6. Chapter 5
Tucker
When Lucian had recommended I hang out with Sandro and his men, coming to a strip club hadn’t even crossed my mind. It wasn’t until Ari brought it up that I even thought about it as a possibility.
I’d never been to a strip club before, so it was a whole new experience for me. One I wasn’t looking forward to.
Yeah, it had been nice seeing Arianna jealous knowing that I’d be seeing other women tonight. But the only woman I actually wanted to see was back at the estate and off limits until the wedding. There was no way I could appreciate her body in her father’s house without risking pissing him off.
“Cheer up, Givenchy.” Marco slapped me on the shoulder as we walked past the line of people waiting outside and were let in and taken straight to the VIP area. “We’re about to see some premium titties and possibly even get to touch them. They let the VIP’s do a lot more than normal customers.”
Sandro chuckled. “Yeah. If you weren’t so dead set on keeping yourself pure for my sister, I’d say you could probably take one home tonight. Not to the estate, obviously, but to a hotel. We probably will.”
“You guys can poke fun all you want, but you know that the loyalty Givenchy’s are known for is why your father picked me for her husband.
” He hadn’t been concerned about me being loyal to Ari, but he knew that our loyalty would benefit his family.
I couldn’t think of any other reason he’d want me to marry her.
The smirk fell off Sandro’s face as he turned to me. “I do really appreciate how much you respect my sister. You’re a good man, Tucker. Too good for the things you’re going to have to do this summer.”
Elio leaned back in his seat, sipping the whisky a waitress had just given him. They must have come here often enough that their orders were known. “What will he have you doing this summer?”
I ordered a beer and copied his position. “Working with you three on whatever he demands.”
Marco grinned. “Obviously, but we want details. He hasn’t told us what’s left in the initiation. Most people don’t get that kind of info. But you did, so it would be really shitty of you not to share.”
I noticed that Sandro stayed quiet, but he watched my reactions the whole time. The waitress returned quickly and I took a sip of my beer. “I’d love to give you some insight, but you know as well as I do that silence on the topic was one of my orders.”
Elio’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you loyal to, Givenchy?”
“Who are you to question my loyalty? I just met you today, and you think that I’d betray Don Vitale to give you information you haven’t earned?”
Sandro cleared his throat. “Enough.” My eyes met his and I didn’t miss the way his jaw ticked.
“I don’t begrudge you not telling us. While you and I have had a few years to build a little trust, I know you’re between a rock and a hard spot.
I’m going to work to make sure you know you can trust me implicitly, but I ask that you give me loyalty over my father if the day ever comes.
“If you were to go to him with any of this, I’d obviously deny it, but I hope letting you in the loop will give you the motivation to trust me.
” He ran a hand through his hair and waved away the women that approached.
“He’s been more erratic lately and won’t listen to anyone.
I don’t agree with the majority of the calls he makes, but am powerless to stop him.
He’s also been getting a lot of migraines lately so I don’t know if he has a brain tumor or something that’s causing all of this, but he can’t be trusted. ”
“I’m well aware. I trust very few people in this world.
Lucian Vitale would never make the top one-hundred.
” It might have been dangerous to say, but so was the information that Sandro just gave me.
While, yeah, he’d deny it if I told Lucian, which I’d never do, if Sandro betrayed me, Lucian wouldn’t be the one I’d go to for help.
Marco chuckled. “Maybe you’re not as stupid as you seem, then.”
My brows crinkled. “How the fuck to I seem stupid? I just graduated top of my class at a very prestigious school. I’ve been groomed to take over my family's business in the future, being taught the ins and outs of it since I was young.”
Sandro glared at Marco. “We know you’re not stupid.
That’s one of the reasons they don’t trust you.
If you were stupid, you’d be an easy puppet.
It’s the ones with brains and their own thoughts that are dangerous.
” His eyes connected with mine again and I saw sincerity there.
“I appreciate that you’re not a puppet. It’s probably the only thing that’ll keep my sister safe. ”
Elio and I left the estate early that morning. Sandro and Marco were going to some kind of meeting, but I was sent with Elio to collect dues. Apparently, as Sandro’s henchman, that was one of his responsibilities.
The silence in the car, along with the way his jaw kept ticking told me that he wasn’t thrilled to have me tagging along.
