Page 44 of Cara & Gian: The Guzzi Duet

Not a minute later, his phone buzzed on the desk as he were going over orders for the restaurant. Gian picked it up, gave the message a look, and laughed hard.

Are those even me?!

Every single one of them, he typed back.

He’d cropped some of the images, zoomed in to keep Cara’s body and face from being entirely identifiable. But he wanted her to see what he saw, too.

Beauty.

Sex.

Lust.

The sweetest temptation that had ever crossed his path.

She would certainly be the cause of his eventual unraveling.

Gian didn’t think he would mind.

That’s porn, Gian, Cara’s next message said.

Beautiful porn, he corrected. Then, he sent another right after. I can do it again, oui?

Cara’s reply had him grinning. Hell yes.

He stuffed his phone away, and went back to work.

His mind was definitely not on the orders, though.

“They don’t see it like you’re just doing what you’re supposed to do, though, Gian,” Constantino argued. “The younger Capos—guys like us—see it like you’re standing on Edmond’s side of things, here. That you approve of what he did and how he did it.”

Gian’s jaw clenched, his one and only show of irritation at his best friend’s statement. “You, of all people, know I don’t approve. But what exactly could I do? I was put in a position where I couldn’t do or say anything. He called the vote without telling me that’s what it was, and he made the calls on who would be there for it. There’s nothing I can do now.”

“Not saying anything now certainly isn’t helping your fucking case, either.”

“Don’t forget, it’s my grandfather’s legacy here, too. And I have to consider—”

“Your last name won’t mean shit, with Edmond as the current boss,” Constantino cut in fast.

Stephan nodded his agreement. “Everybody—especially the younger guys—knew it was going to be you next in that seat, Gian. It’s what Corrado was working towards for years, slowly getting everybody ready for a change. He’d sped it up a bit recently, because obviously, there were some issues between the generational lines, and he probably thought putting you in the seat would help smooth that over.”

“Corrado didn’t talk about those things with me.”

“He didn’t have to,” Constantino pointed out quietly. “It was expected. Edmond took advantage of a situation you weren’t ready for and it makes you look weak as shit.”

Gian bristled at that comment. “Say that again, cafone.”

Constantino scowled. “I’m only saying it now for your benefit.”

“You weren’t ready for it because of Corrado’s death,” Stephan jumped in again. “Because someone—probably fucking Edmond—put a bullet between his eyes, or ordered it done.”

“We don’t know that he did it,” Gian said quietly.

But he certainly had reason to suspect the new boss.

Every goddamn reason.

“And they were old friends,” Gian added. “He’s given me reason to think it was him, but that’s circumstance, and nothing more. It’s not likely that he did kill my grandfather.”