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“Dad,” I said.
He shrugged and made a dismissive gesture.
“I can’t make any promises here,” Vincent said.
“So why the fuck did you show up at my house?”
“My father wants to meet,” Vincent said. “Talk this out, man to man. Don to Don, so to speak.”
“I could do that, but I don’t trust you.”
“And we don’t trust you.”
“You’re the ones that tried to kill my daughter.”
Vincent held up a hand. “That’s true. But here she is, alive and well.”
“All thanks to Tanner.”
Vincent’s face dropped at his name. “Tanner, yeah. He’s been a real pain in my ass, you know that, right?”
“I bet he has.” Dad grinned. “He’s not exactly easy to work with, you know?”
“If you’re willing to talk and be reasonable, my father’s willing to sit down and work something out,” Vincent said. “And let me be clear that this is a better situation than any other fucking crew ever gets in this damn town. You can thank Tanner for that, too.”
“I just might,” Dad said.
“So consider it. Come sit and talk.”
“I don’t know.” Dad looked at his nails. “Talking to a bunch of bitches like you. Hard to picture, you know? I’d rather kill a few of you first and make you all come to me.”
Vincent’s face grew dark. “No need for threats.”
“Since when was I threatening? You think I make threats? I don’t threaten, kid, I just follow through. You know that. You’re from the real city.”
Vincent rubbed a hand through his hair. “I know your reputation,” he said. “I know you probably think that makes you hard. But down here, we have the manpower, we have the muscle. We have the politicians and the cops. Down here, we fucking rule. So you need to kiss the ring and play nice if you want to stick around, or else we’re going to stop going after your kid and start going after you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dad said. “You little—”
“Dad,” I said, cutting him off. “What are you doing?”
He glared at me. “Mind your business.”
“No,” I said. “You’re sitting down with Don Leone. You’re talking about this.”
“You don’t get involved in my business. Why are you even at this table right now?”
“Because your stupid macho bullshit’s going to get my killed,” I said, anger rising. “So you shut up and play nice. Sit down and talk to Don Leone, or I’m out of here again.”
He stared at me and his face turned red. Vincent smiled at us and watched, amusement clear on his face.
“I didn’t decide anything,” I said. “You forced this on me by being an asshole. So you’d better fix it.”
Dad took a deep breath then looked at Vincent. “I’ll talk to your Don,” he said. “Man to man.”
“Good choice.” Vincent pushed back and stood. He nodded at me. “Thanks for the assist,” he said.
I flipped him off. “Asshole.”
He laughed and walked to the door. Dad stood and watched him go, barely controlling himself. Vincent opened the door then looked back at us.
“Just remember, you’re in our city,” Vincent said. “If we decide to let you stay, it’s because that’s what we want. So have a nice day, Don Borghi.”
He stepped outside and shut the door behind him.
“You’re going to meet with them, right?”
Dad whirled on me. “If you ever undermine me again—”
“Don’t be an asshole,” I snapped. “Meet with them. Why are you so stubborn and stupid?”
“Because I know how this works,” he said. “If I don’t muscle up at least a little bit, they’ll think they can roll over me. That dick already thinks I’m pathetic for letting you push me around.”
“I’m your daughter, idiot,” I said. “Now do the right thing for once in your life.”
He grunted and stormed away. He took his phone from his pocket and made a call. “Tell the boys to call it off,” he said as he stomped upstairs.
He said something else, but the conversation was too muffled by his footsteps.
I turned from the stairs and leaned my head back. I sighed and took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down. I was so angry with my dad and so angry with the Leone family. I couldn’t understand how any of this was worthwhile, how they thought it was a good idea to fight like children.
They were going to get me killed out of some insane sense of pride.
“That went well.”
I jumped and let out a yelp. Tanner stood in the kitchen door, leaning up against the frame. He smiled at me and casually slid the magazine of a gun out to check the bullets.
“What the hell, Tanner?” I said.
He shoved the magazine back into the gun then slipped it into his waistband. “Don’t worry. I watched the whole thing. The guy out front was armed, but I don’t think Vincent was.”
“I wasn’t worried about that.”
He tilted his head. “You should’ve been. Vincent’s a scary guy. Not to be messed with.”
