Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
He, and by extension all of us capos, had needed to be hard and ruthless to get this borough to bow down to and respect us.
It was still a daily struggle, little crews deciding they didn’t want to kick up to us anymore. Or local businesses claiming they no longer wanted to pay for protection. But it was nothing like it’d been back then, the bodies practically piling up, blood always staining our hands and clothes.
I knew I spoke for all of us when I said I was glad those days were behind us. But with this threat of the Bratva getting bigger by the day, I couldn’t help but wonder how close we were to having that be our reality all over again.
If we couldn’t get this under control.
If I couldn’t get this under control.
But that wasn’t exactly comforting. Because if this was a move right out of the criminal playbook, then they had a copy too, they’d been studying it, they would know to look toward us as the ones who’d carried it out.
“Should we be worried?” I asked, thinking of my family, of my little sister the most. Not exactly little anymore. She was an adult. Just barely. But she was young and carefree. Because everyone in this area knew they better not put their hands on her.
But if the Bratva wanted to strike, they would know the best way to do it would be through those we loved the most. The wives, the children, the siblings who weren’t in the organization.
And because these fuckers were into sexual exploitation, it wasn’t a huge leap to assume that they would take our women and girls and force them into that fate.
My stomach twisted at the idea of any of those fucks putting a hand on her.
“You’re worried about your sister,” Renzo said, looking at me.
“You’re not worried about Lore?” I asked.
His face darkened at that, and I knew I’d struck a nerve. His marriage might have been a simple arrangement at first, but he’d clearly fallen hard for his wife since then. He’d almost lost her once. He’d be damned if he let that happen again.
“If I am worried about Lore, I can send her to her family,” he said, even though I knew it gutted his pride to say that.
The Costas, while an ally of ours now, weren’t exactly our friends. We’d spent our lives fighting against their reign, their determination to stay on top of all the families, and impose their rules on us.
The bitterness ran pretty deep.
But, at the end of the day, Renzo was right. If there was one safe place in the world for Lore to be if the war between us and the Russians got worse, it was back in Manhattan with the Costas, with those five brothers of hers who would move heaven and earth to keep her safe.
The thing was, none of the rest of us had that luxury. I had no one to cart my little sister off to. Hell, I don’t know if she would go even if I demanded it of her.
“Why don’t I put Cinna on your sister?” Renzo asked.
“As a bodyguard?” I asked, skeptical. Cinna was a capo. She didn’t work as a bodyguard.
“For the time being, yeah. She and Dav are on punishment for that shit they pulled still. She would probably welcome a distraction. Plus, if you get Cinna, you get Dav. And if you get them, you get those kids they got now. Lots of people around to keep an eye on your sister.”
“Okay,” I agreed, nodding. “She’s not going to like it, but okay.”
“We’ll figure out plans for the rest of the women too,” Rico said, gears already turning.
There was a reason Rico was Renzo’s right-hand man. Sure, Renzo had kept me close until recently, too. But it was different with Rico. Rico was a family man, through and through. He lived, slept, and breathed this shit. If you ever needed to know information about something, he was your guy. If you needed someone to help you strategize something, he was who you turned to.
Honestly, the only reason Rico wasn’t the boss himself was because he and Renzo were so close. And Renzo wanted it more.
“And then we will move,” Renzo agreed, nodding.
I nodded at that, still feeling that churning sensation in my gut, though.
“What do you want from me?” I asked Renzo as Rico walked out to go work on his plans.
“Stay on the Russians. Especially after we make this move. I need to know if there’s more activity, if anyone seems to be gearing up. That kind of thing.”
“Got it,” I agreed, making my way back outside to get in the car I felt like I’d been living in lately. The same car that now had a fucking hideous bumper sticker on the bullet hole from the shooting and new fake plates, in case the Russians clocked me.