Chapter 19 #3
The older guy raised his hand, effectively shutting up the other one.
I could think of a million better ways. One of them was my fist repeatedly slamming into their mouths.
Once again, his gaze drifted over to me.
People tended to stare my way, but his focus felt different from curiosity.
Most of the time, people ignored me once Damian began to talk, but this guy had some kind of fascination with me.
His grin was one of a mad man, and I should know. I’d seen crazy before. I hoped he didn’t think I was on the market.
I am a happily married man .
“Let us adjourn to the other room where everyone is.” He gestured for us to follow him like we were nothing more than some common street gang. If there was one thing that was going to piss my brothers off, it was the way he was acting.
I shook my head as no one made a move. I was honestly waiting for Damian’s go ahead so I could break the old geezer’s neck. He had to be ready for death by now.
“This room needs to be cleaned,” he said matter of factly.
“I don’t know, I liked the new decorations.” My little comment had everyone on the other side gawking my way. There were more than a few of them that craned their necks and took a few steps back.
Damian nodded at Prince. “We will take care of it.”
“I couldn’t do that. It was our mistake.”
“Glad you see that,” Nash supplied. “Don’t worry, I will have an itemized bill sent over to your offices.”
The old man chuckled low as if he was all too aware of some joke. “I look forward to it. Régis Monet.”
Nash turned away and headed over to me. Guess the fun was over. “Stay with Damian, don't leave his side,” he whispered.
I nodded, knowing damn well I wasn’t going to let anything happen to my brother. The feeling of familiarity refused to let up, though. I'd seen so many people and met so many, that I couldn’t figure out if I'd seen him before. Our eyes locked again, and still, I came up blank.
"We've done business with gramps over there?"
Nash glanced over his shoulder briefly. "Not that I can think of. He’s shady as shit, though, so keep an eye on him."
“Maybe I broke a few bones?”
Nash chuckled low. “Knowing you, that is a possibility.”
I couldn't tell. There were a lot of people that had been hurt by me but it wasn't like I remembered every single one of them. I tried to recall all the faces Onyx had on the dining room table, and still nothing.
“Please, clean up a little. Unlike me, there are some who aren’t prepared to see such a gruesome sight,” Régis suggested.
They shouldn’t have tried to hurt one of us.
Damian glaredbefore he swiped some of the blood on his face and flung it onto the other man’s suit. “They will have to get over it.”
We were escorted into another room, one that was a lot more decorated than the last one.
There was fine art hanging on the walls and long white tables holding an array of food.
The room was full of awkward tension as we stepped in.
Every muscle in my body tightened. My stomach flipped as gazes suddenly flew our way.
It took everything in me to relax, even as I looked over the array of people.
Some I'd seen on TV, and others I knew had to be just as important.
This was all for the sake of our family. I had to remind myself we weren’t small-time anymore, we were climbing the ladder, aiming to be as big as the Vitale family.
Meeting business partners one-on-one was something I could handle.
This shit made my skin crawl. I was over the fucking moon I wasn’t Damian and actually had to talk to these uppity fucks.
Every single one of them left me with a grimy feeling coating my body.
We weren't good people. I knew for a fact I wasn't. I'd killed more people than I'd ever saved; however, I wasn't a man pretending to be good when I knew I was evil.
“Gentlemen, this is the head of the Marino family, Damian Marino.”
We were announced like we were about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. There were whispers around the room as they stared at us like we were wild beasts.
Damian, to his credit, moved around the room like he was meant to be there.
The blood and debris were nothing more than accessories to his outfit.
He shook hands and kept a calm facade as we were introduced around the room.
There were plenty of rich men, their bank accounts probably holding more zeros than I’d seen in my life.
With their money, I could get Onyx anything he could ever want.
There were those that flinched away from Damian as we made our way around. All of them spoke but none of it was important to me. I watched their actions. Daring any of them to try and attack. Their life would be over before they so much as had a chance to do anything to my brother.
After the meeting, people began to leave or move away from us until we were left with the man from earlier.
“Régis, are you the one I have to thank for the surprise gift earlier?” Damian asked.
“Oh no, I would never.” His words said one thing but his face said another. “However, it did prove to me and everyone in this room you’re all more than capable of what we might need done.”
Damian grunted as Régis gestured for us to take a seat. I moved behind Damian as he took a seat.
“If we’re going to work together, then there are certain people?—"
“Work together? I don’t know if that’s in the cards anymore,” Damian said, cutting him off.
Régis didn’t falter. “Sorry about that. You know how easy it is to be crossed in this world. Had to know that you were capable of handling certain matters. It’s not like your family is widely known.
You’re just now starting out, and I’d hate for this chance to slip by you and you lose what little pieces the Vitale family has given you. ”
Damian’s back stiffened slightly but he said nothing in return.
The older man clapped his hands together and sat up. “You know the saying, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
My brother’s demeanor shifted. “It sounds like you’re trying to order a hit on someone.”