I’d been given a gun and holster this morning by Sandro and told that any time we left the house for work, I should have it on and it should be fully loaded. It made me want to ask all kinds of questions, but I’d refrained. Until now. “Anything I need to know before we get to our first stop?”
“First, I don’t want or need you here. You’re only here because Sandro was told that you had to do collection runs this summer.
Second, since you don’t know anything about the business and no one knows who the fuck you are, you’re going to observe.
See and be seen. I’m sure that Don Vitale will send you on at least one collection run by yourself before your time’s up, so letting the community see that you’re with us is important. ”
That made sense. I couldn’t very well march into a business and demand a payment for the Vitale’s with them having no idea who I am.
“Third, stay the fuck out of my way. I’ve got shit to do today so I don’t want this taking forever. I also don’t want my spotless record to be dinged because of your incompetence.”
“Spotless record?” What the hell did that mean?
Elio pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car.
“Yeah. I’ve never had to go back without a payment or draw blood to get it.
I don’t know if something about me just screams danger so they don’t try me or what, but I’m the only person that has a spotless record when it comes to collections and that’s not going to change because of you. ”
He got out of the car and I scrambled to follow, so many more questions now coming forward in my brain. “Not even Sandro?”
That brought a smile to his face. “Not even Sandro.”
The first building we walked into was a coffee shop that was bustling. The line was almost to the door and every table in the place was taken.
An older gentleman behind the counter saw us and nodded towards the register. “Mr. Costa. Come on in. I have what you’re looking for.” I followed Elio to the counter and the guy collected an envelope from the drawer. “Can I also get you your usual?”
“That would be great, Carl. Thanks.”
Carl looked at me. “And for you?”
“Americano. One sugar, two creams. And two chocolate croissants.” One was for Ari. She loved sweet treats and I knew that when I took it to her later, the happiness on her face would make up for dealing with Elio’s grumpy ass all day.
“Coming right up, sir.”
The man hustled off to get our orders, making those in line wait a little longer. Elio threw a twenty in the tip jar then turned his back to the counter. “He won’t let us pay. I think it’s because he’s scared, so I always throw cash in the tip jar for my shit.”
Apollo and I had talked at length about finding things I could do that would help dilute the stains my soul would get this summer, so as I pulled out my wallet, I didn’t hesitate to throw a hundred in the jar.
If I was going to have to collect money from this kind man just so that Lucian didn’t destroy his business, I was going to make it up to him the best I could by tipping well.
Soon, the food was in our hands and we moved on to the next stop. We went to a laundry mat, two bars, a diner, three other coffee shops, a couple souvenir shops, and our last stop of the day was a pizza place.
When we walked in, the man behind the counter’s head looked up and fear crossed his face.
“Mr. Costa.” Every person we’d seen today had greeted him by name, but this was the first one to look scared to see him.
“Listen, I just need a couple more days. They were doing sidewalk construction in front of our shop last week and we didn’t get as much business because of it. ”
Elio sighed. “Bobby, you know I can’t go back to Don Lucian and tell him that a little construction kept you from being able to make this month's payment.”
Bobby grimaced. “I know. Trust me. I don’t want to. But I just honestly don’t have the money. You could take every penny from my drawer and I’d still be short.”
“How much?”
Bobby’s head dropped and his words were quiet. “Two-hundred.”
Elio ran his hand down his face. “If I go back to him and tell him you’re two hundred short, he’s going to charge interest. By next month, you’ll owe around six-hundred in interest. Is there no way you can scrounge up that money?”
Bobby’s head shook as his shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Elio, we’ve been working for a while without a lunch break. I don’t know about you, but I'm starving. Let’s order a pie.”
He eyed me suspiciously for a moment, then gave me a nod. “Yeah. We’ll take a large meat lovers.”
Bobby’s head popped back up and hope filled him. “Absolutely. On it.”
Elio and I took a seat by the window, his eyes looking out to the street. “You can’t save them all. You’ll get a reputation of being soft and they’ll take advantage.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But I won’t be here for long, and I want to do everything I can to make up for the damage I’m going to have to do.”
He huffed. “Trying to buy yourself some good karma?”
I shook my head and turned my attention to the street like his. “No. Just trying to even the scales a little.”
We sat in silence until the pizza appeared, then ate in silence. I paid, giving Bobby a very generous tip that allowed him to pay Elio before we left.
The drive home was just as silent as the drive to work, but this time, I didn’t think that Elio minded me being there. Even if he’d never admit it.