Текст книги "Blood & Loyalties"

Автор книги: Ryan Michele

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Our close-knit group was quiet, waiting for his reaction, but I didn’t wait for it, didn’t care what it was.

“I’m leaving,” I announced to the room, moving to the door, the alcohol no longer having a hold on me. Fights with Val always seemed to sober me.

“Scraper,” I called to the man still standing at the entrance of the VIP, his arms crossed, looking mean.

He nodded yet said nothing as I grabbed my purse from the red velvet chair and looked into Kiera’s glowing eyes filled with concern.

“Sorry, babe. I just can’t do this anymore. You coming or you gonna stay?”

“I’ve gotta go meet with my brothers. I just got a text.” She held up her phone, dangling it in front of me. “I’ll be home in a bit.” Compassion laced her eyes, but she knew I had been on the brink of my family’s meddling for a while now. The breaking point had to come sometime.

She nodded, calling her guards over as she walked out of the small room with them.

“Wait.” My brother scowled, grabbing my arm tightly and pulling on me.

I yanked it back as I seethed with anger. How dare his ass put his hands on me?

“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me.” I bit out with what was left of my self-control, but he didn’t relent. Instead, he pulled me more firmly to him, making me gasp and no doubt leaving a mark on my body.

“You know we love you. We just want to protect you. If you’d listen to what we said about Antonio, I wouldn’t be here, cleaning up your fucking mess.”

A red, hazy film covered my eyes as I used every ounce of strength to rip my arm out of his firm grasp. He stood there in shock, looking at his hand like he couldn’t believe I had actually been able to get away from him. Apparently, I was stronger than I looked. He’d do best to remember that.

“You go clean up my mess, brother,” I snapped even though Scraper had said it was handled. I was just pissed he had made the comment in the first place. “That is your job, after all,” I sassed, leaving quickly with Scraper and my Ghost—who had come into play during the altercation—on my heels.

I just caught the smirk that played on Jag’s face as I breezed by him and Ace.

Outside, Scraper opened the car door for me, and I climbed into the passenger seat of the sleek, black automobile, feeling the coolness of the leather on my thighs. It did nothing to cool down the raging inferno inside of me, though. I only wanted to go home.

I replayed the night in my head on a loop, the alcohol simmering in my veins. My brother was at the forefront of the raging thoughts. He couldn’t expect me to continue on like this, being under his thumb, crushing me. He had flat out told Jag I was off limits. What right did he have to do that? None.

Before I could finish my thoughts, we were home.

 

Chapter 2

“HOLD HIM,” Val yelled from the nasty-ass alley behind the bar where the smell of sewer and garbage invaded my nose.

Before I could question their choice of location, I followed them into the dark corner. Looking around, it was actually the perfect spot: no walkers, dark, and two exits out—just in case. I shouldn’t have expected anything else from the underboss’s son.

Ace picked the sorry motherfucker off the ground, holding him up under his arms, the man’s slacked body held loosely like a fucking rag doll. Blood oozed from every surface visible, his hair matted, eyes swollen over, and cuts all over his face. That shit’s to be expected, especially if you’d had three guys working your ass over for the past fifteen minutes like it was nothing.

“Open your eyes, you seedy motherfucker!” Val punched the guy in the stomach, and his eyes flew open as he gasped for breath.

The guy’s sister did a fucking number on the asshole’s windpipe. Hell, she did a number on him in general. Now that shit was impressive—hearing what she did to the guy, how she didn’t roll over when she caught him screwing around on her. She stood up, took notice, and did a job without a second thought. She was one tough chick, but also showed great determination. I liked that.

Scraper had made one of the cleanup guys bring the asshole out to the alley to wait for Val, so he’d already been here, limp on the ground when we’d arrived. It wasn’t as much fun as when they were panic stricken, but it worked.

“You fuck over my sister and think you can just walk out of the fucking bar like nothing happened?” Val gave more blows to the man’s ribs, no doubt breaking or cracking them in several spots.

Blood dripped from the man’s mouth and head as he tried to speak, only to be punched in the mouth again for his attempts. He really was a pathetic excuse for a man. There was no fight in him whatsoever.

When my turn came back up for action, I punched and kicked, allowing Ace to let the asshole fall to the ground. Then I pulled out my knife, the sudden urge to do some carving coming over me.