Régis didn’t flinch, let alone deny the claims. “I need to know this is a beneficial relationship. I had some unfavorable circumstances prior to me leaving the state, but I’m back now, and if such circumstances appeared again I need to know that I’m covered.”
“And they are?” Damian asked.
Régis smirked and shook his head. “Nothing I can’t handle at the moment. In fact, I already set something up. I’m referring to the future.”
“You want a guarantee that we will be on your side in the future?”
“The future is never a guarantee, but I do like favors and promises,” the man said.
“And this today, you think this would guarantee a friendship?”
Régis shook his head, raising his hands in mock surrender.
“I do have to admit, it was in poor taste but my colleagues are learning the truth of this world.” His smile was one that would have the masses trusting in him in seconds.
“However, men like us know the truth. There is no light without darkness.”
Damian sat back, pulling out a cigarette. “Enough with your philosophical bullshit. I’m more than willing to do business. But do this shit again, and I’ll show you what it’s like to become the enemy of the Marino family.”
He looked unfazed as if he was used to rubbing elbows with the lowlifes of the world. “Noted.” Régis gestured for one of the men standing behind him to move forward.
My hand went to the butt of my gun. The warm metal fit perfectly against my palm. Steely gray eyes glanced my way momentarily, and again, he gave me that stare that made my stomach knot.
“Here is a little something to show that we are all on the same page here. I am working toward a better New York, and in order to do so?—”
“You’re not a politician here.”
“Yet,” Régis corrected. “I left for personal reasons, but New York has always been my home,, and I’m more than ready to come back. Not to mention I have plenty of business here.”
It would be so much easier to kill them all.
Then again, it was probably why I was never included in decision-making.
My answer when things annoyed me was either to walk away or kill them.
I went back to surveying around us checking every so often for the door, just in case Prince and Nash had finished cleaning up.
My brothers were probably cursing up a storm, cleaning up a mess that wasn’t planned or at least expected was always annoying.
The talk felt like it went on for hours as time ticked by.
It took too long for them to part ways, leaving behind the promise of a wire transfer.
The only thing that had truly caught my attention was the amount of zeros that were promised.
I’d get a bit of the cut, and the way my bank account was looking lately, I was going to need it.
I’d spent most of my money on the wedding and then what I had left went to any gifts I could secure for Onyx.
Blood flaked off my knuckles and face. I rubbed at it, peeling off small pieces. It was like when I was a kid and would cover my hands with glue only to wait until it dried to peel off the flaky bits.
When the room was finally cleared and we headed out the same way we came, only then did my body relax a bit. “I hate working with politicians,” I grumbled.
Damian grunted in agreement as he rolled his shoulders.
The air felt great the moment we got outside.
We leaned against the car, waiting for my brothers to join us.
The sun was on its way down, bathing the sky in oranges and pink hues.
Nash appeared first. His suit jacket was gone.
The clean aesthetic he no doubt worked hard for was a mess.
His dirty blond hair stuck up everywhere.
He spotted us and headed our way with his phone out already, his mouth set into a frown.
Prince was no different, and he wiped the blood off his face.
His rich brown skin hid any of the hits he probably took to the face.
“Fucking spineless assholes,” Prince muttered.
I couldn’t agree more. I took each of my brothers in. They could hold their own in any fight. We all grew up learning how to take down anyone that opposed us, but it didn’t mean I didn’t worry about them.
“You hurt?” I asked Damian.
My older brother shook his head. He stabbed out his cigarette and pulled out another. He chain smoked anytime stress started to get to him. “I don’t like how they ambushed us in there.”
“Want me to go handle him?” I asked.
Prince crossed his arms, staring at the doors like they’d come back in and beg for us to put them out of their misery.
Damian was silent for a bit before he shook his head.
“Them. It wasn’t just one person, although he made himself known.
” Smoke billowed out of Damian’s parted lips.
“He doesn’t die. He wasn’t wrong; he's an opportunity we can’t afford to ignore. ”
“Who, Reggie?”
Damian cocked a brow at me. “Régis.”
“Same thing,” I muttered back. I’d much prefer to kill him, but I nodded all the same. I checked my phone and swore. “I’m going to be late for dinner.”
“Go ahead, we're done here.” He sucked in, forcing the cherry of the cigarette to glow brightly before he ashed it. “I’ll take everyone in my car.”
“You sure?” I wanted to get to Onyx, but I didn’t want to abandon my family either.
“We all know you’re whipped for that bloodthirsty twink,” Prince said.
I was, wasn't I? A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I thought about my sweet bella.
Damian nodded just as Nash jogged over to us. “Make sure you hit up Emir later.” He pointed to my hands where a few cuts rested and waved to my grazed bicep.
“Got it.”
Prince knocked knuckles with me before I headed out. I checked the time once more and called in an order at one of the bakeries Onyx loved so much. I’d have just enough time to pick up something and then head back home.
My messages still hadn’t been read, but that was okay. I’d be home soon.