disappear,” Gennaro said.
She took an exasperated breath, then went into the kitchen.
Manny watched after her. “She, uh, she ever get married?”
“Rosa?” Gennaro said. “Came close once with a guy who worked for me.”
“What happened?”
“I caught him skimming.”
“Let me guess,” Manny said, chuckling. “Instead of a wedding, you had a funeral?”
Gennaro didn’t laugh. “Something like that.”
Rosa returned with several bottles and set them on the table in a clump, then left without a word.
“So, what’s with her?” Manny asked. “She still hasn’t forgiven you?”
“Forgiven me for what?”
“Calling off her wedding. She seems mad.”
“That’s just Rosa being Rosa,” Gennaro said.
“She wasn’t like that back in the day.”
Gennaro narrowed his eyes. “What’s it to you?”
Dominic jumped in. “He was just curious. He didn’t mean nothing.”
Though Gennaro might not have known, Dominic was well aware of Manny’s decades-long obsession with Rosa.
He caught Manny’s eyes and made it clear he should drop it.
“Sorry, Ricky,” Manny said. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just making conversation.”
“Next time you want to make conversation, find a better topic,” Gennaro told him.
“I will. For sure, for sure.”
The three of them had all started at Pinkie’s syndicate around the same time. They’d also been three of the six people Pinkie had loaned out to Buono for the JFK heist.
Unlike Gennaro, though, neither Dominic nor Manny had familial ties to Pinkie, so they had not been let back in after they’d served their time. The two men had survived by taking whatever freelance work they could get, including the occasional intimidation gig for Gennaro. But even that had tapered off. It had been nearly two years since Gennaro’s last call.
Gennaro popped open three bottles and handed them out.
“So, what’s this all about?” Dominic asked. “You got a job for us?”
“Hell, yes, I do,” Gennaro said, grinning. “The last job you’ll ever need.”
