Chapter 12 Rem
REM
It doesn’t matter how many shots of espresso I drink, I can still taste her. I need the caffeine though; I can’t remember the last time I had a decent night’s sleep. I clunk the empty cup on my brother’s desk, hoping the shot of energy will make me somewhat functional.
Ari and I have a raft of shit to discuss, and visions of Lena’s naked body spread out across my desk and her delicate fist stroking my dick aren’t helping.
Especially since he’s going to be fucking pissed when I tell him the situation has changed.
“Vaffanculo! Non ne posso più!” Ari storms into his office, slamming the door behind him.
Okay, make that really fucking pissed.
“We should just kill them all now. Burn their whole fucking compound to the ground.” Ari drops a stack of papers on the desk. “Look at this shit. Un-fucking-believable.”
He tosses himself into his chair and I start sifting through what turns out to be photos.
At least twenty of them. They’re black and white, decent quality.
Sharp enough I can make out facial features, identifying characteristics.
The shades of tattoos, the outlines of concealed weapons.
Last night, with my face between Lena’s willing thighs, I was able to distract myself from the war my family is waging.
These photos are the hit of reality I need, the stark reminder to get my head back into the game.
A game I can’t forget Lena might still be a part of, no matter how intoxicating she tastes.
“What are these?” I ask.
“The evidence that’s going to send three more of our guys to jail.” Rage and frustration are clear on my brother’s face. He scrubs his palms across his features, exhibiting a rare display of emotion. “The cops picked them up last night. Our lawyers just send these over.”
“Fuck.” I flip through the photos again, trying to make out faces. “Who got arrested?”
“Salvatore, Carm, and Cutty.”
Double fuck.
“Two taken outside the club, one inside the casino. The chief of police didn’t even have the fucking courtesy to call and give me a head’s up. And that fucker thinks we’re going to keep donating to his reelection campaign…” Ari spews out curses in Italian, each more threatening than the last.
When he runs out of vitriol I ask, “What do the lawyers say?”
“Nothing useful. Unlike before, the charges are all for petty crimes. Nothing that will keep our guys locked up for more than a year or two.”
“Well, that’s fucking brilliant.” I throw the photos onto Ari’s desk. “Just enough time for our soldiers to be off the streets and our forces depleted when the Paganos make their move.”
“Like that asshole Rocco Pagano ever had a brilliant idea in his life. What a cluster. I still vote we burn them to the ground. What do you say, fratellino?”
Ari is Aldo’s underboss, which makes him my boss.
We’ve always been close, both in age and as brothers, and he always considers my opinion when we’re making major moves.
He trusts my instincts. At least for the moment.
“As much as I’d love to see them rotting in the ground, we can’t kill them until we know how they’re taking down our men.
We need proof they’re falsifying evidence and passing it on to the DA or we’ll never get the charges dropped.
We can’t afford to have so many foot soldiers locked up, a hard fact that you, I, and Rocco Pagano know very well. ”
Ari picks up a letter opener from his desk.
A gift from Marco, Aldo’s late brother and former underboss.
The man who taught Ari everything he knows.
My brother twists it between his fingers, and I know just how lethal that tiny, dull blade can be in his capable hand.
“On a related subject—tell me about the girl. Have you done enough surveillance to be convinced that Aldo and I are right? With all this other shit hanging over us”—he waves at the photos strewn across his desk—“we need that situation handled velocemente.”
The girl. Lena. The woman I left asleep, naked in my bed, the only place I could think of putting her after we gave each other such fucking satisfying orgasms. I have to actively stop myself from shifting in my chair. “The situation with the Haywood woman is ongoing.”
Ari keeps spinning the letter opener. “For how much longer, Rem? You’ve been on her tail for almost two months, even though Aldo’s evidence is crystal fucking clear.
She’s working with them, brother. She’s part of this whole racket.
We have to deal with her the same way we have to deal with the rest of those fuckers. For the sake of our family.”
Ari’s watching me, his calm demeanor back in place, as shatter-proof as ever. No signs of the frustration he let me glimpse when he came in. My cold, calculating brother. As much a Cerreti as I am, despite us being born Cosenzas. And, just like me, he knows how to hit where it hurts.
For the sake of our family.
“I know what’s at stake, fratello,” I say, my tone as hard as his demeanor. “As clearly as you do. But we have rules. Codes we live by, unlike the fucking Paganos. And I’m not going to take out a woman until I know for fucking sure she’s a genuine threat. End of story.”
“We’re on a clock, Rem. We both know it.”
“Yes, yes. I fucking know.” Aldo’s been out of the country for months and the Paganos seem to be tightening their noose around our organization more and more with every passing day.
Our capo goes away on business and these lowlifes suddenly grow the balls to try to take us down.
It would be comical if they weren’t somehow succeeding in getting our men thrown in jail.
“You promised us you’d handle it,” Ari says, the blade of the letter opener twirling faster and faster between his fingers.
