It’ll be a steep fucking hill to climb, that’s for sure. But I didn’t get this second chance for nothing.
I pull out my phone and check to see if I got a response from Rafe to the message I sent when I woke up this morning. Blake needs things, and I’ve got no way of getting them to her today while I’m busy with my new employer.
Okay. The last item might be difficult to arrange in the time frame you want. I’ll do my best.
A black car pulls up to the curb in front of me, and the door opens, signaling for me to get in.
I hop into the passenger seat and come face-to-face with Cosimo Ferraro.
Just great.
I fucking hate the guy. He takes himself way too fucking seriously.
The eldest Ferraro son scans me over, his lips drawing into a thin line. “It really is you.”
“Back to the land of the living.” I clip in my seat belt.
“If I were the head of the family, I would have ended you as soon as you reappeared.”
“Good thing you’re not.”
His fingers twitch. He’s probably daydreaming about strangling me right here in the passenger seat.
“My father is too forgiving, but me and my brothers are not.” He presses on the gas and merges into the traffic, taking us toward the Brooklyn Bridge. “If you think this is going to be easy, you’re in for a very unpleasant surprise.”
“Shame, I was hoping for a spa day with the boys, maybe a couple’s massage. I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“Funny,” Cosimo says dryly. “You’ve always had a sense of humor.”
“And you’ve always had a stick up your ass.”
“Watch it. I’m your boss now.”
“I think Gino’s my boss. And given the current situation, I think you’re my driver.”
Cosimo’s jaw clenches. I know I’m pushing it, but I can’t resist getting him riled up. He’s an easy target, the same way most firstborn sons are before they finally get the role they’re groomed for their entire lives.
To his credit, instead of reacting to my jibes, he simply ignores me for the rest of the half-hour drive.
We pull into the parking lot of a warehouse. It’s got a red-brick facade, dusty windows, and looks completely abandoned.
Maybe Cosimo’s decided to go against his father and off me after all.
“What is this place?”
“Alessio calls it his palace,” Cosimo says.
An uneasy feeling slides down my back. Alessio is Cosimo’s brother and the main enforcer for the Ferraros. Everyone knows he isn’t quite right in the head.
We get out of the car and walk all the way to the back of the warehouse where there’s a heavy steel door. Cosimo bangs on it twice.
“What are we doing here?”
Cosimo turns to look at me, his eyes swimming with satisfaction. He can’t kill me, but I can tell he thinks whatever they’ve got planned for me is almost as good. “You’re going to work for Alessio.”
Fuck me. No wonder he looks so pleased.
The man himself opens the door and immediately sizes me up.
