Dom #2
“I want you to audit every business. Legit and otherwise. Go on site. Treat like a fucking IRS audit and get up in their asses. You hear me?”
“Loud and clear. Want me to bring Darius in?”
“No. I’ll deal with him.” I end the call and take a deep breath. The first thing I need to figure out is where to find Darius. Why isn’t he at work doctoring up the reports so his theft is hidden? Or has he taken my money and run?
When I get to his place, I can tell from the street that it’s empty. He’s run.
I call Angelo. “When did you last talk to Darius?”
“Last night. He wasn’t at the club. Said he had the flu or some bullshit.”
“You didn’t believe him?” What the fuck? My men are slacking off keeping me in the know.
“I heard a woman in the background.”
“Where would he go if was on the run?” I watch his place, just in case I’m wrong about it being empty.
“Oh shit. What he do?”
“Where’d he go?”
“He’s got a woman in Jersey. Beyond that, the casinos? Vegas maybe.”
I get the address of the woman from Angelo and head to New Jersey. This isn’t what I wanted to deal with today, but at least it keeps my mind off a certain sexy FBI agent.
When I pull up the condo building, I see where some of my money has been going. Darius has himself a kept woman.
I part and nonchalantly make my way to the woman’s condo. I glance around, noting who’s about and could ID me.
No one is paying attention. It’s fortunate that eye-witness testimony is some of the worst.
I rap on the door.
“I gave at the office,” a woman’s voice rings out.
I roll my eyes and knock again.
“We’re not interested—” The door opens and I push my way in.
“Hey!” The woman stumbles back. She’s about to tell me off but she must realize who I am, and bows her head. “Don Vitale. Welcome to my home.”
“Where is Darius?”
“Who the fuck cares,” she says, surprising me.
“Darius treat you badly?”
She shrugs. It’s then I notice light bruising on her cheek.
“He give you that?”
She nods.
“Why?”
“Because I told him he was an idiot who wouldn’t live to next week.” She arches a brow. “I think I’m right, aren’t I?”
“I couldn’t say.” I’m not about to tell this woman that she’s right. As it is, I’m going to have to figure out if she’ll be a liability.
I don’t hurt women. Not as a practice. But I’m not above intimidating them. I step closer to her, towering over her.
“Please don’t kill me.”
“Why would I do that?”
She swallows. “I…ah…”
“Where is Darius? I won’t ask again.”
“He’s at the club…the one in Atlantic City. Then he’s gone. Says you won’t find him.” She looks up at me with determined eyes. “I hope you do find him, the prick. He stole my mothers diamond earrings.”
Fucking hell. I don’t want to drive all the way down there.
And yet, two hours later, I’m in Atlantic City, feeling sure the woman won’t tip Darius off.
In fact, I’m sure she hopes I torture him before I dispatch him. I’m not one of those sick fucks that enjoy watching grown men suffer.
The only exception will be whoever kidnapped Rocco.
I enter through the back of the club to the main office. Darius is counting money.
For a moment, he looks excited. I imagine he’s dreaming of a great vacation somewhere warmer than here with an exotic woman sucking his dick.
When he looks up and sees me, all the blood drains from his face. “Boss.”
“Darius.”
He looks down at the money and then at me. I wait wondering what sort of bullshit he’ll feed me.
“I…ah…the money is off, Boss and I’m trying to figure out who’s skimming—”
“Tsk tsk.” I shake my head. “Haven’t I been good to you, Darius? Paid you well. Rewarded good work.”
“I have no complaints.”
“And yet you’ve stolen from me.”
“I’m just protecting myself.”
I laugh. “From what? Because from where I stand, nothing can protect you from me.”
“You’re going down.”
That surprises me. “You’re going to bring me down?”
He shakes his head. “The Feds. They’ve been circling for years, getting closer and closer. I’m taking what I’ve earned and getting the fuck out.”
“Except that’s not what you’ve earned. It’s what you’ve stolen.” But his comment has me curious. “What makes you think the Feds are anywhere near bringing me down.” Does he know I’m fucking Olivia? I don’t know how.
“Because they’re infesting the business. Even I was approached, but I turned him down.” He says it like I should feel grateful to him.
“Who approached you?”
“That same mother fucker who’s approached everyone in La Corona. Blackwood. I see the writing on the wall. I’m out.”
He’s definitely out. “So let me get this straight. Blackwood approaches you and you turn down giving him info but decide to steal from me and run away.”
“I haven’t risked my life to end up in jail. I plan to enjoy my ill-gotten goods.” His hand disappears under the desk.
I imagine he’s planning to shoot me, but I’m faster. My gun is out and aimed between his eyes. “You’ll have to enjoy your spoils in hell.” I pull the trigger. His head jerks back as the bullet rips through, dispersing brains and blood on the back wall.
This is who I am. This is what I do.
I stand over Darius’s body. Another necessary evil. This is the reality of my world. Swift justice, brutal consequences.
This is the truth Olivia will never accept about me. That I feel nothing but annoyance at what I’ve just done. I’m pissed that Darius forced me to kill him here and now, instead of someplace where he’d be easier to dispose of.
I pull out my phone to call Angelo. “I need you to arrange a cleaning.” I give him the details. Then call in Tonio, the manager of the casino.
He looks at Darius but has no reaction.
“Did you know Darius was siphoning?”
He looks shocked. “Fuck no. I didn’t think he was that stupid.”
“He thinks I’m about to be thrown in jail. What about you? What do you think?”
He laughs. “I think the devil himself couldn’t put you in jail.”
I like his answer. I nod to Darius. “Make sure no one else sees this. Cleaners will be here shortly.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
I look at the money on the desk, some of which has blood splatter. A quick glance, it looks like ten-thousand.
“Burn the bills with blood.” I don’t need bloody bills somehow coming back to me. DNA from hands is easy to explain away. Money changes hands all the time. But blood DNA from someone who worked for me could be harder to explain. “Keep the rest. My appreciation for dealing with this.”
“You’re very generous. Thank you.”
This is why Olivia and I can never work. Not because she's FBI and I'm La Corona.
Not because of divided loyalties or conflicting interests.
But because at my core, I am a man who makes life-and-death decisions without hesitation.
A man who enforces his will through violence when necessary.
Today has made it clearer to me that I need to stay away from her.
For her sake as much as mine.
Some lines weren't meant to be crossed, and we've already gone too far.