“Hold him, hands and feet,” I barked, opening my switch blade and wiping the knife on my jeans. I really hadn’t planned on getting blood on myself tonight, but duty called.

I normally didn’t get my hands too dirty anymore when it came to shit like this. I had a shit-ton of men to take care of it for me, but the excitement that barreled through me was too much to deny. I missed this shit. I had always been fucking amazing with a knife—among other things—and it was a skill I was proud of.

Since taking over as a Consigliere, one of the boss’s right hand spots in the organization about five years ago, I had my boys to do the grunt work. I only stepped in nowadays when I felt the urge. Right then, I felt the fucking urge.

The asshole had wronged a family member. Now he paid.

“Antonio, is it?” I asked, kicking his leg at the kneecap and making the pussy screech.

“Gag him and lay him out.”

The guys let Antonio’s body fall to the ground, and then Ace reached over in the alley, finding some kind of dirty fabric and stuffing it in his mouth. He tried spitting it out, so Ace stuffed it farther down his throat, and after several attempts, he finally got the point and left it in.

Val had a sinister smile cross his face as he held the asshole’s arms above his head, no doubt getting off on this shit. Ace held his feet, ever patient and calm as could be.

“Last time I’m asking, did you disrespect Catarina Lambardoni?”

The fucker’s eyes rolled in the back of his head instead of answering, and I crouched low, flexing the knife before lifting it up and stabbing him hard in the beefy part of his calf. It would hurt like a bitch yet wouldn’t hit any major arteries.

His leg twitched, trying to pull away from the pain, but Ace held him as his eyes flew open, his muffled wail coming through the fabric as he nodded his head like the little bitch he was.

“I don’t fucking play games. You answer the damn questions when I ask them. Is that understood?”

He nodded his head profusely, eyes wide. The dumbass looked like one of those stupid bobble heads, only petrified.

An evil smile crept on my lips as I pulled the knife out of his body and wiped it on the ass’s shirt, cutting the pathetic excuse of fabric from his body with one solid slice. Then, holding the knife steady, I pressed the tip of the blade to the man’s neck, just enough to leave an impression without breaking the skin.

His body squirmed as both Val and Ace yelled at the fucker to stay still while I made a trail all the way down to his belly button, sticking it farther in, ignoring his muffled cries for me to stop. A small drop of blood escaped the ongoing cut, but it was nothing that would kill him.

“Shut the fuck up, or I’ll gut you right fucking now,” I snarled, looking deep into his terrified eyes. They widened even farther at my words. “Oh, yeah. I’ll kill you in a fucking heartbeat for your blatant disrespect.” I swiftly moved the knife back up to the man’s throat, pressing enough to break the skin. “Your last name’s Capella, part of Remeo’s family? A cousin?”

He nodded his head quickly. Fucker probably thought that association would save him.

“When I meet with him tomorrow, we’ll talk about this shit, but you’ll no longer be involved in our business. You’ll stay the fuck away from my family. Most importantly, you will stay the fuck away from Catarina. If you don’t, I’ll fucking gut you in the woods and let the fucking wolves feast on you. Understood?”

Again he nodded his head repeatedly, tears leaking from his eyes.

“Oh, that’s not even saying what Val here will do to your ass. I’d just put you out of your misery. His, I’m not sure I want to know.”

Val picked the guy’s leg up and crashed it back to the ground, no doubt hitting the knee again that I had already pulverized. Guess he wouldn’t be walking for a while.

I calmly cleaned off my knife and retracted the switchblade, putting it inside my pocket. “Now the boys here are going to let you go. From the looks of it, you’re not gonna be moving much. Enjoy your night.” I stood up and tipped my chin at Val and Ace who stood then came over to me.

“I’m not fucking done here,” Val snapped, getting in my face. He was over the edge pissed and needed to get control of himself. He would do no one any good by allowing his anger to override his judgment. Not that the asshole didn’t deserve everything that came to him, but the punishment from us fit the crime. I would be surprised if Vino and Sal, Val’s father, didn’t get involved and give Antonio another once-over, but what we had done there was finished. Val needed to rein his shit in.

“You’re done. This is over.”

I had dealt with Val on several occasions, mostly over the phone and then the few times he’d came out to California. One thing I had learned about him was he had to be reeled in. He would get pissed, give me shit for it, but if I didn’t do it, it would be more of a pain in my ass when it came to the business side of this situation.

