Chapter 14—Bobby
Her quick response isn’t what I expected. Okay—with her, it is. I’m just not used to someone telling me they’re bothered by what I do.
Sure, I get occasional disagreements, but usually all it takes is a look from me or Marco and they fall in line.
Willow isn’t like that. And I appreciate it more than she’ll ever know.
“Care to be more specific?” I sip my coffee as I stare her down. Not to intimidate—I just enjoy looking at her. In my home. Seeing her around my space has me smiling internally as I let the warmth settle in my chest.
“It’s all too much.”
I tilt my head, confused by her words. “Why?”
“Because it is, Bobby. You set us up in a spare apartment that you own, and now you’re redecorating it to accommodate us.”
I shake my head slowly. “I’m not seeing the issue here.”
“We aren’t staying,” she shouts, with extra emphasis on the words as she throws her hands up and out.
I lift an eyebrow—answer enough for her. She might not think she is, but I know that’s false. And the longer I look at her, the more her resolve slips.
Her arms fall down to her sides, and her once-wild eyes, looking at me like I’m crazy, now seem concerned. “We can’t. This isn’t ours. It’s yours.”
I set my cup down and fold my hands across my stomach as I lean back in my seat. So many others would attach themselves to everything I’ve given and might even ask for more. But not Willow. She’s almost begging me to stop.
Which I won’t.
“You lost everything, Willow. You and the girls came here last night with all you had, which was the clothes on your backs, an empty picnic basket, and some coloring supplies for Lily. You have nothing. But even before today, I suspect your ex took half of what you had before the fire took the rest. Tell me I’m wrong. ”
She doesn’t. And when she looks away, I reach out and gently tap her knee to get her to look back at me. “Don’t you think the world owes you?”
“No.”
“No?” This woman never does what I expect.
“I don’t believe that karma wins out. That if you put out good, you’ll get it back. You make life what it is for you.” She shrugs and goes back to her coffee.
I’m stunned. Not because I find her logic crazy, but because I don’t. “On that we agree.”
She nods a second before I watch her throat as she swallows her drink, and then her tongue comes out and licks her lips free of it. “Great.” She nods again, noting that we finally agree on something this morning. “So, you’ll take back what you gave.”
She says it like a statement. Something I’d bet she does with the girls. And it works, for them. But I’m not a child and won’t fall for her ways to get what she wants. Well, not in this anyway.
“No.” It’s my turn to sip my coffee, and I hold the cup to my lips a moment longer to hide my smile as I see the shocked look on her face.
This might be the best morning I’ve had in a very long time.
I don’t recall a time when I smiled this much or found this much joy in watching someone’s reactions to my words.
When I’m using my part in the famiglia, I might smile here or there when I get what I want from someone who took something from me or someone else in the famiglia, but it’s not the same type of joy as I find here.
There, it’s the feeling of winning. This is something else entirely.
Even if the gifts seem to be something of an issue for her.
“No? Then at least stop the deliveries. I can pay for things on my own. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself and my family.”
“No.” I shake my head and get up. I take my empty cup to the sink, leaving a stunned Willow at the counter as I head toward my bedroom.
I barely make it past my couch before she’s out of her seat.
“But….” I hoped she wouldn’t let me go, so I don’t stop walking until she finishes. “That’s not fair.”
Looking back at her, I don’t hide my smile. She’s pouting. Not sure if she knows she does that, but it’s adorable on her. I also find the irony in her words funny.
“You just said you were okay with how unfair life can be.”
“Yes, but….” Her hands move as if they can speak for her, and I find myself compelled to step closer to her.
“You will find I don’t play fair when I want something.”
“What do you want?” She’s looking up at me. I move close enough that her head tilts back to maintain eye contact.
A hair has fallen in front of her face, and I brush it behind her ear.
“You haven’t figured that out yet?” My hand pauses behind her ear for a second before I let it fall. “Interesting.”
When I turn away, she doesn’t call me back this time. Which is probably a good thing. Because if she did, I might have to kiss that pout off her lips, and then Vinny will be pissed at me for being late to our meeting. Because there’s no way I’d be able to stop after one kiss.
“You’re late.”
Vinny snorts at my words as he takes off his jacket.
An unexpected rainstorm came in, and I suspect that’s what pisses him off more than being two minutes late to our meeting.
Vinny has an issue with things not going his way.
Including the weather. He prefers to be in control of everything and to be prepared for it all.
But based on the water dripping from his hair, he wasn’t as prepared as he wanted.
It’s just a few drops of water to anyone else, but for Vinny, it’s a sign of something he can’t control.
I thought he was crazy for having this dislike for the weather not changing to his will, but he isn’t the only don I’ve met in my life.
Dad was similar, but it just took me time to realize it.
Mom always carried extra things in the car to appease his weather aversion as a kid.
I didn’t notice it until I saw the issue with Vinny.
And then the other dons our family has met with over the past ten years.
Dad was the don of New York. It took Vinny and the rest of us boys falling in line to get him to take over the entire East Coast. We have men we trust in every city, and those we took the reins from in the other cities were willing to hand over the control.
After some exchanges. Some with words, others with guns.
In the end, we won out. The Leone family established itself, and we make sure to keep it on top.
And we’ll continue to do so until we pass it along to the next generation.
Our family will always be successful because we rule as a family, not as a dictatorship like so many families before us.
