Page 71 of Waste of Worth

“Make sure of it.”

With that, Ben moved onto Walter, taking the man’s offering that was even smaller than Dino’s had been. That was the problem with being a secondary Capo in a family faction like the DeLucas. Dino had the majority crew, and he brought in the most money. Walter was forced to take what was left, whether he liked it or not, on the off-chance that he might someday get the control Dino had.

It was yet another reason why he didn’t trust or like his uncle’s little snake.

Walter had every reason to fuck with Dino’s position in the Outfit. That was how the mob worked—men had to cut other men at the knees and then go for the throat if they wanted to move up in the family.

It would not be Dino’s knees that got cut by Walter fucking Artino.

The very second Terrance had the money in his hands, he dismissed the men without bothering to linger. Dino didn’t mind, and he supposed as the boss, Terrance had earned the right to sit on his ass and collect money.

After all, it wasn’t easy to be at the top.

“DeLuca, stay where you are,” Terrance called before Dino could even stand from his damn chair.

Dino rested back in his seat, watching as the men filed past him one by one, their conversations starting back up again. A couple nodded to him—Tommas Rossi being one, the cousin of Damian Rossi, Theo’s friend—but Dino offered nothing back.

He didn’t make friends with anyone.

Ben had beaten that lesson into him long ago.

It was the easiest rule to follow simply because Dino trusted fucking no one.

“What is it, boss?” Dino asked once the men were all gone.

Ben and Riley were busy counting money on the desk, separating the bills into three piles, their attention fully on their work.

“Your brother,” Terrance said, crossing his arms.

That stopped Ben’s work instantly.

“What about Theo?” Ben asked.

Terrance didn’t give his underboss a response, instead, keeping his gaze on Dino. “Have you taken to mentoring him, Dino?”

Dino understood what his boss was asking him, and it was both important and significant. Especially for Theo. “Not in an official capacity.”

“But you have.”

“He’s the only one willing to learn, and he’s good at what he does. He’s taken on just about everything I’ve thrown at him, and while he mouths about it, he likes it. He’s on the up.”

“Good,” Terrance murmured. “Should you decide to take his mentoring into a more official capacity, I’d be willing to give him the title to go along with his button, as soon as you said he was ready for it.”

A Capo, he meant.

Terrance was basically saying he was willing to give Theo his title of Capo to go along with his spot in the Outfit, as long as Dino thought his brother was capable of handling the responsibility that went along with it.

Theo was ready.

Of that, Dino was absolutely sure.

He’d go through the ropes and the rules, though, to make sure his brother got his fucking title the right way so that nobody could take him from him.

Ben also seemed to pick up on the hidden message in the conversation, and he didn’t look particularly pleased about it. “Theo is still young—he’s not ready for that sort of title, Terrance.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Pardon?”