16. Wolfe
WOLFE
We got the guns loaded into the back of the truck and then left the warehouse to deliver them to our buyer half an hour away. The drop was scheduled to take place in a warehouse.
I took my Range Rover, and Leo climbed into the passenger seat.
I followed the truck, and the two of us sat in silence. Another SUV was positioned in front of the truck, full of more armed guys to make sure we made the drop without interception.
It was the first time I’d been alone with Leo in a while, and even with the music coming from the radio, it was awkward as hell. Leo had tried to get into the other SUV, but he was the least popular guy at the vineyard, so he was shooed away like a stray dog that no one wanted.
I decided to be a nice guy and let him ride with me.
He hadn’t said more than a couple words to anyone since Francesca had let him come back.
He knew how unwanted he was, but he continued to work there, which didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
If it were me, I would move on to something else, make a new start.
If he went to any other business in Sicily, they probably wouldn’t hire him because of what he’d done to his own father.
Maybe that was why he continued to skulk around.
Halfway there, he said something. “You and my sister are engaged?”
I drove with one hand on the wheel, my other arm resting on the center console. “Yeah.”
He nodded and continued to look out the window.
I hoped that was the end of it.
“Congratulations.”
“Yeah, thanks.” It was the most half-assed congratulations I’d ever heard.
“Is there going to be a wedding or…?”
“Or.”
He turned to look at me this time.
“Gonna get hitched. Just the two of us at her church.”
“Oh.”
I stared at the truck in front of us and sighed when we slowed to a crawl, like there was traffic up ahead as we made it into the city. I loved my job and getting shit done, but all the mundane things in between irritated me.
We were delayed by twenty minutes before we arrived at the warehouse. The doors opened, and the truck and the SUVs parked inside so we could make the deal in private.
I got out of the SUV, while my guys and Leo grabbed their guns and prepared to do the handoff.
Carl’s men immediately opened the back of the truck and began to unload.
Carl stood there with a cigar in his mouth, a nasty scar across one side of his face as if a butcher’s hook had lodged under his flesh and ripped the skin off from temple to jawline. Must have pissed off someone pretty fucking bad.
I walked up to him. “The money?” I wasn’t a big conversationalist on the job. Just did the work, got the money, and didn’t make small talk.
He took a final puff of his cigar and let the smoke leave his mouth before he tossed it onto the pavement and stomped out the flames with his boot. Then he gave a whistle.
One of the guys behind him grabbed a briefcase off the table and carried it over to me.
Normally, the payment was in two briefcases, so I knew that wasn’t nearly enough.
The guy held it out for me to take.
I ignored him. “That’s only half.”
Carl watched his men unload the truck for a moment before he looked at me. “Well, the shipment was two weeks late.”
Ohh, I was already pissed. “And Donna Mancini gave you a ten percent discount as a gesture.”
“And ten percent isn’t enough. Fifty percent—”
“You don’t get to decide the terms—only the boss does.”
Once Leo and the others knew this was about to go south, they changed their positions in preparation for a shootout.
I kept my eyes on Carl and trusted them to watch my back.
Carl pivoted to look directly at me. “If that little cunt wants to do business—”
I punched him hard in the face and instantly broke his nose. I looped my arm around his neck and got my knife right up against his jugular before any of his men could take me down with a shot.
Carl tried to kick out of my hold, but when he felt the knife tip move farther into his flesh, he went still.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
He gripped my arms and tried to pull me off, but one of my arms was stronger than both of his together.
“What did you say?” I thrashed him like a shark with prey in its mouth. “Tell everyone here what the fuck you just said about Donna Mancini, so they know exactly why I’m going to kill you in thirty seconds.”
He tried to fight harder, tried to break free of my hold. “Shoot him!”
I dragged him toward the wall and slammed him hard into it, but I pulled back, returning the knife to its position. Then I screamed so loudly, my words echoed multiple times against the concrete walls. “Tell them.”
One of the guys had his gun trained on me to shoot me, and his finger looked like it was about to squeeze the trigger.
I got tired of looking at him, so I quickly reached into my back pocket, grabbed the pistol, and I fired it, shooting him in the head before I aimed it at the next guy, the knife still in Carl’s throat.
Carl couldn’t get away from me, even if I held him with a single hand.
The guy immediately lowered his gun so I wouldn’t shoot him.
I returned my gun to the back of my jeans and threw Carl on the ground.
“You’re in charge now, kid.” I stood over Carl from behind and put the knife right to his throat.
“Tell all your men what you said to me. Think of it as a learning exercise. I’m the teacher and you’re the student, and I’m about to teach you a valuable lesson.
” I shoved the knife partially into his throat, drawing blood but not enough to kill him.
That got him talking. “I—I said Frankie—”
“Donna Mancini.”
“Donna Mancini…is a cunt.”
