Chapter 3
THREE
Milo
I didn’t need this distraction. Marchello had allowed himself to get involved with Lissia and her drama, and now they were on the run. This family couldn’t afford for another heir to go MIA.
Fuck! But when Sable looked at me with those desperate eyes, all I wanted to do was rescue her. Why the hell do I care?
“You know what?” I asked as I retrieved my gun from the desk and put it back inside my waistband. “You’re an issue I don’t need.”
As much as I wanted to fuck her, there were plenty of other ways to get off. I knew better than to involve myself in such a complicated situation. My father wouldn’t be pleased if I tangled this family in another unwanted situation.
“Your brother will cause you nothing but aggravation. He’s not going to get his shit together, because he’s a fucking screw up.” None of this was my problem.
“What are you saying?” Sable hurried toward me. “You’re not going to let Chance go?”
“Chance is your fucking problem.” I took her hand and guided her out of the office, practically pulling her down the hall. “I don’t know why I thought I could make this work.”
“Where are we going?” She tugged on my arm. “You said you would reconsider.”
“You better get him under control, and I better not ever see either of you in this club again.”
I was pretty certain she wouldn’t show herself here, but her brother was a different story. He had a taste for this lifestyle. A stupid ambition to think he would succeed. He wouldn’t.
I pushed open the back door that led to the alley behind the club as my guys pulled Chance to his feet. They had worked him over pretty good.
“That’s enough.” I looked at Chance who appeared just as I had expected. Not too bad, but enough for him to understand that I never wanted to see him in my club again.
His bloody nose still dripped from where I had hit him, and his eyes were swollen. He would need plenty of ice and aspirin tonight, but at least he would still be breathing. He had his sister to thank for my generosity.
That was my nice deed for the year that was about to wrap up in thirty minutes. Sable had no idea how lucky she was not to have to plan a funeral tomorrow. Instead, she would nurse Chance back to good health.
“Oh God!” Sable shoved me out of the way. “Look what they did to him.”
“He’s fine,” I said.
“What’s wrong with you?”
When she rushed over to her brother, I nodded for my guys to release him. Once they did, Chance wobbled into Sable. She couldn’t hold his weight, so I grabbed his arm and held him steady.
“Don’t touch him.” Sable pointed at me. “You’ve done enough.”
“Now it’s my fault?” I propped Chance against the dumpster. “Do I have to remind you how he got himself into this mess? He should be dead.”
She pressed her fingers to her brother’s swollen lip. “He understands what he did.”
“He better,” I said. “Do you see the anxiety you’ve caused your sister tonight?”
Chance nodded.
“She doesn’t deserve that.” I gazed at Sable who was too busy assessing Chance’s injuries to care what I said. “He’s going to be fine.”
“You don’t know that.” She tilted Chance’s face up. “He needs stitches.”
“No!” Chance tried to raise his voice, but he was too hoarse to be effective. “We’re not going to the hospital.”
“That’s a wise choice.” I took her wrist and brought her close to me.
“No hospitals, no cops, you got it?” I leaned into her ear.
“If you bring that kind of attention to me and my club, I’m going to have to tell the police that I caught him selling in my establishment.
Trust me, I have enough friends on the force who would see things my way. ”
“We could just say he got jumped or robbed or something. He needs medical attention.” She motioned toward him. “Look at him. He could have a concussion.”
“That might knock some sense into him.”
“You’re not a very nice person.” She put her hand on her hip. “He made a mistake. Haven’t you ever done something you’ve regretted?”
“Plenty.” I never should have allowed myself to get caught up by her. “But when I make a mistake, I own it.”
“Your situation is a lot different than ours,” she said. “You have no idea how most people struggle every day.”
“Are you making excuses for him?”
“He’s doing the best he can. He is misguided, and for some bizarre reason, he wants to be someone like you. I’m trying hard to show him that’s the wrong choice.”
Tell me what you really think of me. “Take him home and clean him up. Make sure he understands that he got lucky tonight. That won’t happen a second time.”
“Don’t worry.” She tugged out of my hold. “I don’t ever want to see you again.”
I didn’t believe her. She was far too receptive to my touch. She didn’t pull away when I kissed her. If I had pursued an arrangement, she would have given in. I could see the submission in her hopeless expression. She couldn’t handle her brother. My help would have solved her problems.