“Who in the fuck do you think you are? This is my turf, my sister. You don’t come here and pull this shit.”

While I normally wouldn’t, Val was out of control, both with his sister upstairs and with this guy. He wasn’t using his head, and that shit would get him killed.

“Look at him, Val. He won’t be able to move right for weeks, maybe months. The message was sent. Let’s get the fuck out of here and get a drink.”

Val’s nostrils flared as he breathed in slowly then lifted his chin in affirmation, saying nothing, the spark of anger still in his eyes.

“Yeah, I need a fucking drink,” I mumbled as we turned and walked out of the alley to the waiting car where Dan, one of my guards, was holding the door open. We all climbed in one at a time, and then Val moved in, his eyes glaring at me.

“You got something on your mind?” I asked, thinking it was better to get this shit over with right then so he could calm himself.

He seethed. The boy needed to learn to handle his anger, or he wouldn’t make it in this world. Val and Matteo, Vino’s oldest son, were all on equal playing fields with me within the organization. We were all third ranking, right under Vino, who was the boss, and Sal, who was the underboss. Val and Matteo had other brothers, but their rank was under us, and they were considered enforcers of the family. They still had a more prominent role than other enforcers, but the three of us—Val, Matteo, and myself—would one day run the show. However, since I resided in Cali and ran the business from there, Val, for some reason or another, thought I would take his shit. He was really fucking wrong, though.

Val gripped the seat, his legs bouncing. “I could have fucking handled that shit out there. She’s my sister.”

“You did handle it, Val. We all did. It needed to end, so I called it.” No way was I telling him I had fucking needed that shit—needed that release. Hell, I hadn’t known I needed it until I had seen the fucker on the ground. “You need to calm your shit, Val.”

“Fuck that. I was perfectly fine handling it. You just did it ’cause you have a hard-on for my sister.” Spit left his mouth at his words as anger and rage swirled around inside me.

My fists clenched. One thing I didn’t plan on doing was kicking the man’s ass, but if he needed it, I would be more than happy to oblige. At least it would be a fair fight.

“And?” I quipped, waiting for more.

“And what? I said stay the fuck away from my sister,” he growled as I turned my body around, facing him. His whole stance was in protective mode, though whether for himself or his sister, it wasn’t clear. Every muscle was pulled tight, ready to snap at any moment.

“First, you got yours with the guy, and it was over and done with. Second, if I want to be with your sister, you won’t do a fucking thing about it. You don’t think I know who she is and what she represents to you and your family—our family? You think I would disrespect her in any way? Fuck no, Val. You need to calm the fuck down.”

My thoughts drifted to the fucking bombshell Val called his sister. I had seen a few pictures from my father Geo before he died, but they’d been of her younger years, nothing like the woman I saw earlier. In dealing with shit out in California, I’d never had the opportunity to come to the East Coast and actually meet her.

When her blue—or was it green?—eyes latched on to mine briefly, it made my fucking dick actually stir. I could feel the fucker moving beneath my jeans like a goddamn beacon pointing to the pussy of its choice. Her body was a fucking work of art, nothing like those skinny ass women who were at every turn in California. This woman had curves that went on and on, simply begging for a man to use them the right way.

As her face had seethed with anger at her brother, it had only made her more beautiful, more intriguing. Seeing her standing up for herself, holding her own against Val, was a huge fucking turn on. Then the power she had resonated when it had come to that asshole Antonio who’d fucked her over. Damn.

I would fully admit I wanted to get to know her better, but Val needed to calm the fuck down. I got he was protective of his sister, but she was also a grown-ass woman, and he needed to realize that.

“You want my father and uncle to do what we just did to Antonio to you? ’Cause you know it’ll be a fuck-of-a-lot worse if they get their hands on you.” He smirked, almost in triumph. Like he wanted it to happen, and that pissed me right the fuck off.

I didn’t wish for him to get his ass handed to him, but there he was, hoping the bosses would teach me a lesson. Fuck that.

“You want me to break your jaw?” I asked, my tone even and calm, even though inside I wanted to burst with anger, show him how the hell I had earned my position.

He ignored my question. “You know I’m fucking right, so let’s save us all a bunch of shit and you get a hard-on for someone else. I’ve got a ton of women I can get you right now who would be at your beck and call. Do any damn thing you want, wherever you want.”