That leads to resentment, something we made sure to overcome when we were children.
It also helps that none of us are the type to want to control all of it.
It’s not about power for us or to make a name for ourselves.
We were raised as a unit and plan to continue to be one.
“Quit gloating and tell me what you know.”
“Not sure we have that long, dear brother.” I smirk as I pass over the whiskey glass I’ve already poured for him.
He takes it with gratitude as he sinks into the leather chair opposite me.
We’re in the famiglia’s penthouse, a place we go to discuss business when we want to speak without unwanted ears listening in.
This entire building is here for the famiglia, with rooms for most guests and a full staff to cater to most needs, as well as a hospital wing.
It has all the amenities of a city if someone wishes to stay here for a long time.
And sometimes, we make sure that happens.
Though they get less of a view of the city and more of the bars we place in their locked rooms. Not all prisons need to be dreary—some are fashionable enough to not let it appear you’re being held until it’s too late.
He sighs heavily. “Do you ever tire of trying to be witty?”
“No.” I’m not the funny one in the family.
I know that. I have my moments, but true laughter comes from Tommy’s jokes.
Well, it used to. After his incident in Russia, he changed.
But I’ve noticed that having Payton in his life has changed him again.
He’s still serious in his new position as the “face” of the Leones for those looking to get in with the boss, but he’s also learning to enjoy life again with her by his side.
“Danny warned me.”
“Warned you about what?”
“You. And this whole recent change.”
“New change?”
“You going to keep doing the owl questioning thing?”
“Why?”
“Jesus.”
I let my smile drop and clear my throat to get us back on topic. “Marco and Danny have taken care of those directly linked to the theft. We’re already collecting assets to get the money back.”
“And their families?”
“We made it clear what’s going on with them. They know repercussions will be severe if they decide they’re not happy with the end results.”
“End results” meaning we took most of everything from them, but not those with children.
They get a stipend to keep them going. Those with family members who can work and support their families were given options.
Opportunities inside the famiglia. Janitor and lower bullshit jobs.
Pay will be shit, and they’ll be known as people who are not to be trusted, but it also means we have eyes on them.
Death is too good for them. Letting them go penniless doesn’t get me back what was stolen.
Sure, it’s money that I’ve taken steps to retrieve, but it’s also their time.
They stole hours of company time to do this, so they will work long hours for the rest of their lives to compensate.
Those who truly were innocent, the kids and such, will not be judged by their parents’ actions.
“Good.”
He drinks his whiskey, and I just sit. I know not to fall for the quiet routine with him.
If Vinny wants to talk, he will. If he’s quiet, he’s thinking.
Both are things I respect about him and give him room to do.
Growing up as the second oldest, I learned quickly how he operates.
We were inseparable as children, and each time Mom had another kid, we welcomed them into the pack.
We took care of them in ways older brothers do.
We teased them and stood with them, but we also taught them what we could.
Especially after Dad died. Vinny took on the job immediately, and I fell in line with him.
I grew up aspiring to be the very best for Dad, and then that transferred to Vinny.
It didn’t take him long to tell me to stop putting his needs above my own.
That I could have dreams and hopes that differed from his.
That shadowing them to focus on what he wanted only hurt the family rather than helped it.
He also told me I had something he needed.
I was young and impressionable enough at the time to zero in on that more than the other things he said.
He wanted me to go to college. To use my love of learning to build the family name higher than it was. Even as a child, Vinny had grand plans to take the Leone family to a higher place. He’s never satisfied with being mediocre. He always wants to be the best.
At first, it was to be the best Don for the family.
But soon, the war started with the Maranzettis, and when Dad was killed, well, that made things go dark.
Our childhood wasn’t covered in blood, but we didn’t revel in it either.
We were taught a middle ground. Dad showed Vinny and me the dark sides of the Mafia when we became teenagers.
The others didn’t get a taste of it until after he died.
We saw things and understood why they happened.
Nothing was done in our family out of jealousy, but because of betrayal. Which could come in many forms.
“Explain to me why Danny is concerned.”
Now it’s my turn to sigh. I can’t ignore it like I did with Danny. We might not run this family as a dictatorship, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect everything that Vinny has done for the family, the famiglia, and me. He forced me to be my own person, and I can never repay him for that.
The least I can do is tell him the truth.
“He worries that my focus might have shifted.”
“Has it?”
“No.”
He nods, accepting my answer and not forcing the issue.
“And what about that other problem?”
I narrow my eyes. Not because he’s asking, but because of the topic. Something that pisses me off.
“Danny has found nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like him.”
I agree. Danny tracks down things like a polar bear tracking prey.
Nothing escapes him. Except for whoever started the fire.
Something we wouldn’t even be looking into if Tommy didn’t own the building.
Nothing in our business happens by coincidence.
We learned that long ago. If a fire happened in a building after Tommy bought it and not before, it can’t be an insurance claim like the arson investigator is assuming.
Not that they can find the origin either.
“Do you think it has something to do with Danny’s concern?”
I sip my whiskey instead of answering. I don’t have an answer, and that might piss me off more than Danny being concerned enough to voice to Vinny that I might be compromised.
That’s how Danny would have worded it. Anything that steals your attention from the job, to Danny, makes you a liability. He fears connection.
While my only fear is letting the one connection I have slip away.