Page 8 of A Capo’s Love: Featuring A Don’s Love

Tasha nodded.

“Did our security escort him or his?” I asked to determine the type of visit this was.

“Our security walked him back there.”

That made my stomach drop just a little. Security didn’t escort people anywhere unless they already knew exactly who they were dealing with.

“What he want?” I pressed.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “He asked me for the owner or the manager.”

That’s me… I chewed on my bottom lip, not really understanding why my nerves were so frazzled by this stranger before laying eyes on him.

“And?” I jutted my head in Tasha’s direction.

She hesitated like the next word itself felt heavy in her mouth.

“Royal.” She swallowed down hard. “B-but he said you can call him Roy for short.”

“Okay, girl.” I offered her a confident smile. “Go back to doing what you were doing before busting up in here. I’ll go see about the nigga soon.” I turned away from Tasha and placed my focus on the crates and boxes of inventory that I could’ve had the staff tending to.

Truth was, I didn’t trust most of them. Half of their grimy asses liked to sneak bottles out of here and play dumb when I called meetings about their sticky fingers. Till this day, I don’t know how they got away with it since we had cameras all over this place.

“Ummm, Amaris…” Tasha sounded off behind me. “You don’t understand.”

I cocked my head to the side and frowned at Tasha.

“Help me understand then Tasha…so far I understand that somebody is asking for management,” I said, prompting her to speak the fuck up.

“Oh hell, come on with it, Tasha…Boss lady already in a foul ass mood.” Keisha said under her breath.

“He said his name was Royal Bonetti.” She released a breath after uttering his full name.

I shrugged like it didn’t mean anything, even though I knew exactly who the Bonetti’s were. My dad couldn’t stand them but praised them all in one. Everybody around these parts attached to the nightlife knew the name as well. From what I understood, the Bonetti’s were not to be fucked with. Their hands were in everything illegally as well as legally.

“That’s fine, Tasha,” I said calmly.

“That’s not fine,” Tasha whispered like she was lost for words. “You know who that is?”

“Somebody sitting in my lounge, waiting on me apparently.” I played dumb.

I was stalling time, that was the only reason I was entertaining Tasha’s spooked ass right now.

“That’s not just somebody,” she insisted, stepping closer. “That’s Luca Bonetti’s Capo.”

Keisha grabbed my arm.

“Mari, maybe you should call Maniac first,” she suggested.

Hell no… I thought. My dad had a habit of overreacting. First, I wanted to see exactly what this so-called Capo wanted. Why was he at ‘Spike’s Bar & Lounge’ on a weekday inquiring for the owner or manager. Clearly, my dad wasn’t in trouble with the Mafia if the Capo showed up calling a random ass meeting.

I was already ready to turn down whatever business this man had for my dad. It was crossing the line, this I was aware of but didn’t care one bit about it. My dad was close to retiring and passing the torch to his protégé. I was tired of stressing behind his street business and side affairs just because his old ass was bored with collecting.

“What do I need to call my dad for?” I gave Keisha my undivided attention.

“So he can get his ass down here and talk to him. This isn’t your lane, Mari.” Keisha frowned, her grip tightened on my arm.

I didn’t take offense to her words. I saw fear in Keisha’s eyes, fear for both of our safety. I shook the hold that Keisha had on my arm and walked to the coat rack to yank down my sweater. We kept the lounge freezing twenty-four seven since people loved to get drunk off their asses.