23. Delancy
Delancy
F ucking Elias.
I won that fight, and he knows it.
Tussling with my older brother was oddly nostalgic. When we were kids, we’d have wrestling matches like the WWE wrestlers on TV. Elias would also teach me karate or other martial arts moves that he learned by watching movies.
He had no clue what he was talking about, but it was the most fun I’d ever had as a kid.
He used to be the best big brother.
Until my father demanded he grow up when he turned thirteen, and Elias no longer wanted to hang out with me.
I can’t imagine how beat up we both look. Noah's father narrows his eyes at us when we walk into the dining room, one after the other, tails between our legs.
He immediately sees our disheveled appearances, cuts, and bruises and shakes his head like a disappointed father.
“Where is the other one?” he asks, returning his attention to the paperwork set out before him.
“At her family’s place in...” Noah begins but pauses and looks over at Elias. “She’s at her parents’ house.”
Gio nods and signs one of the white sheets, then hands it to a man standing off to the side.
“Are you seriously working on Christmas?” Noah frowns.
“I am always working. I get no vacations. No sick days. Have you learned nothing, little girl? You’ve been shadowing me all week. You need to know this when you take over for the Lords.”
“Speaking of,” Noah says, ignoring his scolding, “we need to talk about a plan.”
“We will do nothing until after the new year,” Lenetti immediately interjects.
“Fine, but we can still talk about it,” Noah counters.
He grunts but doesn’t respond and before Noah can continue, the food starts rolling out.
Baked salmon and Italian dishes like tacchino ripieno, antipasta, salad, charcuterie, and traditional American foods like ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, and deviled eggs.
Once everything is on the table, Noah says, “So, I was thinking–”
“No.” Gio’s booming voice scares Noah enough that she jumps in her seat. My hand falls to her thigh, and I squeeze. My touch barely soothes her. “We eat, then we talk.”
Noah shrinks into herself, and I want to murder him right now for making her feel this way. He’s lived his life getting his way, but he agreed to work together to bring down the Lords. He needs to learn to listen to others.
Noah must sense my anger and shakes her head subtly. She doesn’t want me to argue with him. Not today.
We eat in peace; only me, Noah, and Elias making conversation. Once dessert is served and Gio finishes eating two pieces of pie—pumpkin and pecan—Noah opens her mouth to speak.
“I was thinking I could lead a meeting with Finn—”
“Absolutely not,” Gio growls and slams his fists on the table, causing dishes and silverware to clatter.
“You will not be going anywhere near the Lords. Do you understand me? You let these two men handle taking them down. After every one of those assholes is dead and there is no more danger, then you can claim leadership over Staten Island.”
“I’m an adult, Giovanni. I can protect myself. I know how to shoot a gun.”
Barely, I silently add. Which reminds me, she needs to do more sessions at the gun range.
“If I’m going to lead, I need to show my face.
Let people know who they’re dealing with.
And we’re not going in there with guns blazing.
We don’t want a bloodbath because that will only gain the FBI’s attention.
Which is why we need a plan. We should set up a meeting.
If I can’t lead it, then you should, Babbo.
Finn might not even agree to meet with me or Lance.
Maybe Elias, since he’s the QBM boss, but it should be you. ”
A man who I believe is Gio’s consigliere enters the room. He walks to Gio's side and leans down to whisper something in his ear. Lenetti glances at Noah, then me and Elias.
“I’ll take care of it,” Gio responds then stands. “I’m sorry mio angelo. I have to go.”
“Dad,” Noah sighs, and he scowls at her. It’s the first time I’ve heard her call him dad instead of Babbo. He must hate it.
“Is this Empire business?” I ask as Gio turns to leave. “If so, shouldn’t Noah be shadowing you?”
“Careful, young man,” he warns.
“Careful?” Elias scoffs. “She’s going to take over for you someday. She should know what’s taking you away right now.”
“Someday. But not today.”
I stand, refusing to back down and walk around Noah's chair. She tries to grab my arm to stop me, but I yank it out of her reach.
“Let her join you,” I say, chin raised.
Matthew, who’d been standing against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest on guard, steps closer. Gio lifts a hand to stop him.
The blond man clamps his jaw shut, the muscles rippling.
So much for that rain check. We just became his enemy.
“Where I’m going now doesn’t concern you or her or your lowlife brother.”
