Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“My own boss,” I breathed. “That sounds ideal.”
“I think it is.”
“Okay, you sold me on it.” I smiled. “What do I need to do?”
“Perfect. As of eight months ago, Oui is no longer a Masseria-owned company, so I would only be able to send you over there with high recommendations.”
“Oh. I thought you were the one I needed to speak to about it.”
“I used to be. I facilitated it for Yari and now she keeps sending people my way. If you’re interested, I can send you over there right now.”
I sat back a little. I hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly, but I was already dressed in business attire, so I might as well. “Sure. I’m available right now.”
“Good.” He tapped his desk with his knuckle. “I’ll make the call and you can head over to Oui now. It’s not far from here.”
I thanked him again. I was definitely nervous about this and despite the things he’d said to ease my mind, I still felt like I was in over my head, but I was running low on options right now.
4
DOMINIC
The last trackable location on my brother’s phone was in or around La Guardia Airport. I wasn’t in the habit of making assumptions, but all signs were pointing to him taking a flight somewhere. I watched the surveillance video that Dean acquired for me on loop. It showed my brother nonchalantly walking out of his building. His phone was pressed to his ear, and he had a bag in his hand. He didn’t look scared at all, which didn’t align with the urgent voicemail he’d left me, but it did put me at ease.
“Maybe he really did take a vacation,” Rocco said next to me. He’d also watched it on loop at least twelve times.
“Why leave that message though? Why even tell me to go find Rosie?”
“He wouldn’t tell you to look for Rosie if it wasn’t important.” He set his drink down. “He’d probably keep her a secret until he impregnated her or some shit.”
I felt myself scowl. “Rosie doesn’t even want kids.”
“Sixteen-year-old Rosie didn’t want kids. You don’t know how twenty-six-year-old Rosie feels about it. They would make cute kids, don’t you think? Little Dominican-Italian babies.”
“Are you trying to piss me off?”
“Is it working?”
He knew it was fucking working. I looked at my phone again. “He didn’t look like he was in a rush either. Gabe usually walks like his ass is on fire.”
“You should ask Rosie what the fuck is happening. She has to know something.” He finished his drink and stood up.
As if on cue, my phone vibrated in my lap.
Rosie: I took your advice and quit Tempt
Rosie: I’m FREAKING OUT!
Rosie: tell me it wasn’t a mistake
Rosie: SERIOUSLY, GABRIEL!?!?
“His texts are coming in,” I said. “New ones.”
“Today’s the last day you’ll get the messages,” he said. “So hopefully, there’s something you can use there.”
I stood up and headed out, calling Dean to see what else he was able to find out about her for me. I had one of my guys tailing her now, so I knew the moment she left Tempt after quitting her job. Well, now I knew what her celebration outside of the building meant. According to the guy watching her, she was smiling and jumping up and down with her phone in hand. Having her followed did nothing to subdue my curiosity. I wanted to know every fucking thing about her. Why she had that job, why she was leaving it, why she was so happy to leave it, and why she was so desperately looking for a new position as soon as possible. I’d already gone to her apartment looking for any sign that would lead to Gabe but found nothing. The next step was confessing my identity and asking her myself. If she slapped me the other night thinking I was my docile brother, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she’d do once she found out about me.
5
ROSIE
Santi: I think I’m gonna drop math
Me: again?
Santi: my professor sucks
Me: you said that last semester, and the one before that. Just suck it up and take the damn class
Santi: easy for you to say
Me: don’t drop the class
Santi: the bodega has been poppin’ lately
Santi: not that it matters
My heart stopped. The one condition my father had given me and my brother from prison was that neither of us step foot in the bodegas he owned. It was for our own good, he’d said, since Tommy Costello had taken over the business the moment dad was sent to prison for thirty months on a bogus racketeering charge. Taking charge of the bodegas was yet another thing Tommy and Anthony Costello held over our heads. Bodegas D’Vega were our family business. They were the only thing in the last ten years that had brought some sense of normalcy. Of course, Dad turned it into a nightmare the day he started borrowing money from Tommy, who had gambling rings in the back rooms of the bodegas. Never get high on your own supply seemed like a simple, logical concept, yet Dad had somehow broken every single one of the Ten Crack Commandments. For a man who claimed to love Biggie Smalls, he sure as hell did a poor job following instructions. But I guess greed defies logic.