I’ve heard so much about him and his family over the last few months, and it’s hard to believe I’ve actually agreed to work with him.
I look away from him and toward Lucas. He’s distracted for the moment, which is good because I’m pretty sure Tommaso is headed right for me.
With a roll of my shoulders back, I focus on the fight and nothing else. Trying to give the illusion like I don’t care that one of the Dresvanni is here. There’s nothing for me to care about. As far as the crowd is concerned, I’m working with the Bianchis and me and Tommaso have beef, but I can’t let him think something big is being planned. I have to make it all about just the two of us if need be.
I’m playing too many sides right now and it’s getting to my head.
Lucas and the crowd need to believe I’m loyal to the Bianchi family. Tommaso needs to believe I’m loyal to the Dresvannis. All while I’m stuck in public, stuck under this guise of a man notfrom Russia but from America. With no dead wife, no family, no nothing, because I’m a man who carries no baggage except that of those I’ve killed. Lucas only knows me as the man who would kill for a wrong look, not the man who intends to keep things from blowing out of proportion.
“Funny finding you here,” Tommaso tells me as he steps beside me, not standing directly next to me, but close enough.
I keep my American accent up, not letting any of my native tongue slip through. Even though it’s odd to talk to him this way, it feels wrong. It’s important that I keep up the façade while I’m here.
“Fuck off,” I tell him matter-of-factly.
“No one’s listening, you’re safe,” he assures me.
I glance toward Lucas, who still isn’t looking, but it doesn’t make me any less uneasy.
“Not interested in whatever you’re selling,” I tell him under my breath. “Here’s not the place.”
“I thought you were busy all-night cleaning the blood out from under your nails, maybe you didn’t get enough, huh?” Tommaso asks me with a smirk.
I hear mumbling behind us. Clearly people are trying to listen in. I step closer to the arena so that the sound of the fight is louder and our talking to each other is harder to eavesdrop on.
“Needed to get out,” I say. “What’s your excuse?”
Tommaso glances behind his shoulder for a second and then puts a hand up on the arena wiring.
I watch as the smaller woman finally pins the bigger one down onto the concrete floor and starts to pummel her, one punch by another. Seeming to have gotten a second wind.
The crowd goes wild. Some of them cheering, others booing. It’s clear who laid their bets where.
“I need to know more about the…explosive situation,” he tells me, carefully avoiding the word we both know will catch people’s attention.
“I don’t know anything else yet.” My voice is laced with irritation. “You couldn’t wait to ask about that?”
He shakes his head. “Things are starting to heat up,” he admits. “Carmine is prepared to go directly to Don Bianchi and if things don’t work out, well…” his words trail off. He doesn’t need to finish his sentence.
I know very well how much of a shit storm will occur.
“I’ll try to get more info from Lucas,” I tell him. I look over and see Lucas looking directly at me.
“What about the moles? You need to get them out of there, or they’re going to be killed,” Tommaso admits. “You care about the guys enough to do that?”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek. “We’ll see.”
Do I care about any of the Bianchis enough to warn them that they’ll be killed if they don’t get the fuck out of the Dresvanni estate? Not really… But it could mean pushing myself deeper into the Bianchi pocket if I use it as form of manipulation.
Tell them that the Dresvannis are planning to kill their men, they pull them out, the Bianchis thank me for saving their men, and their trust is built even higher.
“Get out of the fucking way,” I shove past him and over to Lucas who looks suspicious. I need to convince him that I have some personal beef with Tommaso and that’s why he approached me.
Tommaso stands in the way of me again, and I grab him by the front of his shirt. “You trying to cause problem, Dresvanni?” I ask him, growling low in my chest and I watch his eyes flare with excitement.
Is he trying to help me or is he doing this for another reason entirely?
He steps to the side and I walk over to Lucas who cocks one of his brows.
