Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Most people would have called before heading over to a house with new parents.
That said, most people weren’t part of the Costa Family.
Lorenzo knew what it would be like when he took over. And Giana had signed on to being with him, being fully aware that her life was going to involve constant drop-ins since only idiots conducted their illegal business over the phone.
Giana had happily settled into the position of a capo-dei-capi’s wife. She was always happy to see everyone. And more often than not, she usually had something cooking, or something she could easily heat back up.
Since the baby, Lorenzo’s mom, Celeste had also been around to help pick up the slack with cooking and cleaning or child care so Giana could have a few minutes here and there to be a human being.
So I wasn’t surprised when I made it to the front of the brownstone to find Emilio already inside with Lorenzo.
Taking a deep breath, I jogged up the steps, nodding to the guard Lorenzo had at the door, then heading inside without an invitation.
“Brio,” Lorenzo said, brows furrowing. “Didn’t expect to see you so soon. Did you get information yet?”
“No. I got a threat from Salvatore, so I am here to handle my shit before he handles it for me.”
“A threat from Salvatore?” Emilio asked, understandably confused since he knew that Salvatore knew it wasn’t his place to threaten anyone.
“In his defense, I deserved it. But I also made it clear it wasn’t his place until it was his place,” I said, looking at Lorenzo.
“How did you deserve it?” Lorenzo asked, stature calm and collected, likely figuring I’d roughed up one of the guys who owed us a little too hard, scaring the neighborhood or something.
And the neighborhood approval was important to the Family. It was why we funded new laptops for the schools or holiday dinners at the local shelters, why we bought out all the Girl Scout cookies, and sometimes provided security for the women’s shelter if there was a particularly pushy man who wouldn’t stay away.
We got their approval so they weren’t as easy for the cops to turn to and ask questions about our business.
So while, yes, we needed to kick ass sometimes, we tried to keep it under control so the locals didn’t get squirrely about us.
“I killed Eren Polat,” I said, watching Lorenzo and Emilio for their reactions.
Lorenzo let out a sigh.
Emilio shook his head. “Christ,” he hissed.
“Probably should have guessed it,” Lorenzo said. “What with the hands cut off and all. You gonna tell me why?”
“He was beating the shit out of his wife.”
At that, Lorenzo and Emilio shared a look.
No, it wasn’t uncommon for me to go rogue, to take out a little justice where it was needed.
But I didn’t kill associates to the Family without permission, no matter how much of a shithead they were.
“Okay,” Lorenzo said. “I’m going to need more of an explanation because I don’t think that’s all there is to this.”
“Not much to say. The first night I was watching Polat, they were leaving the restaurant and she was rushing to keep up with him. Her heel got stuck in a crack or something, and he whipped around to start beating her ass.”
“Christ,” Lorenzo sighed.
“I distracted him. And I don’t know. It spiraled from there. I approached her for a meeting. We had one in the gym in her building. And he just had to die, man.”
“Can’t say I disagree with your conclusion, but you know better than to act on your own.”
“I do,” I agreed.
“The hands on the counter make a lot more sense now,” Emilio said, shrugging.
“I feel like we know each other well enough that I don’t need to ask this, but I need to double-check since this was more personal than usual. But were you smart about it?”
“Yeah. It’s not tracing back. I mean I have no idea if Berat Polat or anyone else in the organization suspect us, but the cops aren’t pinning this on me.”
“Alright. Is that it?”
“No.”
“Of course it fucking isn’t,” Lorenzo said, sighing as he turned to walk back to his bar cart, making himself a drink. “Alright,” he said after taking a sip. “What else?”
“I’m sleeping with her.”
“Yep. That tracks,” Lorenzo said, sighing.
“Does she know?”
“Yes.”
“Is she going to tell the Polats?”
“Not a chance in hell. She’s as scared of them as she was of her husband. They’re watching her.”
“Any idea why?”
“Not yet. She’s still at the hotel. But she is heading back to the apartment tomorrow. I don’t think it will be long before Berat shows up, and she starts to get some information.”
“She has no idea about the business side of things?”
“She doesn’t even know how to access the bank account,” I told them. “She wasn’t even allowed to have a phone. He controlled everything.”