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“What the fuck are you talking about?” He may have been my best friend for seventeen years, but he’d never mentioned “that thing” to me before.
“You know. When you walk into a doorway, stop dead center, and then scan the entire room before you fully walk in. It’s like you’re announcing your fucking arrival.”
“It’s called being aware, you bastard.” Maybe it was one habit I needed to break, but scanning my surroundings, knowing who was in a room and where the exits were...the habit stemmed from a lifetime of training. And it saved my life on more than one occasion. “Fuck it,” I growled. “You’re having fun with this.”
Andre put up his hands. Friends or not, he knew I was still The Boss. “I’m just trying to help. But I have an idea.” He reached into his desk and pulled out a pair of over-the-counter reading glasses. “Put these on.”
I waved them in the air. “Don’t think I’m not going to bust your chops about these later.” I slid the frames on and looked in the mirror. “How do I look?” I couldn’t tell. It'd be okay to walk in them, I thought, but I couldn’t get a good vision of myself in the mirror.
“Like a hot nerd,” Andre groused. “Take them off. You’ll have to tough it out if women start falling at your feet.”
We were ridiculous. Having your best friend around all the time was like having a mental health break whenever you needed it and with the type of life I led, I needed every mental break I could get. Andre was all business when he needed to be, but he could pull me out of a funk with a well-meant zinger. He was also an excellent shot and had bloodied his hands for me, doing the dirty work that couldn’t be traced back to me. But it had been a while since I’d asked him to go to those extremes.
We’d come a long way since I’d inherited the family business. Stabbing people in the back, shedding blood at the drop of an insult - those archaic methods were relics of the past I was glad to leave behind. If there was bloodshed now, it was in self-defense. I preferred to hit my enemies where it really hurt - in their psyche. In their bank accounts. In their pride.
Most of my enemies wished they were dead by the time I was done with them. I showed no mercy when I was draining their lives of everything that meant anything to them. Watching cars get towed away. Watching wives pack their bags to leave when the money ran dry. Pull on the strings of their sanity, unravel a bit at a time until they spiral into madness - that was my deadliest weapon.
Which brought me to my current cause.
I took off the glasses and tossed them back to Andre. I’d seen the girl’s pictures. I was worrying too much. This would be a piece of cake.
“Blending in is overrated.” I grabbed my keys from the bowl on my desktop. “I’ll be back by eleven.”
“Okay, but remember you’re going alone. Keep your eyes open and...”
Andre’s voice drowned out behind me as I made my way from my office and through the halls to the private back entrance. I nodded at Emilio, who was on duty at the back door.
“You need a ride, Boss?” he asked as he opened the door.
“Not today.”
The car was parked in its designated spot closest to the exit. I had spent too much time that morning trying to decide which vehicle to drive. My favorites were too flashy for a coffee shop. The SUVs were large and imposing, complete with bullet-resistant glass and tinted windows. I had made a decision that would piss her off, but she’d get over it. My baby sister’s two-door import was the logical decision. It wasn’t like Lilly drove herself very many places. For my sister’s protection, I had an experienced driver take her wherever she needed to go. When she resisted, which was a regular occurrence, she got to drive her car but with an escort of guards. The embarrassment factor worked in my favor. Her independence was short-lived. She got what she needed at the time, and I knew she was safe. When the urge passed, we went back to our normal routines - hers as the spoiled Italian princess and mine as The Boss.
Lilly understood. She didn’t like it and reminded me of that fact on a regular basis, but for the most part, she did what she needed to do to make sure I could keep her safe. She smiled, and she cooperated. I completely understood her need for an occasional act of rebellion. I couldn’t go too hard on her. She was my baby sister. She needed me. She should have been able to live the life she wanted - to shop until she dropped, to walk freely in the sunshine, to not have toaskbefore traveling.
But she was born a Calegari princess, and she knew the system. She had no real control over anything - no voice of her own, no power to make decisions.
That was my job.