But I wasn’t in a position to solve her problems. I had my own family to deal with. She was a luxury I couldn’t afford.
“Just so you know, if I wanted to see you again, I would,” I said. “You couldn’t stop me.”
“You arrogant son of?—”
I pressed my finger to her lips, stopping her words. “I wouldn’t insult my mother if I were you.” I glanced down the alleyway and to the busy street. “It’s time for the two of you to go.”
She pushed her tousled hair from her face, revealing her furious eyes. That fire intrigued me. “I’d like nothing more.”
“I’m going to say this one time.” I looked at Chance. “If I see you near any of my businesses, or doing anything you shouldn’t in my territory, I’m going to kill you.” I turned and stared at Sable. “And I’m going to make you watch.”
She backed away from me and put Chance’s arm around her shoulder. She wanted me to believe she was capable of handling the mess her brother had created on her own. I didn’t buy it.
“Lean on me,” she said to her brother. “We’re getting out of here.”
“I’ll have a car take you home,” I said. “The streets are total chaos with tourists and drunks. And he can barely walk. You can’t navigate your way home.”
“No, I don’t need your help.” She glared at me as she helped her brother get his balance. “Don’t pretend you care about me.”
I admired her spirit.
“If you’re worried about me finding out where you live, I don’t need my driver to take you home to get that information. I could have your address before you reached the end of this alley.”
She continued to walk down the street, struggling to keep her brother upright.
“Do you have money for a rideshare?” I asked. Why do I fucking care?
“I don’t want anything from you.” She looked over her shoulder. “Leave us alone.”
I handed one of my men a hundred-dollar bill, because I couldn’t let whatever the hell this was between us go.
“Get her in a cab,” I said. “Force her if you have to, but don’t let her go down the subway steps. It’s crazy out here tonight. Take two men with you and persuade her to get a cab. If she gives you a problem, haul them back here and I’ll handle her.”
“Will do, boss,” he said.
I went back into the club and rested against the brown panel wall. This was not the way I saw the night going when I first spotted her at the bar. Letting her go was for the best, but why did it feel wrong?
“Everything handled?” Lucas joined me.
“For now.”
“Bello and his crew left a while ago. I don’t think they knew Chance was trying to sell anything here.”
“Bello isn’t that dumb. He wouldn’t violate the rules that way.”
“I don’t think Chance realized what he was getting into. It’s like his sister said, he needed quick cash and he thought he saw an opportunity.”
“I let him go as a favor to his sister,” I said. “But we’re going to have to keep an eye on him.”
“I’ll get on it.”
“I want anything you can find on Sable and Chance Flynn.” I pushed off the wall and hurried back to the dingy office that needed just as much work as the rest of this dump.
I had big renovation plans, but I had to put them on hold because I promised my sister-in-law Lissia that she could be in charge of the project. I had no idea how long she and Marchello would be on their so-called honeymoon, but I wouldn’t go back on my word.
“Why am I looking into Sable?” Lucas asked as we entered the office. “Do you think she was in on it?”
“No, I don’t.” I leaned against the edge of the desk. “Find everything out about her anyway. ”
I may have let her go, but that didn’t mean I was done with her.
“I’ll do whatever you want, but first I have information that you might find useful.” He shut the door. “Diego Medina is in Manhattan.”
“We expected that, didn’t we?”
Medina made himself known two weeks ago when he approached Marchello and Lissia in Miami.
He had attempted to purchase Lissia in a sex trafficking operation orchestrated by Lissia’s now-deceased father.
Medina made it clear that when Lissia wasn’t delivered to him as promised, he was owed a refund. Marchello didn’t agree.
“My source says he’s asking questions about Danny Collins’ whereabouts,” Lucas said. “Of course, no one has that information.”
“No one would, considering no one is ever going to find him.”
Danny Collins was an arms dealer, was being the operative word, who caused my family more trouble than we needed. He got in over his head in Miami and ended up being fodder for the gators.
“I don’t think Medina is here for that three million dollars he thinks he’s owed,” Lucas said. “There is more to his story.”
“Which is exactly why Marchello is digging deep to find whatever he can on him.” I didn’t like that Medina was in my territory. I knew he would eventually come to New York, but I had hoped my father would be home to deal with him. I had enough to do.
