“Yeah, only thing worth noting is that Joey met a cat out in the front garden. He spent an hour trying to make friends with it. Only reason I even bring it up is that he gave it the last of the milk in the fridge.”
“Well, I hope the little bastard appreciated it,” I snort. “I’m going to try to make some omelets. I could’ve used the milk. Ah, it doesn’t matter, I can get by without it.”
“She most definitely did not appreciate it. Joey got a nasty scratch for his trouble. Speaking of, what happened to your neck?” Trenton asks me as he points to it. “Looks like you got into a scrape with a wildcat of your own.”
“I probably just scraped myself shaving.” I shrug as I take the mug Leonard offers me. “Don’t be crass and say anything else about it,” I warn Trenton. His eyes practically light up with glee as he smiles at me over a sip of coffee, but he wisely keeps his mouth shut.
“Have you heard anything else from the police?” Leonard asks me as I open the cabinet under the kitchen island and drag out the pan I need, then turn on the oven.
“Nothing yet, but I’m sure they’ll be in touch soon. I gave the detectives my cell phone number and told the office to forward any calls directly to me today. Grab the mixing bowl out of that cabinet for me, please.” I point to the cabinet behind Leonard’s head as I walk over to the refrigerator and get the ingredients I need.
“I hate having a loose end like this Volkov woman running around,” Leonard gripes as he puts the bowl on the counter. “It puts a cloud over every one of our crews.”
“Hell yes it does,” Trenton agrees. “No one knows where that crazy bitch is going to show up next, or what she’s capable of exactly. That shit yesterday was insane. If she’s willing to try a kidnapping in broad daylight, she’s even wilder than that boy Kirill used to be.”
“And we all remember how much damage he caused. Not just by burning down Monroe’s, and killing Constance’s father, although that was certainly the worst. He held up several other shipments and disrupted a bunch of supply lines to some of our associates,” I remind them.
“I’m still tallying up our losses, but it’s already several million dollars.” Leonard shakes his head wearily.
“He paid for it, and now that we’ve shut down the Russians’ enterprises, we’ll recoup our losses in the next few months.” I shrug. “We’ll be fine on the financial side. I just hate all this for Constance. She’s not used to living like this.”
“This life ain’t all shoot-outs and late-night patrols,” Trenton observes. “We go years without any action at all, just minding our business and tending our rackets. She already seems really happy with you, Maximo. Once she gets more of a taste of the lifestyle, her nerves will settle and she’ll love this life as much as we do.”
“I hope it becomes easier for her,” I say with a sigh. I pour the egg mixture I’ve been beating from the mixing bowl into the pan I’m heating on the stove. “Are you doing all right with your new responsibilities?” I ask him.
“He’s been doing fine,” Leonard comments.
“I’m fucking thrilled every moment of every day,” Trenton huffs at me. “Best job I ever fucking had,” he continues with a sardonic twist of his lips which makes it difficult for me to tell if he’s being serious or not.
Shrugging it off, I focus my attention on my cooking and go back to nursing my coffee. I’m halfway through my first cup and the aching throb behind my eyes is finally starting to ease as my fuzzy thoughts become clearer. I’ve been drinking too much lately, but I’m no more immune to the stress of this business than any other man. I’ll do better, I promise myself, once things start to settle.
I’m throwing in the cheese and preparing to fold my second perfect omelet when Constance appears in the kitchen. I already have her plate prepared, so I take it over to the breakfast nook and set it on the table while she pours herself a glass of orange juice. She greets Leonard and Trenton, then we sit down together and begin to eat.
“This is delicious, thank you,” she says between bites. “Any updates from anyone?”
I pull my phone out and notice that I do have a text message. “Shit, I had my phone on silent last night. I thought I turned that off,” I complain as I pull up the text. “Detective Tillman wants us to call him when we have a chance.”
“Good, let’s call him back right after we eat.” Constance seems eager to hear what he has to say, which makes me feel a bit better. She seems to be putting yesterday’s trauma behind her and focusing on what comes next.
She practically inhales the rest of her breakfast, then takes her cutlery over to the sink where Leonard is already washing the dishes I used while cooking. “Just drop those in,” he tells her. I hurry to finish my plate and drop it off with Leonard as well.
“Thanks, Leonard. If anything comes up today, just call my cell. Once we talk to the detective, we’ll probably be heading into the city.”
“I’ll take care of everything here, Maximo, don’t worry. I’m going to call the caterer and have them set up a spread here this evening for everyone if that sounds good?”
“That’s perfect, one less thing I have to worry about. Thanks again, Leonard, I’ll see you later. Constance, let’s go to my office and call the detective back.”
“I’ll let you do the talking to him,” she says as we walk into my office and she takes the seat in front of my desk. “I don’t want to accidentally say anything incriminating. I was worried about that when he was asking me all those questions yesterday.”
“You did fine, but I understand your concern. Sit tight, and I’ll put him on speaker so you can hear the conversation. I’m going to act like I’m alone though, unless he asks me directly, then I’ll tell him you’re here with me.”
“You ready to make the call?” she asks once we’re settled. I nod to her, then hit the link on my cell screen to call the detective back and put the phone on speaker.
“This is Detective Tillman,” he answers on only the second ring.
“Detective, this is Maximo Luciani returning your call. I was hoping you had some updates for us.”
“Mr. Luciani, is Ms. Monroe there with you? We’ve gathered the surveillance footage from all around the restaurant yesterday and also identified her assailants. I’d like to run the information past both of you to see if you can help me connect any dots on what motivated this attack.”