There lay my problem. I was so fucking sick to death of the cheap pussy that paraded my way daily. Women begged me at every turn just to suck my cock, not a single one of them worth my fucking time and energy because—let’s face it—any woman who did that shit was not someone I wanted to start a life with.

My second in command, Diego, loved it. Ate pussy like it was going out of style. For many years, I had done the same. Yet over the last three months, I couldn’t bear to even take my fucking pants off for them. The fake-ass tits, ass, hair, nails … everything—they all looked the same. Not one stood out. Just unnamed, faceless women. That shit got old, terribly old.

My thoughts drifted again to Catarina. What a beautiful name to go along with a beautiful woman. She made me want. She made me take notice. She caught my attention in a way I couldn’t deny—wouldn’t deny, not when I could do something about it, even for a short time.

“I’ll make the decisions on my love life and don’t need your help with it.” I reined in all the anger and let it melt away. I knew he was protective, though that night had showed me just how much. I would deal with that.

“But not my sister. She’s … Well, she’s Catarina, a class of her own, and doesn’t need to be in any deeper with our business.”

I quirked my brow. Now that was interesting. It was more about keeping her out than actually anything to do with me.

“So is that the real reason? You don’t want her in?” I questioned.

Val sighed deeply. “It’s one of the reasons. Not to mention, you’re leaving in a few days. Do you really want to start something you can’t finish?”

The calm escaped me, those words sending me into a tailspin. My growl was loud in the cab of the car. All eyes turned to me, including Dan’s in the rearview mirror.

“I always finish what I fucking start; make no mistake about that. We’ll leave this shit up to Catarina. She’s an adult, right?” I didn’t wait for him to answer as I continued, “She decides. As far as us—you and me—I’m not discussing this shit another second. Fuck, I haven’t even seen her a full hour yet, and you’re giving me shit about her. How in the hell do I have any clue what is going to happen? Whatever happens, though, Val, you need to stay out of it. Understood?”

He clenched his jaw, clearly not liking anything I had to say. The entire conversation was weird to me. Why the hell was he warding me off something I hadn’t even gone for yet? The problem with that was she only intrigued me more. Him warding me off of her only dragged the pull I felt toward her deeper.

“Val, let it go. He’s right,” Ace chimed in. “If she wants to fuck him, she can. What’s the harm in it, anyway? After tonight, she’ll know better than to put her heart on the line.”

His words pissed me off. It felt like he was saying I wasn’t fucking good enough for Catarina. However, I let the comment go and peered at Ace in the front seat. From his profile, no malice was intended from his words, but shit if it didn’t cut me. I was definitely good enough for her, probably the fucking best. Fuck, listen to me. This whole conversation needed to end.

“Fine. I’ll be here to clean up the shit-filled mess after it’s over,” Val grumbled, looking out the window like a petulant child, making me wonder how the hell he was running his crew here. Surely he didn’t act like that all the time, because if he did, there were bigger problems there than his sister.

***

I needed to get my ass moving. Breakfast had to wait, but coffee was a must. There was no way in hell I would be late to a meeting with Remeo Capella and give him any excuses to call me out. He had called this fucking meeting months ago, and after the events of the night before, I was sure he would be pissed as hell and have even more to discuss.

I called in Dan and Brett, my other guard, last night and had them bring in some reinforcements. I took no fucking chances with my safety. Don’t get me wrong, I could take care of myself, but with the actions taken last night, anything was possible.

When I got the call from Remeo, I wondered why, after all this time of pushing Lambardoni product from the West Coast, he was dead insistent that I come and meet with him personally, especially having Vino and Sal so close by. After bringing up my suspicions to the boss and underboss, they had a talk with him.

Apparently, he wanted to expand his distribution channels, but he wanted a face-to-face with me because I handled that part of the business. I was actually surprised Vino and Sal had let him get away with that shit, but they all went way back, so I was there and I would deal.

“Arms up.” The beefy guy had nothing on Dan who was to my left, ready to take out this asshole.

Dan could wipe the slate clean with this joker who thought he was some type of badass from the way he stood with his spine straight and a blank air of authority around him. I stared into his eyes, and a spark flashed within them. Set-up clattered in my head. No fucking way.

“No. If Capella sees me, I’m armed, and my men are armed, or the meeting doesn’t happen.” I slipped my hands into the pockets of my jeans, giving off a nonchalant vibe, my guns tucked away for convenience.

