26. JOEY
JOEY
I sat in the driveway, staring at the front door, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. I didn’t want to walk inside. I didn’t want to see Renee. I didn’t want to return to this—to my reality—after being with Adriana. Holding her. Comforting her. Feeling her body pressed against mine.
My fingers drummed against the steering wheel, to the soft hum of Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis filling the car. One of Adriana’s favorites. She was always swaying to his music, humming to his tunes. I closed my eyes, just for a second, picturing her. Wishing I could pack us up and disappear. Flee the country. Leave all of this behind.
But that wasn’t a possibility. I forced my eyes to open. I killed the engine, forcing the thought of Adriana out of my head.
I barely had the front door shut before Renee’s footsteps began down the hallway. “Where the hell have you been?” she snapped, arms crossed, eyes blazing with rage. Hatred.
“You went to her fucking house.” My voice was sharp, cutting over hers. “What the fuck were you thinking, Renee? ”
“I wanted to warn her who you really are! I wanted to look her in the eyes and see if she would lie!” she spat, stepping toward me. “Turns out she is a liar.”
I towered over her, nostrils flared. “Watch your fucking mouth,” I growled.
“Watch my mouth?” She bit out a bitter laugh. “The question is, where has yours been? I can only assume attached to hers! Do you think I’m just gonna sit back while you embarrass me?”
My hands curled into fists. Goddamn it . I despised her. “You don’t know shit.”
“Oh, really?” She stalked closer, her voice dripping with venom. “Then tell me. Tell me you weren’t just in her driveway.”
I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand over my face. “Jesus fucking Christ, Renee. You don’t give up, do you?”
She scoffed. “I don’t even care that you were there. I expected you to run to her. What I care about is you think I’m so fucking stupid that I would sit back and allow you to mock me! That you would insult my name! She’s nobody in this place! I’m somebody, and you have the nerve to think you can insult me?!”
I snapped.
“You think this is some fucking game?” I roared. We were chest to chest now. “You don’t know shit! You’re enough to drive someone fucking insane! Do you want to talk about what's embarrassing? What’s embarrassing is that you would still threaten to have your father put a hit on my back, even though I have made it so fucking clear I will never love you! I will never marry you!”
“You don’t have a choice. You won’t win this. You do what I say. You do what my father says. Or you’ll be six feet under and I’ll stand right next to your casket, crying like a good little wife,” she said with a sickening smile spread wide across her face.
I shook my head, rage simmering just beneath my skin. “Get your black dress on, then. Because Vincent will have to blow my fucking brains out, honey.”
“You love her,” she spat in a disgusted tone, her face twisted and sour. “Don’t you? I want to hear you say it to my face.” I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to. My eyes gave me away. She let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head. “You son of a bitch!” she screamed, slapping her hands into my chest.
I turned away, grabbing my keys. My fingers gripped the doorknob, and I yanked it open, walking out without another word, taking in a deep inhale of the cool night air. Being in that house made me feel like someone was smothering me with a pillow. Insufferable .
I had never loved anyone in my life. But I loved Adriana. I couldn’t say it out loud, but I felt it in every part of me. She was everything I’d never had—genuine, warm, resilient. A rare light in a world that had only ever been cold and ruthless to me. Unlike anyone I’d met in thirty-five years, Adriana wanted nothing from me. And that only made me want to give her everything. The whole damn world, if I could figure out a way to do it.
She didn’t care about my reputation or the power that others feared. She was different—respectable, a woman who had carved her own path in a world ruled by men. I never thought I had it in me—to protect someone so fiercely, to be tender, to let someone in. To want to be more than the man I saw in the mirror.
For the first time in my life, I could see a future beyond the violence and crime that had consumed me. Adriana never asked me to change. But for her, I wanted to. And that terrified me as much as it consumed me.
I drove down the road slowly, the windows down, letting the cool, spring night air slap against my face. It brought me back to life, kept me from suffocating. I pulled into the driveway—the house that I would soon call home. Not tonight. But soon, I’d turn off the engine and walk inside to Adriana’s sweet kiss.
I stepped out, grabbing the duffle bag from the backseat. I had barely shut the door when headlights cut through the darkness, pulling into the driveway.
Marco .
I squinted as he climbed out, his face set in a hard line. “What happened?” I asked, cutting straight to the point.
He exhaled. “Dominic’s been wearing a wire. Ben just got wind of it and tried to reach you, but he couldn’t get hold of you.”
My blood went ice cold. Then boiling hot.