“Aldo trusts you. I trust you. You know this. Which is why I agreed to hold Aldo off and let you do the additional surveillance in the first place. But she’s a weak fucking link in their plan and we have to capitalize on that. ”
“But what if she isn’t involved at all?”
The tiny blade stops spinning. “She has to be.”
“I know what the evidence shows, Ari. I’ve seen the same shit you have. But I haven’t been able to corroborate any of it, despite all my surveillance.”
“Explain.”
My memory fills with the moment last night when Lena sat on my desk, vulnerable, expression entirely open as she answered my questions.
If she was lying, she’s far more treacherous than even my uncle and brother think.
Still— “She doesn’t go anywhere other than school, work, and her apartment.
No clubbing, no partying. She doesn’t go anywhere she could meet with the Paganos covertly and I haven’t seen any behavior to indicate they’re communicating any other way either.
Nor have I caught her tampering with drinks at work. ”
“Could you have missed it?”
“Not likely. She’s not flashing extra cash. Her apartment is practically empty, any furnishings she does have she picked up at a thrift sore. The most expensive thing she owns is her violin, but even that is secondhand.”
“So what?” Ari prods. “She might be young, but she’s also smart. She could have hidden her payments in a bank account somewhere.”
“One we haven’t been able to find? Come on, man. We clean money the way the White Sox lose games—expertly. We know all the ways to hide cash and we can’t find hers? There’s no way.”
“So, what are you saying?” Ari’s back to spinning that stupid letter opener. The metal glints as it goes around and around and around. “Do you think she’s in the clear? With all the evidence we have, explain that.”
“We know the Paganos falsify evidence all the time,” I point out. “Maybe this is the same situation.”
“You’re forgetting, brother—this intel came from our capo. He found this lead, found the evidence showing this stupid fucking girl is tied to the scum trying to destroy our family. This isn’t some fairytale cooked up by the Paganos. This is our evidence you’re working so hard to disprove.”
“I’m just looking for the truth, Ari. Simple as that. I’m not going to break one of the rare rules I live by without making damn sure I’m not going to regret it later.”
“Fine, fine.” My brother leans back in his chair. “So where does all this leave us?”
“Well, our instincts about her aren’t entirely wrong. I can’t prove a connection to the Paganos, but I do know that Lena is tied up in something very fucking messy, whether she’s aware of it or not.”
I tell my brother about the sniper fire into her apartment, the fire at her aunt’s house, and the Russian tracking her down at work.
“See.” Ari leans toward me, vindication written on his features.
“No way the Arkhangel shows his face in public for the first time in years for a woman who isn’t at the center of a monumental shit show.
We’re not wrong about her, brother. Lena Haywood is huge fucking trouble.
Maybe not in the way we first thought, but a threat nonetheless. ”
“I agree that something vicious is circling her and that her life is at risk. Which is why I’ve taken her under my protection.”
I have to give my brother credit. The letter opener slips but he doesn’t let it fall. “Protection? In what way?”
No one else would notice it, but I can tell my brother is shocked.
Maybe even feeling a little betrayed. I tell myself I’m doing us both a favor when I keep the details to a minimum.
“I’ve moved her into my penthouse. I’ve marked her as under my protection.
I’ll be able to keep a close eye on Lena until I can figure out exactly what’s going on, who wants her dead, and if she has any real ties to the Paganos. ”
Ari’s eyes narrow. “You fucking like her.”
I ignore his accusation and the way my chest constricts when I think of the ring still circling her finger.
“I want to get to the bottom of this,” I counter, “as fast as fucking possible. For the sake of our family, just like you said. And, if she’s innocent, I don’t want her becoming collateral damage in the process. ”
“And if she isn’t? What then, fratellino? Will you quit playing house, go back to being the ruthless killer I know you are and do what needs to be done?
Cazzo. Yeah, what then Rem? Kill my pretend fiancée to protect the family I’d die for? Or risk my brother and uncle killing me over a woman I want far more than I should?
Ari practically reads my mind when he says, “Be careful, Rem. We’re at war. When you’re caught in a firefight, make sure you know which side you’re on.”
His expression is concerned. Just like a big brother.
Then, in a blink, he’s back to being my boss.
“You have seven more days. That’s when Aldo is scheduled to be back.
That’s how long you have to get to the bottom of this situation with the girl.
After that, I won’t be able to protect you from him if the job isn’t done. ”
“Understood.” I won’t be able to change Ari’s mind about Lena without more proof, and convincing our capo I’m right about her will be significantly easier if Ari and I are on the same side.
“Good. Fine. Now get out of here. I have shit to do.”
I nod to Ari as I stand up. He’s already lost in work, and I leave his office without another word.
My phone vibrates as I step into the hall.
My chest does a fucking irritating fluttering thing when, for a second, I think Lena somehow found a phone and is calling me.
Scemo! I pull my phone from my coat and quickly get my ass in gear when I see it’s a number in Italy.
My capo is calling.