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"You heard about Penny, the girl who got beat up and dropped at our compound. What started this all..."
"Yes," Luca said, wincing a little.
"Well, she got a good look at her attackers before she was knocked out. And this morning we were taking her out and she saw them. Freaked the fuck out." I paused, looking between them for any reaction. Seeing none, I went on. "At first, we thought it was you."
"Us?" Antony scoffed, mouth agape, clearly offended.
"You can't be serious, Renny," Luca added, shaking his head. "When have we ever had a reputation for hurting innocents?"
"Never," Mina piped in. "Which is why we are here. When I showed her your pictures, she said it wasn't you guys who she saw. So, we figure it was whoever you were having brunch with today. And we're going to need those names," she added as the two shared a long, hard look.
"We're not trying to step on anyone's toes here," I added. "But those fuckers beat up an innocent woman, nearly killed our road captain, and decimated the rest of our numbers. I don't care who the fuck you are in bed with, even you guys know they need to pay for that."
Luca nodded to his father and Antony sighed. "We were trying to make peace with them. They've been a thorn in our side for years now, trying to move in. I guess they realized they couldn't get the docks after all and set their sights on you. Maybe they thought they could take over the arms trade in the area and that our families would need to get along since we import..."
"Families?" Mina cut in at the exact same moment I was going to ask the same question.
"As in... family?" I put in for good measure.
We didn't fuck with the mob. We had scuffled with a bunch of the smaller organizations over the years, but we never had to deal with the truly organized side of organized crime.
Luca nodded. "They have slowly been trying to get off the Island and moving this way. The Abruzzo family."
Mina's entire body stiffened at that name, her eyes going active for a long second before she stood suddenly, the chair scratching hard against the floor.
"We have to go," she said, looking down at me, tone serious. Then she turned and walked away.
I stood up more slowly, unsure what the fuck just happened, but figuring the Abruzzos must be bad news to make her react that strongly. "I guess that's my cue, guys," I said, shrugging. "Thank you for the name. I think."
"If there's any more information you need," Antony said, waving a hand and I was impressed with how carefully he worded that. Not- if there's anything you need, but if there's any more information you need. Smart on his part to not pick sides when a war was waging, knowing he would benefit from either side's win.
"We appreciate it. Reign will be in touch," I added as I turned away and walked toward the door.
Mina was already gone, situated in the running car.
"Something got her spooked. She ran out here yelling into her phone. Saying they needed to warn the Mallicks."
"The Mallicks?" I asked, brows drawing together, knowing I was missing a big part of the picture and not liking that one bit. "Sucks about the knee man, but the Grassis will take care of you," I said, clamping a hand on his shoulder before moving toward the stairs.
"You'll wear her down," he called to me as I made my way toward the car, seeing Mina talking rapidly on her cell.
Even freaked, she was goddamn perfect.
I was going to wear her down alright.
But not before I figured out who the fuck the Abruzzo family was, what the fuck they wanted from us, and what the fuck that had to do with the fucking Mallick family.
Priorities, in this case, meant to make sure my ass was still breathing long enough to get her pretty ass in my bed.THREEMinaThe Abruzzos?
In what freaking universe was that who was stepping to The Henchmen?
"I'm putting a call into Charlie Mallick now," Lo said, sounding calm though I know she was likely as freaked as I was. "He needs to warn Eli."
"Isn't Eli still..."
"Not as of this morning," she cut me off. "Are you heading back now?"
"Yeah, Renny just got in the car. We will be there in five."
"I'll be there in twenty. Janie is at the hospital, but I don't want to involve her in this. I'll call Alex instead. We need all hands on deck if we are going to figure out how the fuck some nobodies from Long freaking Island are taking down one of the longest-standing organizations in Navesink Bank."
She ended the call and I tossed my phone toward Renny as I threw the car into reverse and peeled out of the marina. "So are you going to let me..."