I slid the knife right into his throat and twisted it harshly, cutting through everything inside before I shoved him forward, and he smacked his head on the concrete from the force of the collision.
I stood over him and pulled out my pistol again, firing all my bullets into the back of his head until it was a pile of mush. Then I turned back to the soldier who had been smart enough to lower his gun before. “Now grab the rest of Donna Mancini’s money, and I’ll be on my way.”
His eyes flicked to the other armed men, none of them making a move against my guys. No more guns were unloaded from the back of the truck.
I clicked my tongue and nodded toward the door that led to the office. “Make me ask again, and I’ll kill you all and just take the money. Would you prefer I do that instead?”
Once he heard that threat, he took off and headed into the office to get the rest of the cash.
I turned back to the loaders. “I’m glad we’re all on the same page. Now let’s finish the job.”
Francesca wore a black dress that stopped just above her knee.
It wasn’t particularly tight and didn’t show much of her skin at all, but she wore it with such confidence she still looked like the hottest piece of ass I’d ever seen.
She carried herself in heels like they were tennis shoes, and her spine was so straight it was like a plank of wood.
I walked slightly behind her as I escorted her into the restaurant where she was supposed to meet Fausto, a new dealer from Naples. The restaurant was packed with people, but we were given a private room away from civilians so they could actually enjoy their dinner.
Fausto and his cronies were already there, and the second Francesca entered the room, he couldn’t help but eye-fuck her.
I didn’t get mad about it. Could I really blame the guy? A sexy woman who was also rich and drenched in power? Fuck, I wanted to come in my trousers just from being in the room with her.
I pulled out the chair for her then took a step back and leaned against the wall.
She took her seat but didn’t let her spine touch the back.
If she was nervous, she didn’t show it, and she looked at Fausto across the table like he was an adversary.
“I understand you’d like to make a deal, Fausto.
I’ve laid out my terms. You can take them or leave them.
” She spoke with a normal, level voice, didn’t try to produce power with an angry tone, spoke almost like an assistant, and it made her appear calm and powerful.
Fausto stared at her for a moment like he wasn’t sure what to make of her. “I’m sorry to hear about your father’s passing—”
“Thank you for your rehearsed condolences, but I’m here to make money. Why are you here?”
Fuck, she was so hot.
Fausto clearly didn’t expect to negotiate with a boss bitch tonight. “Very well. I heard from your other customers they’re getting a much lower price than what you’re offering me today.”
They hadn’t even ordered a glass of wine, and they were already getting into the nitty-gritty. “And?”
Don’t smile. Don’t smile. Don’t fucking smile.
“And?” he asked in slight surprise. “Considering the volume of my business, I don’t think it’s fair—”
“The concept of fairness can only exist with preconceived expectations and entitlement.” Despite her attitude, she continued to speak calmly.
“Now, I’m not sure why you have either of those things, considering this is the first time we’ve ever spoken to each other.
I owe you nothing, Fausto. These are my prices.
If you don’t like them, you can get some toy guns from China. ”
Daaaayyyuuummm.
Fausto couldn’t maintain his stoicism. There was a flash of anger in his eyes. “I know you’re new to the business, and negotiation may be unfamiliar to you—”
“New to the business?” Now she did raise her voice. “I’ve been a part of this business since I was a child. My father left it to me because I have a bigger dick than my brother. I can lift my dress and show it to you, if you’d like.”
Completely dumbfounded by that, he just sat there and stared.
“What you fail to realize about my other partnerships is their longevity. The longer we’re in business together, the cheaper the prices get.
It’s like a rewards program with the Marriott.
Now, you’re brand-new on the scene, and you’re coming to me demanding I give you the same prices as long-term partners.
So let me save us both some time by telling you that’s never going to happen.
Show your loyalty with continued business and deposits paid on time, and you will earn these benefits. Do we understand each other?”
Fausto should have understood he couldn’t outmaneuver her, but he continued to try. “I still think you need to consider the volume of business I provide. It’s bigger than all of your partners combined—”
“Which makes more work for us,” she snapped.
“I’ve only agreed to consider a partnership this big because George vouched for you.
We would have to change our agreement with our production team in America to accommodate you.
What you fail to understand is that I’m the one doing you a favor.
I already have more business than I can handle at the moment, and we’re making an exception for you as it is.
So you should just be grateful you even have a seat at this table. ”
I had to focus on something else besides how hot she was. Otherwise, my dick was going to make a big-ass tent in my trousers. And I wasn’t a teenage boy, so it would be really noticeable.
“So, deal or no deal?” she asked. “What’s it going to be, Fausto?”
He stared at her for a moment as he processed his frustration in silence by slightly changing his position in his chair.
He probably tried to think of another way around her to get what he wanted, but she’d blocked him at every turn, so there was no way to proceed other than through her. He finally gave a nod. “Deal.”
And this boss bitch was going to be my wife.