“Has Marchello checked in?” Lucas asked.
“Not since Christmas day.” I glanced at my watch. “It’s already next year in Italy. I’m sure he’ll call when he can. ”
“I know this holiday season was tough on you with Marchello and your father being away.” Lucas patted my shoulder.
“It is what it is.”
My father had gone underground to take down the sex trafficking ring that Lissia’s father and Collins had brought to our territory.
It wasn’t often the head of the organization went undercover to bring down the enemy, but Nico Accetti could be considered unorthodox when it came to running the streets.
When he left, there were two heirs at the helm, but then Marchello and Lissia ran into a situation that required them to flee the country, leaving me to run the empire.
“Make sure we have surveillance on Medina,” I said. “I want to know his every move. We can’t afford any surprises.” There was too much at stake. “We have two shipments to move for Juan next week, and we can’t have any mistakes.”
“I’ll handle Medina,” Lucas said. “You worry about Juan and the cartel. You have to keep them satisfied and prove to them you can handle things with your father and Marchello not being here.”
“Easier said than done,” I said with a sigh. “I also have our friends in Miami who will be expecting us to move their shipments in a week or so.”
“There is no room for error.”
“I don’t plan on making any mistakes.”
“Your family has dropped plenty of responsibility in your lap.” Lucas stood next to me. “It’s a lot for someone your age.”
“I’ve been doing this since I was seventeen.”
I had been learning this cruel business since the day my mother’s car blew up in our driveway with her in it.
My father vowed to avenge her death. Twelve years later and we still hadn’t found the person who ordered that hit, but in the process, the Accettis had become the most ruthless crime family on the east coast.
“You still have so much to learn, and I’m not saying that to insult you.”
“I know.”
“Your father isn’t done teaching you everything you need to know. I’m here to help you with whatever you need.”
“Thank you, Lucas. You are a valuable asset to this family.”
My father trusted Lucas with every aspect of our business. He wasn’t just our attorney, he was part of our family.
“You’re doing the work for three now that your father and Marchello are gone. You have the car dealership to maintain, this club, two cartels to manage, and now Medina. If it gets to be too much, you have to tell me.”
“I can handle it.”
“Is there anything you need before I leave for the night?”
“I’m good. Go home and celebrate with your wife,” I said. “Buy her something nice and charge it to me. I’ve been occupying a lot of your time lately.”
“She doesn’t mind.” He smirked. “She likes being rich.”
“Try to have that information about the Flynns as soon as you can.”
“Do you anticipate them being a problem?” Lucas asked. “Should you have taken care of him tonight?”
“No, it’s just that I need more information on them.” I motioned toward the door because I wanted to get a drink for midnight. “Find out where they live and who the landlord is. I want to pay their rent.”
“Why?”
“You just said your wife likes being rich,” I said as we walked down the hallway. “Not everyone has that luxury. Chance was in the situation he was in tonight because they couldn’t pay the rent.”
“Why are you so invested in these people?”
“Isn’t my mother’s charity all about helping young women who don’t have a fair shake in life?” We made our way into the club. “That’s the whole point of the work her charity does, so if I can help someone out, I’m going to.”
“That’s noble of you.”
“What? You think I have another motive?”
“Do you want me to answer that?”
“Just get me the information.” I pushed my way to the bar as the excitement began to build in the crowd over the countdown to midnight.
“I’m going to say something you’re not going to like, but as your advisor, it has to be said.”
“Fine.” I nodded at the bartender who set my vodka in front of me. “Do your job, Lucas. Tell me what you think I need to hear.”
“Don’t get distracted by a pretty face,” he said. “Do I have to remind you what happened to your brother?”
“He and Lissia worked out.” I sipped my drink. “Mostly.”
“They are on the run because she killed a man.”
“I’m aware.” I was the one who had to sanitize the murder scene.
“My point is, this family needs you to stay alert and focused. Can you do that?”
“I know who I am.” I gazed around the room full of associates, never forgetting that any one of them could turn on me. “I know what it means to be the heir to this empire.”
My family would always come first, and I would do whatever it took to keep us on top— no matter the consequences. Just because I spared a life tonight didn’t mean I would do it again if that life chose to cross me in the future.