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“Darius, send the short-lived ‘boss’ of Philly back home,” Romeo orders.
“In pieces?” Darius asks.
“No. I think a corpse missing its throat sends the right message,” he declares.
“Be a good boy and fetch a body bag.” Sam smirks at Darius.
“Sure thing. I’ve got an extra bag with your name on it, Sammy.” Darius flips Sam off over his shoulder, closing the door.
“Fabio, give me an update on AC,” Romeo commands.
“The restaurant’s grand re-opening is set for this weekend. Gambling halls are running at full capacity. Flushed out two cheaters in one of our backroom poker clubs.” I don’t mention who helped me flush them out. That needs to first and foremost be a private conversation between me and Darius. “I’m getting a handle on everything else,” I report, glancing at the grisly scene; blood’s already coagulating into a thick puddle on the floor next to Joey’s mauled corpse.
“And John Davis?”
“Got eyes and ears everywhere,” I report, snapping my attention back to the boss. “He must have gone to ground after we vandalized The Diamond’s construction site,”
“Fucking find him,” Romeo growls, causing Mercutio to growl.
I shuffle back an inch or so. “You got it, boss.” How I’m going to do that, hell if I know?
Darius returns, and I ask, “Need help?”
He tosses me a pair of gloves. “Teamwork makes the dream work,” he jokes.
“Don’t get any ideas, Fabio. Darius and Luca are going steady now,” Sam taunts.
“And you’re so fucking jealous, Sammy,” Darius quips.
“Let’s go,” Romeo tells Sam, clearly bored with the bullshit. “Fabio, keep me posted.”
“Will do,” I tell him.
“Darius, I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Romeo says.
“We gonna lift this time or hide from Nicky?” Darius jibes. He and Sam are the only men who could get away with taunting the boss; I value my life too much to even think about it.
Romeo smirks. “I thought we’d do some cardio training. With Mercutio.” The dog perks up at his name. “He’ll give you a head start.”
“Which dog would win that fight?” Sam muses.
“Careful, Sammy. I have rabies, and I bite,” Darius warns.
“Let’s go,” Romeo says, ignoring the back and forth.
“Fabio. Big Red,” Sam says with a smirk.
Darius snaps his teeth.
The door closes behind them, and we get to work cleaning up the scene and bagging the former “boss” of Philly. Darius pulls his car into the warehouse through the back loading dock, and I help him hoist the body into the hidden compartment of his trunk.
“Thanks, man,” Darius says, fist bumping me. “Text me the day and time, and I’ll meet you at the range so we can coordinate our game plan for John Davis.”
“Sounds good,” I tell him. “Hey, before you head out, I wanted to talk to you about?—”
His phone buzzes in his pocket. “Hold that thought,” Darius tells me, retrieving his phone. “Hey, wifey,” he answers affectionately. “Not a problem.” He pauses. “Love you too.” Pocketing his phone, he turns his attention back to me. “Sorry about that. I need to pick up Iris after I deliver this package. What’d you want to talk about?”
“Nothing pressing. I’ll talk to you next week,” I tell him with a fist bump.
