Chapter 16 #2
An old woman came out through a swinging door, wiping her hands on a dirty apron. Her brow furrowed as she checked out my suit. She didn't recognize me but she realized I was a threat.
"Can I help you?"
"I'm here for some business. Are either of the Pescis in?"
I made a show of checking out the dining room. It was a decent size with a small bar and about fifteen tables. Spacious enough to do good business, but not too big that they couldn't control who ate here.
The woman's eyes turned cold. "I'm sorry. No."
"Really? That's too bad. They'll want to speak to me. Give them a call and tell them Lake Wright is here to chat." I gave her a cold, tight-lipped smile as I walked to the bar, making it clear that I wasn't leaving until I had what I wanted.
I kept the woman in the corner of my eye and after a beat, she hustled back into the kitchen. Just to be a shit, I went behind the bar, uncapping and smelling the liquor from the top shelf.
There were a lot of ways to send a message. Knowing the Pescis wouldn't make a scene in town, I wanted it known that I believed myself above them. Untouchable.
A few men came in the front door, laughing and cutting up. All dressed in those fucking Peaky Blinder suits. Did these men have no subtlety? Anyone with a brain would know they were into some shady mafia shit.
They stopped laughing when they saw me behind the bar. I smirked as I pulled a glass down and poured myself two fingers of their finest bourbon.
"Who the fuck are you?" the youngest—and closest spewed, reaching for his gun.
My heart kicked up. "You don't know?"
At least two of the five men did. They took in my white hair and their eyes shuttered.
"Why are you here?" another asked, one of the ones who recognized me.
"It's okay, Ray. I'll take it from here." The kitchen door bounced against the wall and swung shut behind a grinning Donnie Pesci.
Just the sight of him burned me up inside. I still couldn’t believe this fucker made it to the Whip Room. He had been so close to Beasty, and I hadn’t been able to do anything about it.
I still couldn’t. Not yet.
Despite the hate he had to feel radiating his way, he seemed perfectly at ease with his combed hair and immaculate suit. There weren’t even bags under his eyes. Rat bastard.
To the unassuming eye, they’d never know he was locked in a civil war with his brother.
Though his men didn't trust that I wasn't here to make trouble. They fanned out across the empty tables. A few more guys came in, catching on quickly to the tense situation.
Joining me, Donnie's eyes blazed as he took in the glass and the open bottle on the counter. I pressed the cold rim to my lips, not drinking but letting the liquid wet my top lip.
He didn’t like me taking liberties in his place? Same.
Honestly, the liquor was shit for the money the Pescis probably made. You'd think they'd be able to afford the good stuff.
"Reckless of you to come here, don't ya think?" Donnie leaned an elbow on the bar like this was all a relaxed, friendly meeting.
I shrugged and scooted around to the front, sliding onto one of their three barstools. "You've been hunting us so hard, I thought I'd make it easy on you and come in for a chat."
"You're so sure you'll leave?" The skin around his eyes pinched as he straightened.
"I will." It was damn uncomfortable to sit in this bulletproof vest. I should have thought of that before I sat down. "You have an agreement with the local authorities, right? That you'll not do any crimes within the city limits?"
His jaw muscles flexed and he shot an accusing glance at his men. "Who told you that?"
"A gentleman never kisses and tells." I rolled the glass between my hands, enjoying watching this asshole squirm. He was caught off guard and didn't know what to make of it.
"Why are you here?"
Taking a risk, I gave him a half-smile, hoping all my disdain was right on the surface for him to see. "I've heard some things, and I thought we could chat them out. Family things, you know."
Donnie's back went ramrod straight. "Out!" he ordered the men.
"Boss, we're not—"
"I'm not in any danger from this fucking Fashion Boy," he said as if that was an insult. Somehow, coming from this shithead, it only made me laugh. He was going to kiss the shoes of this Fashion Boy and beg for his life before this was all over.
That sounded like damn good revenge.
Without another word, his men left. I memorized every face that walked out. The funny thing was, I recognized all of them from the pictures Gio had given me.
When we were alone, Donnie locked the front door. Sweat started to gather on my back. The door was glass, but I could break it if I needed to.
He poked his head into the kitchen next. "Suzette! Make sure no one comes in the dining room! Spread the word."
So, he just wanted to protect his secrets.
"You got it!" The words were muffled but still understandable. When he released the door, it swung once, twice, then settled.