Most men in this business wore business suits or dress pants, not me. Fuck that. There were occasions where I would dress up, but I refused to wear that shit on a daily basis. Especially when I had been fucking summoned by someone who worked for me.

As beefy man stared at me, sizing me up, I let him take in his fill without saying a word. Finally, after long minutes and realizing I wasn’t relenting, he pulled out his cell, dialing.

“Boss,” he snapped into the phone. “Yeah, he’s here, said he comes in armed.” Beefy man’s eyes never left me or my men behind me.

Fuck it. I walked over and plopped my ass down in one of the chairs on the side of the open room. This was obviously going to take a while, and I was tired of standing.

Beefy man nodded to the phone. Idiot.

I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for what felt like forever while they had their pussy-whipped conversation. After hanging up, beefy man walked over to where I was sitting with my men standing beside me. I looked up and waited with a quirk of my brow.

“Boss says you can go in.”

I uncrossed my legs and stood up straight.

“But you go in alone.”

I stopped, pulled out my phone, and dialed Capella directly. I was fucking sick of this game.

He answered on the first ring.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I barked into the phone, gripping it tightly.

“If you want to be armed, I respect that, but the meeting will be just you and me. No guards, anywhere.” This wasn’t uncommon; it just seemed like a dog and pony show, and did he not remember who the fuck I was?

“You called the meet, not me. I’m here; my men are here. You have the terms, so we do this, or we don’t, but stop wasting my time.” My tone was even, my words coming off in the same way my body language showed—chilled yet commanding. Like always, I was in control, the powerhouse.

His deep breathing on the other end of the phone only added to my agitation, but I would never let him see a rise out of me. Fuck him. I was in charge of me and everything around me.

“Agreed. Come on back.”

I clicked the phone off, pushing it back in my pocket, only to hear the quiet chirping of a phone next to me. Beefy guy picked his cell up, and it took everything I had not to laugh at the dumb fucker. Who the hell had a fucking bird chirping as their ring tone? Nothing screamed badass more. Moron.

“Follow me.” He led us down a long hallway and into a conference room.

I nodded to my men who stood guard outside the door, weapons close. The room was sparse; the only furniture was a large, round table in the center with chairs around it, and off to the side was a small bar with bottles of liquor.

From an interior door in the room, Capella strutted in with a cocky smirk on his face. Dumb fuck. He was the one who needed me, not the other way around. There were always others to take his place. The Capella family was small potatoes, one of many, in Lambardoni’s eyes. Regardless, Vino and Remeo had an agreement allowing him to move product. It had stuck over the years.

Wearing a slick navy suit with pinstripes down it and a crisp white shirt underneath, he was trying way too hard to be powerful when he wasn’t. I take that back; he was powerful in his family, but not in the Lambardoni family.

He strode over to me, holding out his hand in invitation, and I reciprocated, clutching his hand firmly.

“Jag, glad you could come. Sorry about all the security. You know how it is.” His words played on my nerves, and from the slight twitch in his jaw, he knew it.

I released him, stepping back. “I know that if your fucking men put a goddamned hand on me, they won’t make it long,” I barked, crossing my arms over my chest and widening my stance, not bothering to sit down in the chairs.

I knew Capella, had worked with him since I started running things in California. I could have written a playbook on his emotions and mannerisms. He had to handle the elephant in the room first and get it off his chest, so I waited.

He chuckled, and I gritted my teeth. “I bet not. Let’s talk about Antonio, yeah?”

“Talk,” I said, allowing him to say whatever the fuck he needed to get it over with so we could move on.

“I hear he fucked some blonde in a bathroom and disrespected Ms. Catarina, yeah?”

I nodded my head, not bothering to answer since he already knew it.

“Stupid kid. I swear these assholes need to learn to keep their dicks in their pants.” He shook his head, walking over to the bar. “You want?” He held up a bottle of clear liquid.

“No,” I answered gruffly.

“Calm down. I’m not pissed about Antonio. He’s lucky he didn’t get a bullet between his eyes. There’s no retaliation or payback for this. He made his own mess; he’ll clean it up.” Remeo dismissed it with a flick of his wrist to the air.

I wondered if this was true or if he was blowing smoke up my ass, but judging from his posture, he meant it.

He moved to the table, sitting down in the middle chair, his wide body covering half the damn table. “Let’s talk. Have a seat.” He motioned to the seat in front of him.

