Chapter Three
Luca
“Don’t tell me you don’t have anything on Fields,” I tell my foot soldier who stares at me like I’m a fucking blank wall.
Something has been up with him for a while.
The motherfucker is sweating, and the temp in the house is a cool seventy-two.
We wear suits, so there is no need for the heat to be so high.
If you look at him, you’d think the fuck is having a hot flash.
“Not at the moment. Fields has been on duty, giving tickets for the past couple of days, but nothing out of the ordinary. He goes home to his family after his shifts, and that’s it.
” The lies fall out of his mouth in a fast stutter as if he can’t get them out quickly enough.
The lying prick. I can’t believe that he would do that to me.
I hate to utter these next words, but I have no choice but to say them. “Okay. Take a walk, Georgie.”
His eyes widen. “What? Why?” He knows what they mean. The finality in them when uttered to my men is simple.
“Because you’re fucking lying to me,” I simply state.
“No, I’m not. I swear.”
“Oh really? You want to tell me why I should believe that? Should I believe that on your wife’s life? Your sister’s life? What are you doing for Tommy?”
“I’m not…” I toss the photos of Fields with a woman who we don’t see completely because Fields has done an excellent job of hiding his mistress.
“This bitch. He doesn’t go home every night, so you’re a fucking liar.
” I toss the photos at the bastard, pissed as hell.
The betrayal was written all over his face before he dared to walk into my home.
He had an air of arrogance about him until now.
It’s somewhere else suddenly, but I won’t stand for the bullshit. This isn’t the land of forgiveness.
“I’m going to give you to the fucking count of three to walk or talk, Georgie.
” He’s only sparing himself a few more moments of breathing.
His lies are rooted on the fact that he’s come up big lately.
One of my guys heard that Georgie was playing scratch tickets and hit some big bucks, but I know that’s a fucking lie.
It’s the reason I put Georgie on Fields in the first place.
He betrayed me long before today. It’s been two months.
Two fucking months of going around in circles with my men nearly ducking and dodging cops and Torcello’s men.
“One, two…”
“Okay. I needed money for my habits, and Torcello offered a job.”
“You should have come to me.”
“You couldn’t give me the money I needed.”
“What does he want…” He raises his gun, pointing it at me like the fool he is. I’m not only faster, but so is my cousin Raul. My blade ends up in his throat, and he stammers back as Raul puts one in his head.
Raul tucks his gun away, scowling at me as several of our men come into the room. “That got out of control, Luca.”
“Calm down, Raul. I had it handled.” My men look around, seeing Georgie’s ruined corpse, and sigh.
“That fucker was a loose cannon, and we just let him walk in here armed.”
“Yes, but I got the information I needed.” I address my men. “Get rid of this traitor.”
“Of course, Boss.” I step around from my desk and then pull my knife from Georgie’s body and swipe the excess blood off on his suit.
“Walk with me, Cousin.” We leave the room, allowing the men to do their job. “He was positively working for Torcello. It wasn’t a fucking ticket that made him rich. No, Torcello prepared him to take me out.”
“Or the asshole thought he had to take you out before you took him out.”
“Either way, he’s dead and now we need a fucking clean-up. Let’s get some lunch and not discuss that. We have other matters to deal with. Like, who the hell is Fields seeing, and how can we use this woman to our advantage?”
“Are we going to wait until after the holiday? I’m going to Italy tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about the matter. You enjoy seeing the family, and give them my love. I need to go out tomorrow and pick up a gift for my mother.”
“Not a child?” he questions with a teasing smile that’s going to get him popped in the jaw. Cousin or not, that shit isn’t funny.
“Where the fuck do you think I’m going to get one? I know science has come a long way, but I prefer to create one the old-fashioned way and allow the process to take its course.”
He chuckles. “Of course. I couldn’t agree more. I’m sure my mother feels the same way for me.”
“We know she does. I believe our mothers are in cahoots, planning our downfalls together.” We both laugh and get something to eat in the kitchen while we talk about our mothers’ plans.
