“It works for me just fine.” For women and business.
“Well, you’re kind of a psychopath.”
“Kind of?” I teased.
He grabbed his glass and took a drink of his old-fashioned before he shook the ice and returned it to the table. “How are things with Don Mancini?”
“Is this small talk, or are you actually asking?”
“Both.”
“It’s been good. No complaints.”
“Heard about everything that went down with Umberto.”
“No shit. I hung him from a tree next to the highway. It’s been all over the fucking news.” And I knew his wife had to have seen it. Now she was a widow because her late husband was an idiot.
“The Mancinis would all be long gone if it weren’t for you.”
I wanted to sayno shit, but I didn’t want to disrespect my employer. But I really didn’t want to disrespect my woman’s father because that was fucking treason. “Luigi was so focused on the sheep that he failed to notice the wolf.”
“Luigi and Umberto never would have crossed Cosa Nostra.”
“True.”
“So you single-handedly had to clean up that mess.”
“Not single-handedly.” A little smirk moved over my lips when I thought about Francesca blasting all those guys to pieces on her own. God, she was so fucking hot. Couldn’t wait to fuck her when I got home.
“Still seems like a major step down for you.”
“They don’t traffic women into forced prostitution—so I disagree.” Maybe Don Mancini was a small fish in a small pond, but he still operated his business with class and ethics. He wanted to make money, but he didn’t want to fuck over everyone in his way to do it. He definitely needed my help if he wanted to grow and be taken seriously to potential adversaries, but he had a great foundation.
Santino grabbed his glass and took another drink before he set it down with a loud tap. “If Cosa Nostra stopped that practice, would you consider coming back?”
A slow grin moved over my face when we finally got to the point of this damn meeting. “Now I understand. Don Russo got into some serious shit, and he needs his big, bad wolf to clean up his mess.”
“He wants to know if you’d be willing to meet with him.”
“The answer to your question is no.”
“If you met with him, you might change your mind.”
“My loyalty lies with Don Mancini—and it can’t be bought, manipulated, or coerced.” And it wasn’t just him that I was loyalto, but the woman who had completely captured my soul. “You had my undying loyalty, and you decided to piss it away.”
“I really think you should talk to him anyway. He’s got information that you should know…regardless of if you come back or not.”
“Or you can just tell me right now.”
“You know I can’t, Wolfe.” He looked over his shoulder like there was a chance he was being tailed by Don Russo’s guys. When he looked at me again, he leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Look, between you and me, it’s in your best interest just to hear him out. Walk away if you want, but you’re going to want to hear what he has to say. I say this to you as a friend.”
When I got home, it was shortly past nine.
The kitchen was clean like she’d already eaten and done the dishes. Leftovers were probably in the fridge, and whatever they were was probably a hell of a lot better than what I ordered at the restaurant. The more I ate Francesca’s cooking, the less I wanted to eat out. No one could cook as well as my baby.
“I’m home,” I called into the house when I walked inside, invading her space like it belonged to me equally. We were just playing house at the moment, but it felt pretty damn real to me. I only went to my house to work out and change my clothes. I’d spent a lot of money on the place and hired staff to take care of it, but I was never there.
Francesca’s villa just felt like home to me.
