Ezra 21.
The landscape of Monday morning family breakfast has changed once again. Not only is Dottie here, sitting right next to me, but her sisters are scattered amongst my family around the long table. Extra leaves were added to accommodate, and I have never seen Aunt Esther so excited. All her favorite people together, eating, nourishing their bodies and their souls. Her words, not mine. I’m not nearly as poetic.
At least to anyone but Dot.
“Moshe.” I’m a few seats away from the Avinu, but he hears me over the din of conversation. I open my mouth to broach a delicate subject when he holds his hand up to stop me.
“Emergency 12 Angry Men directly after breakfast.”
Not expecting that. 12 Angry Men is our code for the monthly meetings that we attend with other prominent area families in the business. Moshe, as Avraham Avinu, sits as the head, and until recently there were 5 families in total. However, due to their own actions, the Wittingers and Keppelmans were removed from the table…permanently. Now, Frank Stone and Terrance O’Brien are our only local allies, having proven themselves loyal over the last several years especially.
“We should change that to something else. There’s only 3 families present.” Tevye says with his mouth full of waffles. His watch beeps and he chews loudly, twisting his wrist to read the small screen. His brows furrow and he glances up at me. “Avinu, Yakov requires us immediately.” His gaze meets mine again before sweeping over the others at the table. “Sorry, Tante Esther, duty calls.” He shoves another waffle into his mouth and shoves back from the table. He points from his son Arlo to his mom Gertie. She nods and changes seats to sit closer to her grandson.
“Moshe, I wanted to talk to you about Difiliberto.” I stand to chase after them. The other men’s chairs scrape along the tile, but Dottie’s voice is clear.
“Ezra Kraus! He is not a Kosher Nostra problem.”
Without looking back, I argue, “You are Kosher Nostra, so yes, he is!”
“Dear Brother.” I stop, as do several others at the sound of Blanche’s voice. It’s not her words, but the tone. It sends a shiver down my spine. That woman is frightening. I’m just glad she’s mostly on my side. I slowly spin around. She’s leaning over the table, her fists propping her up, a snarl curling her pristine lipstick covered lips. “Difiliberto is mine.”
“Blanche—”
“Wounds heal.”
“Not the ones we inflict.” Tevye mutters.
“Do you remember how I met your sister?” I arch an eyebrow, my face expressionless.
She straightens from the table and saunters over to me on her sky-high heels. “A man like Difiliberto isn’t in the plastic surgery game to ‘make a difference’. He’s in it because he’s vain, arrogant, and weak. I plan to disassemble his life, piece by piece until he is sobbing naked, in a corner, pleading for death.” She pretends to brush a non-existent piece of lint from her shoulder, “The court is my playground. And you will not deprive me of the chance to play with my food before I devour it.”
A deafening moment of silence follows her words, until Zilv starts cackling like a hyena. Everyone turns to him, to see him pointing at Dottie. “You basically slept with your sister!” Dottie’s face pales instantly, her eyes darting from Tovah to Blanche. “Tovah and Blanche are like the same person! It makes sense Tovahbub would sleep with herself, she’s that fucking vain, but you…Oh…it…hurts!” He clutches his stomach as he doubles over with laughter. “You fucked your sister’s doppelganger!”
Dot lifts a shaky hand to her mouth, her body convulsing with the need to purge. That fucker. I rear back and plant my fist in Zilv’s pretty boy face. Another in his gut. He drops to the floor. Dot lifts her leg and kicks him in the ass. She and I stare at one another over his body, smile, and high-five.
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I spin on my feet and stride through the compound, my cousins and uncles following, several of them laughing, Zilv bitching. Yakov is already in the war room when we enter. His sharp gaze lands directly on me and I see a storm of emotion brewing in his usually stoic expression. We no sooner sit down, than Yak is pulling up what looks like an email and begins talking.
“I received this about an hour ago. Mattuca is in contact with a sect of the Cuban mafia.”
“What the hell are they doing—”
“I’ll explain.” Yakov states forcefully, interrupting Moshe. Zilv ooh’s like he’s witnessing a school lunch fight. I didn’t hit him hard enough. “The Four Families are dealing with a few issues of their own. It has brought them in contact with a group of men in the Cuban Mafia, under the rule of a man named Diaz. He is as trustworthy as anyone in our world can be, but he serves their current purposes.” We all understand, the enemy of our enemy is our friend…until they’re not. “And he has just served a purpose for us.” He taps on the email on the projector.
