Chapter 17 #2
No one says a word, but Lorenzo arches an eyebrow like he’s waiting for me to say something. Someone’s read a negotiation book or two, apparently. I don’t have the patience to wait him out though, so I sit forward with my elbows on the table and lay it out for him.
“I’m going to cut right to the chase here. I’m not going to pretend to know anything about your business, but everyone in Wildcliff knows you’re a practical man. You don’t relish violence, you use it as a tool. And it may not seem like it, but I’m the same way.”
“Is that so?” he says coolly.
“It is. The Sleepless Reapers are like dogs off their leashes, and if you don’t stop them, they’re eventually going to draw the attention of the feds.
” I remember what Alessio said last night about Lorenzo not liking any kind of negative attention on the city, and the way his eyes narrow briefly, I know I’ve struck the right chord.
“They’re sex trafficking and they’re making and selling meth.
A couple of lab explosions or one trafficking victim going to a single cop outside of Wildcliff, and the feds will be swarming this city in a heartbeat. ”
Lorenzo grunts in what I hope is agreement.
“So, you think it’s better that I let you keep up your sloppy killing spree instead?”
“No,” I say, and that seems to surprise him.
His eyebrows go up again and Alessio shuffles his feet behind me.
“You’re right, it’s sloppy and inefficient.
They’re recruiting faster than I can kill them and taking out one low- or mid-level Reaper at a time isn’t doing a goddamn thing to save any of their victims.”
He grunts again. “So what’s your solution?”
“My solution is that I bring a Moretti brand bazooka to the knife fight.”
“You want our help.”
“Exactly. It’s a win-win situation.” I hold his gaze and my breath as I wait for his verdict. What if he says no and tells Alessio to shoot me? I’m sure he won’t do it, but that’ll be a mess of its own.
He cocks his head and narrows his eyes.
“Who told you I was looking for you?”
“The Reaper I took out last night. He taunted me as I was strangling him, said a couple of your guys had been throwing their weight around and asking questions,” I lie.
Lorenzo looks away for a minute, directing his attention to the nearby stage where a petite naked man is swinging upside down from the pole.
I don’t get the sense that he’s actually watching the stripper though.
More like he’s gathering his thoughts and just happens to be looking in that direction.
He drums his fingers once on the table and my body vibrates with the urge to glance back at Alessio.
If Lorenzo decides I’m not worth the trouble, I’m not going to risk dragging Alessio down with me.
No one has to know that he knows me at all.
Lorenzo turns his head back towards me and I hold perfectly still, keeping my shoulders square and my head held high. Whatever his decision, I’m not going to let him think I’m intimidated by him. I’ll walk out of here with my pride or die with it, I don’t mind which.
“You’ve got balls,” he says, and I nod. His lips twitch again. “The Sleepless Reapers have been a motorcycle sized pain in my ass for years. Xaviaro, Alessio, work with him on this. Bring Sparrow into the loop too. He knows the Reapers better than anyone.”
“Plus, if you leave him out, he’ll go feral and bite you again,” the man sitting directly to Lorenzo’s left says with a chuckle. If I’m not mistaken, it’s his brother, Elio, second-in-command and the far less frightening of the Moretti siblings.
Lorenzo scowls at his brother. “He didn’t bite me.”
“He tried,” the man on Elio’s other side, dressed in a raspberry colored suit says with a snicker.
Alessio clears his throat behind me, drawing Lorenzo’s attention.
“I should tell you…”
My heart stutters. He’s not doing what I think he is, is he?
“We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Xaviaro mutters.
Lorenzo’s expression is unsettlingly neutral again as he stares at Alessio.
“He didn’t know who I was until last night,” I say, jumping to his defense.
Lorenzo’s jaw ticks and he’s silent for another long minute.
“We’ll sort it out later. For now, focus on the Reapers.” He stands up and buttons his suit jacket. “Run your plans by me before you make any moves.” That’s directed at Xaviaro, who nods seriously.
“Yes, boss,” he grunts.
Lorenzo leaves and the tension around the table visibly eases.
“By ‘sort it out later,’ you don’t think he meant he’d shoot me, right?” Alessio says.
Elio laughs. “You need to relax, Les.”
“Easy for you to say,” he mutters.
Xaviaro pushes his chair back and stands up too. “Come by my place tomorrow around noon. Sparrow’s going to be chomping at the bit once I tell him we’ve got the green light to go Armageddon on the Reapers.”
“Who’s Sparrow?” I ask.
Xaviaro lets out a darkly affectionate chuckle and the sound seems to ripple through everyone at the table.
“He can’t be explained. You just have to meet him,” Raspberry Suit says. “Salvatore, by the way.” He offers me his hand. I shake it, glad to have my leather gloves, as always, to protect me from the feeling of anyone else’s skin against mine.
“Since you aren’t going to kill me, you can call me Spettro.”
“Welcome to The Family, Spettro.”
“Oh, I’m not in The Family.” I shake my head and grab my gun off the table to tuck it back into place in my waistband.
Elio and Salvatore both glance at Alessio with knowing grins. Xaviaro already seems bored by the whole thing and is on his way out.
“You’re family, Spettro,” Alessio says. “Whether you like it or not. Now, let’s go home and see about that pizza and mediocre movie.”
I stand up and turn towards Alessio, catching his tie and dragging him close with a grin spreading across my face.
Lorenzo agreed to help, our relationship is out in the open, and I’m feeling something close to hope for the first time I can remember.
I can’t think of anything that could make this any better.
“I thought we settled on a terrible movie with good actors,” I remind him, and he laughs.
“That’s right.”
“You’re not pissed that I just walked in here like that after you told me to wait?”
He hesitates for a second, his eyes meeting mine. “A little,” he says, using the same words I used this morning. “But we can disagree without it being a problem. I get the feeling this thing between us won’t last long if I think I can tell you what to do.”
I bark out a laugh. “Understatement.” Then I sober and hold his gaze again for a second. “You want it to last?”
Alessio nods, and my smile gets just a little wider.
I’m not ready to admit it out loud, but I do too.
I need to see if I have a future beyond the Sleepless Reapers before I commit to anything though.
So I kiss him roughly instead of saying anything, and from the way he sinks into it, I think he knows my answer.
Let’s see if we’re still alive after all this, and then we can talk about what comes next.