Seeing he wasn’t pissed about Antonio, I walked around the table, pulled out a chair, and sat across from him. There was no better time to start, and I had some serious demands that he needed to hear first before the conversation went any further.

“First off, Antonio does nothing with Lambardoni product, ever. He’s dead to our family; therefore, he does not partake in any business dealings with us,” I ordered, not giving a shit what he thought. He would follow it, or I would pull all product away, leaving him to figure out how he was going to make money.

“You know that’s gonna be hard to do when he’s one of the runners.” He steepled his fingers, trying to play mister big shot, which didn’t work on me.

I slammed my hand down on the table, causing him to jump in his seat and gathering his full attention. “I don’t give a flying shit what he does for you. He touches nothing when it comes to Lambardoni. If he does, I fucking cut off his balls, and then I cut ties with you altogether.” I brought my hands together, clutching them in front of me as I stared the man dead in his eyes, not giving an inch. A calm fury pulsated through me that I allowed to radiate through my eyes.

“You can’t cut ties with me. I’m your highest distributor around here.”

That was true, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t find another person to take over in a heartbeat. Everyone was replaceable, and it was about time the fucker realized it.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t think for one second that you aren’t replaceable. There are other families chomping at the bit for a chance at your run. It would be in your benefit to remember that.” I raised my eyebrow, knowing he wouldn’t doubt me, yet also challenging him. “If you think I couldn’t or wouldn’t call on one of them and have another route set up in less than two days, you’re out of your fucking mind. Supply and demand. Since we supply your product, you’d be done.” Point made.

He didn’t say a word. He simply sat there, staring with his jaw slackened.

“So, let’s get this straight right now. There will be no further discussion on it. If you want to continue to run your empire, you will not let Antonio touch anything tied to us. You’ll keep him away from all Lambardoni’s, most especially Catarina. His life was spared out of family loyalty. He crosses this boundary and that will no longer spare him or you.”

As we sat in silence for long minutes, I had no doubt he would see things my way. He had no choice.

The wheels in his head were turning like crazy, trying to figure it all out and piece everything together. This was where the fact that I was summoned here didn’t sit right. I had this guy by the balls when it came to business—hell, life—but at Vino and Sal’s word, I came.

“Fine. I’ll need to do some restructuring,” he conceded.

“I don’t give a shit what you have to do. It’s done or this is over.”

“You don’t think I could put a call into Vino and Sal and get you dropped down a peg?”

His cockiness pissed me the fuck off, and the rage was too much to bear. No one threatened me. These past five years had hardened me; there was no doubt about that. I had learned more than I probably ever wanted to know and become ruthless and cut throat, but that was the business.

With a deadly stare, feeling every bit of it, I spoke evenly and calmly, masking my hatred for this man at the moment. “Go ahead. Do you think they’re gonna take anything you have to say over me? No fucking way. Do you think they’ll give you leeway after what Antonio did? Go for it. Do you think they’ll have one ounce of qualm about me banning Antonio? Try it. In fact, I’ll ask them here in a bit. I have a meeting with Vino and Sal after this.” I shrugged, not giving a damn if he picked up the phone and did it. It would be cheap entertainment if he did. I knew my boss would back me up on whatever decision I made because it was best for the family. Everything I did was to keep the Lambardoni name safe, along with their people.

He studied my face and then, with a resolved sigh, gave in.

“No bother. Want to get down to the reason I asked you here?”

“Wider distribution,” I answered.

He nodded and sat up straight in his chair. The asshole just got done threatening me, and then he wanted wider distribution? I should put a bullet between his eyes and save the world from his stupidity. Instead, I waited.

“We already cover Rhode Island and Connecticut. I want Upper New York and half of Philly.”

I came all this way for that? This could have been handled over email in code easily. Not to mention, those areas were already covered.

“We have Zan running over there. No need for you, too.”

His eyes sharpened, attempting to intimidate me, and it took everything in my power to remain calm and not punch him in his jaw simply to knock that expression off his face.

“I know he runs it. I want it.”

Zan, my uncle, was given those lines when my father—Sal’s best friend—died, moving him from the West Coast to the East. Vino had given him this to appease him after not allowing him to take over the West Coast operations, giving it to me, instead. Zan was pissed, and our relationship wasn’t the best due to that, but he did what I said, and that was all I needed.