“What the fuck does it say?” Jonah squints, just as I am, unable to understand what it means. It’s not in English or Spanish.
“It’s encrypted.” He hits a button on his computer and the email content changes to English. I read quickly and then lose my shit.
“THAT MOTHERFUCKER! I WILL GUT HIM AND STRING HIS INTESTINES UP LIKE STREAMERS AND USE HIS HEAD AS A PINATA!”
“A fiesta! How exciting.”
“Shut up, Zilv.” Uncle David reprimands his son. Anger lacing his tone, but not directed at Zilv. No, he and the others are just as angry as I am.
“Hiram Goldman has put a bounty on his daughter.” Dad points at the screen, “Why? Why now? They haven’t been in contact in 13 years.”
“You’re gonna want to send Diaz a thank you gift. Edible arrangement, a bouquet of firearms, the finest gefilte fish in the land!” Bringing up another screen, Yak explains, “We know Goldman recently announced he’s expanding into Cuba. What that really means is he is expanding his trafficking game. But he needs to offer up collateral. He has two illegitimate sons, but they are still too young to be useful, 12 and 10.”
“He promised one of his daughters to buy his way into the Cuban flesh trade?” I ask in a broken whisper. The anger coursing through me has my blood boiling. “Why Dot?”
Yak grimaces, a deep sigh expanding his broad chest. “Best I could find in the limited time I had and what’s in the message from Diaz, Dottie’s name popped up because of her recent health issues. Goldman may have let his daughters move away, but he isn’t stupid enough not to keep tabs on them to use when beneficial. The men he’s in league with…chose her because of her unique attributes.”
“Yak. Don’t beat around the fucking bush.”
“She’s short, overweight, and nippleless.”
“I’m gonna fucking cut your tongue—” I leap across the table, my hands outstretched to take him down, but multiple hands grip my legs, arms, and hair to bring me back. I’m dropped to the ground and Tevye sits on top of me, effectively pinning me.
“The men involved are sick, sadistic bastards, with specific taste. Apparently, she fits the bill of whoever’s in charge. She has piqued their curiosity.” I drop my head to the floor and give permission for my tears to fall. My Dottie. She’s been through too fucking much and it’s not over. Not only are we waiting for Dr. Hudson to get back with test results, but now we’ve got her estranged father putting a bounty out on her.
“How am I supposed to tell her this? It will crush her. Her sisters too. Fuck. Sophia will be devastated.”
“Son.” Dad kneels next to me. He pushes Tevye’s big ass off me and forces me to sit up. Draping an arm over my shoulder, Dad tells me, “You know damn well, no one is getting near her.” He looks over my head at Moshe.
And the Avinu takes control of the situation. “Yakov, message Mattuca that we would appreciate any assistance they or their associates can provide in apprehending Hiram Goldman and the key figures of his organization. We also need to find the names of the men in Cuba, whoever has requested Dottie, because now that he knows she exists, he won’t stop until he’s added her to his collection .” He growls the last word and I echo his sentiment. “Tevye, we will need to add additional security to the Goldman Girls. I want at least three men with each one at all times. Trackers too. And deep dive into the new surgeon, his staff, anyone Dottie may come in contact with. I want to know if anyone is susceptible to bribery, willing to risk their job and life for whatever these fuckers might be willing to pay.” Moshe stares down at me, his eyes losing the hardness of a second ago. “Ezra. Tell her only what you think is necessary for her to understand the threat against her. If she can work from the compound, that would be ideal. We don’t want to provide opportunities for abduction, but perhaps some of her medical visits can be done here?”
I nod, then get to my feet, finding his confidence buoying my own. I am a kapitan of the Kosher Nostra. King Kong ain’t got nothing on me! And neither does some old man. “Nicola vouches for Hudson, but I’ll wait until Yak has had a chance to look deeper into his life. Then, I’ll call him and discuss home visits.” I sigh when I remember, “Regardless of the test results, he was clear that the implants will need to be removed. That will require a hospital. There’s no way around it.”
Moshe steps forward and places his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll make it work.”
Fuckin’ hell. I look at everyone in the room, my people, my family. “Thank you.”