WOLFE
Everyone made it. Didn’t get shot. I’ll call you when I can. I texted Francesca just like I promised then returned the phone to my pocket.
We loaded Dante into a car so he could be returned to his house, while the guys who’d surrendered cleaned up the mess of bodies on the warehouse floor. The men outside surrendered too, even though they had no idea that their guns were faulty.
“We’ll start the business transition tomorrow,” Don Mancini said. “I wasn’t looking to expand, we’ll need more guys, but we’ll make it work.” He headed for the main door. “Let’s head out. It’s almost dawn.”
After we finished up, we headed back to the SUVs that waited to take us back home.
Don Mancini moved to the middle SUV. “Wolfe, you’re with me.”
Leo was about to walk up on the other side of the SUV to join his father, but when he heard the order, he moved to the front vehicle, the one I’d ridden in on the way here.
Everyone got in the cars, and we headed to the winery in Caltanissetta. The sun was starting to rise, the sky still a dark blue as light slowly crept across the land. It was a quiet drive because it was spent in silence.
I expected Don Mancini to have something to say to me, but he stared straight ahead.
I turned to look at the side of his face.
He felt my stare and met my gaze.
“This is the part where you tell me I was right, thank me, and give me a nice pat on the shoulder.”
His stare lingered for a moment longer, and I saw a hint of Francesca in the stare, in the stubbornness. “You were right.”
I smirked then looked ahead. “Damn right I was right.”
“How did you do it?”
“I’ve done a lot of favors for a lot of people. And favors are the only debt I collect. Asked my little friend to change out their guns for faulty ones before the meeting. And then I grabbed Dante myself and loaded him into one of their shipments.”
“Why were you so certain Luigi would move this way?”
“Because assholes like him are all the same.” Always thought they had a brilliance that reinvented the wheel.
Thought they were five steps ahead of their money, when they were three steps behind.
I stared out the window and saw the empty road ahead of us, the world still asleep.
“Think about it. He stole your guns once before. You didn’t figure it out, so he did it again.
The first time, he was testing you. Made his assumption about your abilities at that point and made his decision to move against you.
He wasn’t going to change his mind just because you found the guns the second time.
That’s how people are. First impressions matter. First decisions matter too.”
“You didn’t think it was harsh to take his son as collateral?”
I turned to look at Don Mancini. “Did you think it was harsh when he put a gun to your son’s head?”
“Leo chooses to be here. Dante has chosen to remove himself from this life. They are not the same.”
I looked ahead again. “I feel nothing. I earned the name Wolfe from Cosa Nostra years ago because I know how to hunt. I know how to find anyone who doesn’t want to be found.
One of my assignments was an asshole who betrayed Cosa Nostra twenty years ago.
Changed his name a couple times and disappeared off the map—but you know where he ended up?
A priest in the Vatican, hiding behind the cross around his neck. ”
“Did you kill him?”
I smirked. “What do you think?”
Don Mancini stared at me for a long time.
“Maybe one day, I’ll tell you, Don. But not today.”
When we arrived at the winery, it was early morning.
Francesca was there, ready to treat the wounds we were bound to have.
But Leo was the only one who had any bruising, and the only thing that would fix that was time.
Don Mancini left the vehicle then walked toward the front of the house. He looked over his shoulder and motioned for me to follow him.
I came to his side, and together, we walked up the stairs.
Francesca stood there, her eyes on me longer than they probably should have been. The relief on her beautiful face, like she might burst into tears, was a look I’d never forget. She swallowed then shifted her gaze to her father. “You’re okay?”
“We’re all well, Frankie.” He stopped to give her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead.
I was a little bit jealous. That he could touch her and kiss her, and I couldn’t do a damn thing except stare at her.
Don Mancini continued forward, and when I passed Francesca, I gently brushed my hand against hers, the touch of our fingertips enough to light my veins on fire. I proceeded into the house, to the third story, where his office was located.
We gathered inside, Leo and Elio joining us on the couches. I could tell by the clouds in the sky that it was about to rain. It was forecast to pour all day and all night. Perfect weather to lie in bed with Francesca for hours.
Don Mancini leaned against his desk, arms crossed over his chest, and he looked at me where I sat in the armchair.
“I don’t agree with the way you handled the situation tonight, but I’m grateful for your intervention.
Lombardi’s words have sunken into my flesh and been absorbed in my bone marrow…
and I start to wonder if he’s right. That perhaps I’m living in the past, honoring a code that doesn’t exist anymore, and if I don’t adapt, there will be other Lombardis who want my head in the future. ”
There would be.
“I want peace. But perhaps peace is a figment of my imagination.”
“Oh, it definitely exists,” I said. “But people misinterpret what peace really is.” My hands came together, and I massaged my knuckles.
“History is written by the victors. Peace is determined by the tyrants. Peace and power are one and the same. One cannot exist without the other. Whoever controls the power controls the peace. Maintain your power and run the show—and you can have all the damn peace that you want. But you must be a tyrant to accomplish that. Otherwise, you’ll have to submit to someone else, tolerate whatever temperature they prefer to set the thermostat.