The women want to extend the family, and we can’t say we blame them.
Our fathers don’t fight it because as their only sons, we need to carry on the family and we’re falling behind.
I’m not that old, but in my world, I might as well be a dinosaur.
“Yo, so I was thinking that maybe you could come out this year.” He pours us some milk.
“Nah. There’s just too much going on here. Maybe when Torcello is handled, and my mother is off my case.” I walk our sandwiches over to the table where we sit to bullshit before he leaves.
“Maybe she’ll get off your case if you go to the mother country and try to find a wife there.” I roll my eyes and take a drink because there is no way in hell am I doing that.
“That means trying to find a wife, which I have no intention of doing. God, you sound more annoying than she does about this. If I wanted a wife, I’d search for one.”
“I’m just saying, you’re the head of this family and with that, there comes expectations of carrying on the line.” I nod because he’s right. My mother never mentions that because she would never bring up the unsavory aspects of my world.
“Fair enough.” I toss my napkin at him. “Now, shut up and eat, so I can relax with a good book.” He chuckles as he sloppily catches it.
“Cooked or literature?” He bites into his sandwich.
“A form of fiction written before my time,” I reply.
What I don’t say is it includes the books of the Torcello family that I’ve scammed.
Now, it’s a matter of learning what I can about their warehouses and their dealings to my advantage.
I want all their territory now. Before, I could have settled for peace between us, but he crossed a big fucking line between us. Now I have to reassess all my men.
“Well, I have to go. Call me if you find the future Mrs. D’Antonio,” he laughs out, setting his plate in the sink.
“Don’t wait up.” I walk him out and shake his hand. “Have a safe trip.”
“You stay safe and don’t play that shit so close next time,” he snarls. I nod, remembering that they are cleaning up the mess in my office.
After he’s gone, I walk back to my office and check on the progress. They are sterilizing the room. “Boss, we’re almost done. Sorry, but it was a bit messy.”
“Yes, well, that’s what happens when I’m betrayed.”
“He had this on him.” He slides a flash drive over to me. “I’m not sure how much it will work. It had a lot of blood on it.”
“Thank you.” I take it to a special computer that runs several proxy servers, so if there is a trap and trace, as soon as I upload this drive they won’t be able to find the true upload source.
It’s loaded with my locations, my future shipment deliveries, and the addresses to all my damn men and their codes to their houses, including all of mine.
I’m glad that son of a bitch is dead. If this had gotten to Torcello, my men would be gone.
“I’d like to call a meeting,” I say, storming into the hallway. “I need everyone in the house and nearby to meet me in my office in twenty.”
I call my cousin and ask him to turn around and come back. “It’s important.”
My next call is to my father. “I need you to change your security codes for the house.”
“Has someone hacked them?” I explain the situation, and the silence on the other end of the line is palpable. “I hope you took care of the matter, or I’m going to do it for you.”
“I did. I have to go, since I’m about to have a staff meeting.”
“Good. Please join your mother and I for dinner, and we can discuss the holidays.”
“Sounds great. I’ll be there.” I end the call, and then there’s a knock on my door before Raul invites himself in.
“What is it?”
“Let’s get everyone in here first. I don’t feel like repeating myself.”
“Gentleman, please gather around. It seems that our friend Georgie Colombo has been working with Torcello. He had been ready to give him some valuable information. How many people here have allowed him into your homes?”
Almost every single one of the guys raises their hands, including my cousin. I call out to Kev. He’s an enforcer, one of our best and deadliest. Taking him out would leave us heavily weakened. “Kev, is your security code for your home J24329?”
“What the fuck?” His mouth falls open, fists clenching in rage as the truth is laid out before them.
“Yes, as you can see, he collected codes from everyone’s homes.”
“If I were every single one of you, I would go home, change your codes, and add some additional security.”
“What the fuck? He was dirtier than we thought,” Raul snarls, going to his phone and typing away. “I just changed all of my codes.”
“Yes. Georgie was insidious.” The men nod and murmur to each other. “Go ahead and take shifts going to your houses.” I send them out.
