Page 25 of Heart Of A Goon II

“Ca…Castello,” he corrected her.

From the way he looked as he corrected Kora, I could tell he knew he was cooked.

She was so calm and stoic as she spoke, but the fire and pain in her eyes told me that the emotions were swirling inside of her. She’d rather die before she allowed anyone in this room to experience her falling apart.

Reminded me of my baby.

The correction of his name wasn’t important at the moment. She had held onto his name, powerless because there wasn’t anything that she could do. Like she told me, the hardest thing she had to do was witness the love of her life sit behind that wall and serve time knowing the system fucked him over.

“It was out of my hands, Judge Case.” He hung his head, allowing the rest of the lie to linger throughout the room.

Between the knot, the blood and the start of the bruising on his pale face, his ass probably had a concussion. I looked at Corleon’s arm because the way he launched that lamp, his ass should have been playing professional football.

“Funny. The case was out of your hands, but not the three million that was wired into your account. Not the word you gave that you would assure he would walk out that courthouse a free man.”

He stood up so fast that he had no choice but to sit right back down quickly. Blood was probably rushing to his damn head with how hard Corleon tossed that lamp. All this shit was coming at him at the same time. I felt like my eyes were playing games on me because his knot seemed to be growing by the second.

“Somebody wanna fill me in… a nigga a little lost over here,” I cleared my throat, needing them to explain whatever they were into. They were going to be my in-law’s, so I needed a quick crash course on all of this.

Even if you wanted, you couldn’t dismiss the pain and hurt in Kora’s eyes as she watched Castello. He winced in pain, knowing that the chaos and grimy shit he had done over the years had finally caught up to him.

“Twelve years they kept a man behind bars. Not an innocent man, but a man.” She walked over toward Castello, lifted her leg and kicked him in the face with her heel.

The stiletto barely missed his eye, as he hollered and fell back onto the bed. Menace had moved to the dresser, as he allowed his sister her moment to get the answers she needed.

Answers she had probably tortured herself over the years trying to figure out. This was important to her, and I could tell she was holding everything in.

“Back then… I wasn’t…we weren’t who we are today. Money was good, but it wasn’t how it is now. I was a new lawyer with no pull or strings. The Kenzotti family on the other hand were very connected. Plugged in with a lot of pull and reach. Some of that reach was extended to Menace and Corleon because of their loyalty and dedication to the firm.”

Castello winced as he turned carefully to look at Menace, then to Corleon like they had both betrayed him. “I…I didn’t know you were connected to the Kenzotti family.”

Menace held his eye contact, and Castello was the first one to look away. “The most powerful people are the ones who say nothing but do everything. I don’t flex my connections to the Kenzotti family. Like I don’t flex my connection to the Davis and Vanducci-Cromwell.”

“I…I can fix this. You want me to have his case reopened… I’ll…I’ll do it,” he tried to get up, but his injuries prevented him from doing so.

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She scoffed, disgusted. “You think I need or want your help, Casino? It’s already being handled and has for a while. Zoo will emerge from those gates.” The crooked smirk that came across her face let me know she couldn’t wait for the day.

“Then maybe you can sit down and get married… have some kids. Stop with the White men,” Corleon mumbled, and Kora looked at him, letting him know her personal life wasn’t up for discussion.

I kind of wished it was because her ass was still a mystery and we had shared a whole moment in Aspen.

Even then, I still didn’t understand her.

Castello looked between both Corleon and Kora, and figured he had a way in. A way to get to her because she was a woman. Men like Castello felt like women were too emotional and thought with their hearts. I could tell he was the type that felt like a woman’s place was in the home, not in a courtroom.

I was the kind of nigga that liked for my woman to be barefoot and pregnant, still, it always made my dick hard watching Zoya follow her dreams. Walking in that courtroom, shutting shit down because men like Castello felt like she didn’t deserve to be there. If she had to walk into court with my baby in her belly, then that’s what it was.

Castello roped all women into one group, and he needed to realize that not every woman made decisions with her heart, or emotion. Some lacked emotion while others locked that shit up.

Zoya and Kora Caselli were those women.

“Out of curiosity, how much was Heffa House paying you?” I asked. All this talk had me curious. It had to be good money for his ass to go against Menace.

“Haven’s List,” he corrected.

Castello had a thing for correcting people when his ass needed to be worried about his life.