Before I can take a swing at him for calling my brother a lowlife—I mean, he is, but only I get to call him that—Noah steps in front of me. Elias stands, but he at least has enough sense to stay back, unlike me.
Gio points at me over Noah's shoulder. “You’re lucky my little girl loves you, because you would be dead right now for speaking to me like that.”
When he reaches the dining room door, he pauses and focuses on Noah.
“You want to learn this business?”
She nods.
“Stay. Alive. Never take meetings unless they’re on your territory, and you’re surrounded by guards. Finn O’Connor does not deserve the courtesy of a meeting.”
“Then tell us what to do, Babbo.”
“You will do nothing. You send others to die because the only way to successfully bring down a crime syndicate is to go in with ‘guns blazing.’”
And with that, he leaves.
I’m breathing hard, adrenaline rushing through my body.
It’s making me lightheaded, and I might just pass out from hyperventilating.
Noah takes my hand and leads me out of the room, beckoning Elias to join.
We return to a freshly cleaned sitting room and Noah sits me down on the couch.
Elias sits on the love seat across from me.
“He’s hiding something,” I seethe.
“Probably,” Noah sighs. “But attacking him and getting yourself killed won’t help us figure it out.”
“He told you to send us in guns blazing. Sounds like a setup to me,” Elias says.
“I agree, but I refuse to do a hostile takeover. We’ll come up with a plan ourselves. Then I can present it to my father and let him know we’re doing it with or without him.”
“We shouldn’t tell him anything,” I nearly bark.
Noah scowls at my tone, and I immediately offer her an apologetic look.
“Or we tell him a fake plan and see if he turns on us,” Noah concludes.
“You have an idea?” Elias asks, sipping on a glass of whiskey that he brought from dinner.
“Maybe.”
“Is it a good one?” I ask.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
I t’s been two weeks since the Christmas day dinner.
Noah and I rang in the new year on the couch, cuddled up with champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, weed, and the ball drop on television.
We kissed at midnight, got high, made love, then fell asleep shortly after.
The best new year's celebration of my life.
Elias disappeared after we formed our plan and said he’d be back in time to implement it. I have a feeling he left to go find Sage, the poor girl. When my brother has his mind set on something... or someone... he won’t back down until he gets what he wants.
Noah told me a little bit about Sage’s past and her ex-husband and how he damaged her. It’s all she said since it’s not her story to tell, but I made sure Elias knew. He’s coming on too strong and if he scares her, or worse, hurts her, Noah will not hesitate to kill him.
And I won’t stop her.
I asked Noah what she plans to tell her father, and she said she’d figure it out.
I’ve learned over the past few months with Noah that she’s not a big planner.
She’s spontaneous and loves surprises while at the same time hates surprises.
She craves adventure and adrenaline and the idea of meeting with the Lords’ Don has her squirming with excitement.
I took advantage of that excitement a few times, fucking her until that adrenaline melted into lust.
Word spread fast about mine and Noah’s engagement. Speculation that it was a move to gain power blossomed to do exactly what we had intended: put the Lords on edge.
“I was thinking about the trip you got me for Christmas. We’ll be pretty busy this first half of the year, so why don’t we plan something for the weekend of my birthday? Make it a celebration,” Noah says as we sort through paperwork in her father’s office at the Bronx gun range.
“And where do you want to go?”
“Scotland. I’ve never been. I want to find the Loch Ness monster... and chase waterfalls.” She starts singing the TLC song, off key, but it still makes me smile.
Because Noah is perfect in every way… except when it comes to singing. And cooking.
“When is your birthday, anyway?”
“Puppet!” Noah gasps. “You don’t know? I thought you did a background check on me.”
She smiles despite her offended tone.
“Well, that fake ass file said September 29 th , so I’m not sure if I believe it.”
She laughs and places the stack of papers she’s holding inside a folder and files it in a drawer.
“September 29 th is my real birthday.”
“What else in your background check is real?” I ask, walking to where she’s still shuffling through all the files in her father’s cabinet. Since we’re at the gun range, I made Noah practice her aim for an hour before coming into his office to snoop around.
Noah’s back is to me. I wrap my arms around her, bringing her flush with my front and grind my cock into her ass. It awakens, growing harder as her jasmine and citrus scent overtakes me.
“Most of it... especially the places I worked, which were all fronts for Colpa Sicario. My education, my finances—well, the legal transactions,” Noah says, her voice breathy. “All real.”