My cousin and I have a brief conversation before he leaves again, and then I head to the gym to relieve the tension in my shoulders.
After boxing for an hour, I feel a little better, so I take a shower and return to work, reviewing the Torcello family’s finances and business holdings. It’s time to pay those bastards back.
It’s almost seven when I arrive at my parents’ for dinner. “Luca, I’m so happy that you’re here.”
I wrap my big arms around my mom and squeeze, lifting her off the ground. “Me too, Mother.”
“Hey, hey, be gentle with my woman,” my father growls. I laugh and set her down.
“Calm down, my love.” She pats his cheek, and then my father shakes my hand.
“How are you, Son?”
“Better now that I took care of some business, but I have a feeling things are just getting started. There’s something in the air, but we can discuss that later. I can smell something delicious cooking.”
“Yes, Mari has made your favorite—osso buco and risotto.”
“Ah, my dearest love. She has stolen my heart.” I press my hand to my chest. “Do you think she’ll marry me?” I tease.
“Don’t play around, Luca. She’s been married longer than you’ve been alive.”
“Almost as long as I’ve been alive,” my father teases.
“That’s not nice.” She scolds him with a wagging of her finger, which he then snaps at with his teeth.
“Lord, can you two quit for like five minutes?”
“No. If you had a wife, you wouldn’t be so worried about our behavior.”
“Ugh,” I grunt.
“Dinner is ready. Let’s go into the dining room, and I’ll let Mari know.”
“Sounds good because I’m starving.”
“Do you need any assistance?” my father asks.
“No. You two can have your little chat while I help her plate the food.”
“Thanks.” I wink, and my mom leaves us alone for a moment. My dad’s brows raise as soon as she leaves the room. “So tell me. What’s going on?”
“I had all the guys go home and change their information. I’m not sure if he’s already shared the details, but even if he has, with the changes, they should be safe. What about you and Mom?”
“The house has multiple layers and added security at all major entrances, like you know, so unless he had more listed, there is no way he could get in.”
“True, but he wanted something to feed Torcello.” I stand up and pour a glass of bourbon. “You need one?”
“Definitely.” I pour two fingers’ worth and hand it over. He doesn’t hesitate to finish it in one smooth drink.
“Enough with the booze, boys. If business is that rough, a sober head is needed,” my mother commands, setting my father’s plate in front of him and then sits with hers while Mari sets mine down.
“Thank you. It smells fabulous.”
“You’re welcome. Do you need anything else?”
“No, we are good. You can clean up and head to bed. I’ll handle the rest,” my mother says.
“Are you sure? It’s no big deal, Mrs. D’Antonio.”
“I am sure.” After she leaves, we start to eat and then my mother says, “You know, I was considering your comment about her anniversary, and I realized that she’s nearly sixty-five, Luca.”
“Si?”
“Yes, and I believe that we should consider giving her options. I’m not sure if she wishes to remain here with us. She came from your mother’s home in Italy and didn’t speak any English, so after all this time, it’s probably a lot. Maybe she would like to retire.”
“We can ask, Amore.”
“So, Mother, let’s talk about the upcoming holiday. I still haven’t gotten your gift, and before you go ahead with your nonsense about a baby, I’m talking about a realistic gift.”
She rolls her eyes.
“I’ve always wanted a beautiful handmade jewelry box that plays a song when you open it.”
“You have? Why haven’t you said anything, Amore?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs, suddenly a bit shy.
“Don’t try to steal that gift idea from me. It’s mine. Get your own.” I point my fork at my father because he’ll probably buy her twenty of them before Christmas comes. He has a tendency to spoil my mom.
“Fine, but you’d better do a good job getting her one.”
“You can count on it.” We exchange a competitive nod and finish our meal with a nice family chat.
By the time I get home, my mind has been thinking overtime about where the hell I’m going to go for her jewelry box.
By one am, I have five stores listed and a plan in my head.
One of these places will have the gift I need; if not, I am in trouble.
Christmas is almost here, and I don’t have much time left.