“A fucking rat ?” I roared, the sound tearing from my chest. “That’s the last goddamn thing I want to deal with right now!”
“I know,” Marco said. “I just needed to get your orders. Paul and I can take care of him.”
I shoved the duffle bag into his chest. He caught it with a grunt. “Put it up,” I ordered. “I’m handling this myself. And I don’t need any fucking help.”
I was already sliding back into the driver’s seat, the engine growling to life.
The Shark was back. And he was coming straight for the head.
Dominic was an associate. A low-level, fucking nobody. A rat. A traitor. And a dead man walking. Fortunately, he wasn’t hard to find. Unfortunately, he was sitting in The Wise Guy —wearing a goddamn wire—with cops on the other end, listening in on God knows what. I pushed through the doors, my jaw clenched so tight it ached.
“Joey!” Angela called out from behind the bar. “What can I get you?”
I barely heard her. I barely heard the jazz spilling from the speakers or the chatter and laughter of the packed speakeasy.
All I saw was him .
Dominic, laughing at something Sal said, completely fucking clueless that The Shark was circling. That his time was up. My fingers twitched toward the cold metal pressed against my ribs. If I didn’t play this right, this place would turn into a bloodbath. And I hated a mess. I exhaled sharply, forcing my shoulders to relax. Cool. Calm. Controlled.
“Whiskey,” I muttered.
If I said too much, the feds would be all over this place. And if that happened, we all went down.
“Shark, hey, I wanted to talk to you?—”
Dominic barely got the words out before Angela slid my whiskey across the bar. I cut him off with a sharp glance. “Let me have my drink first.” I tossed it back in one go, the burn barely registering in my throat. Then I stood, rolling my shoulders, forcing a smile that seemed unnatural. My gaze flicked to the mirror behind the liquor display—dark coat, sharp jaw, ice-cold eyes.
I didn’t look like Joey. I didn’t feel like Joey, either.
“You’ve been bringing in some serious cash,” I said. “Paul’s been talking you up. Christopher wants to meet with you tonight.”
Dominic’s face lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. Like the idiot I knew he was, he bought it. Because if you give a rat enough cheese, he'll take the bait every time. He grinned, all teeth, thinking he was about to become a made man.
No. He was about to become fish food at the bottom of the Bay.
“ Let’s go . I’ve been ordered to drive you.”
I forced another smile. I let Dominic walk out first. I could’ve ended it right there—one clean shot to the back of the head, and he’d never see it coming. But I wanted him to see it coming. The drive to the dock was only five minutes, but the silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. “I wasn’t expecting this,” Dominic said, grinning like a fool.
“Me either,” I muttered, my eyes locked on the road. I pulled up to the loading dock, shifted into park, and killed the lights. That’s when I turned to him. Confusion flickered across his face—just for a second—before realization set in. I drew my gun, leveling it at him. His hands shot up, his voice rising in panicked chants.
“Joey. Joey. Joey?—”
But Joey wasn’t here.
I yanked up his shirt. There it was—taped right to his chest. A wire.
A fucking rat.
I ripped it off, then nudged the barrel of my gun between his ribs.
“ Out ,” I mouthed. He hesitated. “ Now ,” I mouthed.
He obeyed, stepping out onto the dock, his hands trembling at his sides. I stayed behind him, the gun pressed firmly against his back as we walked toward the edge.
“Joey, c’mon, let’s talk—” he whined. I tossed the wire into the water, watching it sink to the bottom. My fist drove into his gut, cutting off whatever bullshit plea was about to spill from his mouth. He doubled over, gasping for air, but I wasn’t done. My boot slammed into his ribs—once, twice, three times—each impact earning a pained wheeze. I crouched, grabbing him by the collar, yanking him up so we were face to face. His eyes were wide, desperate.
“You think I don’t have guys everywhere?” I hissed. “You thought you could get one over on me? You wouldn’t be the first. You sure as hell won’t be the last. But you’re about to pay the price, my friend.”
“Joey, please. T-They don’t know much—” he choked out.
Pathetic. These new guys didn’t know the rules of the game. I let his collar go, stood back, and pointed the silencer towards his forehead. “You don’t get to be a rat in my city.”
Dominic’s mouth opened—one last desperate attempt to beg— but the silencer coughed. His body went limp, eyes frozen in shock, a neat hole between them.
I straightened, tucking the gun back into my waistband. I exhaled, rolling my shoulders, and turned back toward the car.
One less problem.