Donnie was the oldest brother. It showed in the crow’s feet around his eyes and the graying hair at his temples. Now that we were alone, there was a raggedness to him that could only be from stress. I had to give it to him, the way he put on a front was masterful. Even Kim would be impressed.
I didn't know the man, so I couldn't say if his current state was new or if this was his constant reality from life in the mafia.
"Now tell me," he said, crossing his arms and bracing his feet apart. "Why are you here?"
"We have a mutual problem. A few of them actually." I pretended to take another sip. Let him think I was losing faculties. It might make him more loose-lipped. Although, with the rage in his eyes, I doubted it.
"Oh yeah? What are they?" he asked, testing me.
"First, I have two pains in my asses that I can't seem to get rid of." I paused, measuring every twitch in his face. "Gio and Adrian."
A tic jumped under his eye. "Those assholes can fucking die. Why didn't you name Storm?"
"Storm is dead, or didn't you know that?" I canted my head.
His eyes widened, and his lips parted before he got control of his expression. Fucking hell, he didn't know. That meant he wasn't in the parking garage that night.
Danny was going to fucking suffer before he met his end. A very painful, torturous end.
"Good," he grunted.
"So we have a mutual problem with those two ass-clowns." His lips curled at my colorful use of language. "I want them gone."
"Why would I help you? In case you haven't forgotten, you're not on our good side either. We don't take kindly to men sending us heads of our employees." His chest puffed out right as the front door shook.
The person trying to open it cursed before walking away.
I waved a hand. "He wasn't your employee anymore. He was an idiot trying on britches too big for him. Isn't that what he was doing by collecting information against you and Danny?"
The temperature seemed to plunge as Donnie stopped breathing.
"You can thank Gio for giving me that information," I added, just to make sure he really wanted to get Gio off the board. "You can't be that angry about it when you wanted Stevo dead anyway. The way I see it, I did you a favor. I'm shocked you saw it as anything different."
I was absolutely talking out of my ass.
His shoulders dropped. Goddamn, he bought it.
"As much as that's true, doesn't change the fact that that girl of yours has to go. She's a liability, and no matter what, we have a reputation to uphold. You signed your death warrant when you openly sent the head to us."
For the hundredth time, I kicked myself in the ass for being an arrogant hothead.
"If you touch one hair on Cressida's head, you'll be my enemy, and I have friends even you don't want to go up against." I leaned closer. "You'd have to take all of us out, because again, thanks to Gio, our entire club knows about your little turf war with your brother."
The reaction was stark as cords stood out in his neck and his hands fisted. "You're dead."
"I don't have to be." I stood, setting the glass on the table. "I'd like to form a...temporary partnership. I want Gio and Adrian gone and you do too."
"I'm not fucking working with you Fashion Boys," he shouted.
Good, he was worked up. "What do you mean? You don't think Danny wouldn't jump at the chance if I made him this offer?"
A vein started to throb in his temple. He didn’t want to work with me, but he didn’t want to take the chance that we’d team up with his brother either.
Heat flashed through me as I stared him down. This could go in my favor, or it could go very, very poorly.
"Right now, you have a whole yard of enemies and no allies. Wouldn't it be in your best interest to work with someone while you clean your shit up?"
He exploded forward, but the cold press of a barrel to his forehead stopped him.
"What the fuck do you know!" His face purpled as something crashed in the kitchen. Closing his eyes, he fought to get himself under control. I had to hand it to him, he was succeeding despite a gun in his face.
"Why does Gio have such a hard-on for you two?"
"Because he wants what isn't his, just like you pansies," he seethed.
I barked out a laugh. "We don't want anything to do with you or your small-town crime life. We have our own shit that takes up more than enough of our time. But if you're not careful, we will take everything from you. The question to ask yourself is, do you want help cleaning your shit up, or not?"
When he didn't move, I slowly lowered the gun, prepared to shoot his ass if he made a wrong move. He didn't, proving they really didn't commit any crimes in town.
I couldn’t believe it. They actually followed their fucked-up code.
"If you have any information that would help get rid of our mutual problems, you can call me at Snatched. Ask for Guy, he'll get you in touch with me." I holstered the gun and walked out, feeling both victorious and screwed.
I could have planted a seed to make those assholes implode or I could have just put an even bigger target on our backs.
"I'll call you guys when we're past city limits," I whispered and ended the call.
A text message dinged as I climbed in the SUV with Guy.
Parker: That was some shit you pulled. We'll be talking soon about your fuck up.
I banged my head against the headrest. Damn it.