The Skull King is monopolizing the drug business, so instead of fighting him, they’re choosing to dominate you instead.
We need to prove how grave a mistake that is. And Luigi is our first example.”
Don Mancini continued to stare at me, having a much better poker face than his daughter. Her emotions and thoughts danced across her features like a lit-up billboard. At least, that was how she was with me.
“He’s right,” Leo said. “The ecosystem has changed, so the players have changed with it. If we want to survive, we need to adapt. I think Wolfe is exactly what our crew needs right now.”
Elio didn’t chime in but looked at his boss instead.
“Trust is like a garden,” Don Mancini said. “It can take years to spot the weeds from the flowers.”
“Was Luigi a weed or a flower?” I challenged.
A slight movement happened in his eyes, like my words dug deep.
“I don’t need you to trust me,” I said. “But I want to be treated as an equal from now on. I want to be utilized to my full potential because, with all due respect, you really fucking need me.”
Don Mancini drew a single breath, his chest rising slowly before he released that breath just as slowly. “I find it suspicious that someone of your caliber would want to join us. You could go anywhere, Wolfe. Not just in Sicily, but in Italy or France or New York.”
“I already told you my reasons.”
“Yes, you respect the way we do business. But the way you handled Luigi is not the way we do business, so it’s contradictory.”
“That was a retaliation, not a provocation. If someone wants to fuck around and find out, let them find out. And Cosa Nostra and the other gangs do shit that I don’t tolerate. Trust me, you are not the same.”
“Elaborate.”
I shook my head. “I told you I’m not a rat.”
He continued to stare at me.
“You follow American basketball?”
Don Mancini didn’t react, but Leo answered. “Yes. Why?”
“Remember when LeBron James returned to Cleveland to win them the championship? Then he moved on and joined the Lakers afterward? It’s kinda like that. You’re the original Mafia—and I respect that.”
“And you think you’re LeBron James?” Leo asked with a chuckle.
“Damn fucking right I am.” I sat back in the armchair and looked at Don Mancini again.
The biggest reason they could trust me was one I couldn’t share—because I would never betray my woman. I’d met her just a couple weeks ago, but she’d quickly become my entire life, my entire purpose, an irrational obsession that fueled me night and day. “Am I in or not?”
Leo turned to look at his father. Then he gave a subtle nod.
Elio did the same.
Don Mancini shifted his gaze back and forth between the two of them before he looked at me once. “You’re a part of this crew—but you aren’t a part of this family.”
I was dead tired from being up all night, and then the night before, I hadn’t slept much either because I was making Francesca come and cry over and over again, so I was ready to head home and hit the sack.
I walked downstairs and out the front doors, crossing the path to the other buildings and then the parking lot beyond. My Range Rover sat in the front, a little dusty from being out in the elements like this.
“Wolfe.”
I smirked when I recognized her voice, picking up on the concern, relief, and affection all mixed into one. She must have seen me leave from her office window and run after me…because she was obsessed with me.
I turned back around. “Hey, baby—”
She crushed her mouth to mine, standing on her tiptoes as she hooked her arm around my neck, kissing me like we were in her bedroom instead of a dusty parking lot.
Yep, she was fucking obsessed with me.
I gripped her ass as I kissed her, not giving a damn if anyone saw me feel her up out there.
She was mine. I could do whatever the hell I wanted.
She pulled away first, her lips swollen from the intensity of our kiss. “You’re okay?”
“Not a scratch.” I could feel the ridiculous smile on my face because of how unnaturally wide it was. “What did I tell you about worrying about me?”
She ignored the question. “Are you going home?”
“Yeah, I’m fucking dead.” Two days without sleep. I would be grouchy like a bear if anyone else stopped me in the parking lot but her. “Gonna catch up on some sleep.”
The disappointment in her eyes was like a beacon for help.
My smile faded to a smirk. “You want me to come over.”
“I’ve been worried all night.”
“I know—because you’re obsessed with me.”
The same temper her father had shone in her eyes, and she smacked me. “Don’t piss me off, Wolfe.”
“But I love pissing you off.” I grabbed the front of her jeans, hooked my fingers through one of her belt loops, and tugged her gently into me. “I’m not sure what turns me on more, when you’re angry or when you’re clingy.”
“I’m not clingy.”
“You definitely are, but it’s fine. I like it.” I dipped my head and kissed her. “You got a key?”
The anger in her eyes slowly processed out of her body once she got what she wanted—me. “Underneath the pot by the front door, with the red geraniums.”
Too obvious. We’d have to rectify that later. “Alright, I’ll see you when you get home.”
“I’m going to swing by the store after work. Need anything?”
“Shaving cream.” I hadn’t shaved in a couple days, and my beard was starting to get thick. I preferred an electric razor, but whatever she used on her legs should be fine. “Now get going,” I said as I tapped her ass. “Before I take you in the back seat.”
She smirked like it was an affectionate joke.
Oh, it was not a joke.
“Goodnight,” she said as she stepped away.
“Night, baby.” I watched her turn around and walk back, and I shamelessly stared at her perky ass in those tight denim jeans. A juicy peach in the heat of summer that I wanted to shove my dick into.