Page 5 of Naz & Roz

“It’s good,” Naz said instantly.

Luca cocked a brow at that response. “Really, good?”

Naz chuckled, and tipped his beer up for another long swig. “You know, five or six years ago I might have had a different answer, but damn, that guy loves my sister. I don’t have to worry about him treating her like shit … or having to bury his body in cement somewhere.”

His friend laughed hard. “But you know if you still need to do that someday …”

“You will be the first fucker I call.”

Luca’s face split with a wide grin, and he held out his fist in offering. Naz answered it back with his own fist, and the two bumped.

Ride or die.

His brother from another mother.

“So, are you going to finally cut the fucking cord, and take the jump with me, or what?” Naz asked.

Luca sighed, and glared up at the sky like Naz was killing him. “You’re never going to let that go, Naz.”

“Well, it’s a waste of time. You’re going to be a made man like you’re supposed to be. Just like I am, like my dad is, and like your dad is, too. That’s what we’re meant to be, Luca. You’re just making the process longer by doing what you’re doing now.”

“So be it.”

Naz shook his head, irritated.

“What the fuck are you doing in school, anyway? A lawyer, Luca, really? Come on.”

“Says the man with a one-sixty IQ, Naz. Some of us aren’t fucking blessed with a brain that just knows everything. Some of us had to wait to graduate at the right age, not early. Some of us didn’t quit college because it was boring.”

“I don’t know everything. I didn’t know everything from birth. I just happened to be really good at learning shit. And also, I didn’t quit college because it was boring.”

“Right,” Luca drawled.

“I didn’t. I quit because I had other shit to focus on, and getting my doctorate wasn’t going to do anything for me in the long run when I was always going to be in the family business anyway.”

“Whatever.”

“A fucking lawyer, though. Jesus.”

Luca rolled his eyes, and glanced away. “A defense lawyer, Naz. Who the hell else do you expect to save your ass when you need a good lawyer, huh?”

Naz stiffened, and hesitated on taking the next drink from his beer. “What?”

“You think I’m not going to be a made man?” Luca scoffed, saying, “I will, eventually.”

“Mmhmm.”

“I will, fucker. So it’s going to take me a little longer than you, but that’s okay. So I have to work a little harder for it between school, and Cosa Nostra, but that’s fucking fine. You know why? Because there’s a purpose to what I want to do—somebody’s got to have our backs in ten, fifteen years. I don’t mind being the fucker who does it, all right.”

“You think that’s what it’s going to be?”

“What—you taking over for your dad?” Luca asked.

Naz shrugged. “I guess, yeah.”

“Yeah, man, that’s exactly how this is going to go down.”

“All right.”