I tilt my head. “Maybe you should. Go ask Father about it.”
Nico pouts. He knows that it’s on Father’s orders that hedoesn’thave the safe password. Father may favor Nico, but he’s no idiot. He’s not giving our safe combination to an addict, even if he is his son.
He slinks out the door and I wait a few seconds before heading to the largest bookshelf, pushing it forward just enough for me to slip behind it. I punch in the code—our mother’s birthday, off by one number. If Nico’s brain wasn’t fried, he might have figured it out already.
I take out twenty stacks exactly, not wanting to give him a cent over what he asked for. I don’t even want to give him this. I suspect he’ll be hosting a poker game soon, one that he doesn’t want me to know about.
I slide the bookshelf back into place after I finish and step out of the library.
Nico stands in the hallway, bouncing on his heels. He’s desperate for the money. Maybe too desperate.
He reaches for it and I snatch it away, holding it over my head. Nico’s a few inches shorter than me and he’s always hated it.
“C’mon, this isn’t keep-a-way, Luca. We’re grown.”
“Are we? Areyou? What do you need it for?”
Nico bites his lip. “Does it matter?”
I hold it above my head for a moment longer then relax, relenting. I’ll find out what he’s doing with it. Put a stop to it. Nico doesn’t think there are consequences for his actions, but he’s going to learn otherwise.
“Fine. Don’t spend it all in one place."
“Thanks, grandma,” he scoffs, counting the money.
I roll my eyes and travel back down the stairs. Unfortunately, my father has trailed into the living room, sitting on the couch with Cecilia perched on his knee. He rights her as she sways, one hand on her waist. She’s half his age, clearly drugged up.
It’s disgusting and I don’t want any part of it.
“Goodbye, Cecilia,’ I say, patting the top of her head and she looks up at me with wet dark eyes.
“You’re not going to stay for breakfast? I’m sure Nina cooked something you’ll like. She knows all your favorites.”
I shake my head. “Not hungry.”
“Sit for a while, boy,” my father orders, and I freeze because it’s just muscle memory from when I was a kid.
“For a minute,” I relent, but I’m stiff as I sit on the recliner across from him and Cecilia.
“How did the fight go?” he asks curiously.
“Not sure. I wasn’t there long,” I admit. He will have already heard that I left early, with Deigo and a couple of my other men.
“You left early.”
It’s not a question, just a statement, and I’m not going to deny it or apologize for it. I’m a grown man, and it was Nico’s responsibility to keep the books on that fight. Not mine.
But lucky for my father, Oscar had his eye on the books that night. Father wouldn’t like that, wouldn’t want me working with the Cortados, but we’ve had an alliance since we were young.
Oscar is a good guy, as wiseguys go, and I see no problem with working with your competition toward a common goal.
“I did. Had some business to take care of.”
“What kind of business?’
“Something came up,” I say calmly, not revealing any more than I want to.
Fathercannotknow about Sophia. He’ll order me to kill her immediately, and I can’t. I don’t think I can do that.
