I would rather know she’s somewhere safe from me, alive. Instead, she’s gone, and I’m here. Uncle Emilio could havegotten me out of this shit. Fuck, my father should have gotten me out by now, but I know this is where I belong.
I’m broken. I have nothing left but anger. Mario comes to check on me, but I do nothing but stare into space while he’s here, like now.
“Rico, did you hear me? What do you want me to do?”
I shrug. “I don’t care.”
“Bro, you can’t give up like this. You know he’s testing you.”
“Testing me for what? I’m done. He doesn’t give a shit about me. If either of them did, I wouldn’t still be here.”
“I told you, your father had an emergency in Italy. I don’t know if he knows you’re here. No one has been in touch with him.”
“Yeah, well, my uncle knows. He wouldn’t even get me out of here so I could go to her funeral. I should have been there.
“I owed it to her to be there. I should have buried her and had the chance to say goodbye. Instead, I’m in here over some bullshit.”
“And all your enemies are out there. When you get out of here, they need to answer for Oni and all the other bullshit. Let me do my job.
“Tell me what you need done. All my life, I’ve been by your side. Since we were little, you wanted to be at the top.
“She wanted that for you. Make this shit happen in her memory. Lift your head, bro and take this shit.”
I scoff. “He’s punishing me for her. Do you really think he’s going to promote me? Let alone hand me it all?”
“Yes, I think you’re forgetting who he is. You see a punishment. I see a test.
“Hold your head up and tough this shit out. I’ve got your back. If he doesn’t give it to you, we take it. For Oni.”
I ball my fists on top of the table. He’s right. I can’t fail now.
Oni did everything she did in order to see me at the top. I vow in this moment I’ll be Don. Because my girl believed in me without a doubt, I’m going to make it happen.
I nod. “Let the crew know nothing changes. They now answer to you, and you will report back to me. They keep shit clean like before.
“Find the rat and deal with it. When I get out of here, this shit will never happen again.”
“What about Sullivan?”
“I’ll deal with that shit when I get out.” I pause and swallow hard. “They set her up. All of this started with them. Mason Sullivan will answer for his betrayal.”
“I’ll be back next week. I’ve got you, brother.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
CHAPTER 27
Coming Home
Oni
Three years later …
“Sembra buono,”I say to Carmine as he hands me my earnings report.
“Sì, sì. Emilio ne sarà molto contento. Ormai, da sei mesi di fila, sei la sua risorsa più redditizia.”
I smile in satisfaction. I’ve actually been Emilio’s top earner for seven months in a row. I just didn’t say anything the first two months.
