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He usually allows me to dole out certain decisions in situations where he doesn’t need to get involved, but since this involved Giordanos Inc. and our investigation into what Mark got up to is still going on, I’m not sure Pa’s gonna think it’s acceptable for me to accept pussy as payment. A payment I haven’t decided on… yet.
Fuck. I don’t know how this is all going to play out. All because Mark was reckless. It’s like leaving a box of important documents out in the street for all to see but you forgot where you left it. When the feds and cops start poking around other things we actually want to keep secret, shit will start to stir.
It’s just pissed me off. It’s barely eleven, and this morning has been a bitch, and I’m mad as all hell. I hardly got two minutes with my kid before I had to leave the house, and I knew even before I opened my eyes from the little sleep I got last night that this was going to be one drawn-out day with all kinds of shit happening.
Things I can’t control, and things I can.
Like Mark.
He deserves to be taught a lesson, and I’m not teaching it to him because of his daughter and her offer looming over my head.
The same way it hasn’t escaped me that she’s more worried about her father than herself, it hasn’t escaped me either that Ava is the only thing stopping me from killing Mark. It’s a fact that’s irritating the fuck out of me.
I won’t be a prick and lie that I’m not attracted to her. The woman has a body that would make any man ache with need. My answer to her last night was truth, so I won’t act like I’m some kind of saint and pretend I didn’t think of all the wild, wicked, daring things I could do with my pretty little house guest when she threw her offer my way.
At the same fucking time, I have to remember who and what I am.
I push the door to the house open and am greeted by Philippe, our butler.
Pa hasn’t said what this meeting will be about. It’s strange for him to keep the subject of the meeting so hushed. If Pa hadn’t scheduled it in before the shit with Mark, I’d be inclined to think it would be about that. I’m sure though that it will be mentioned, and sights will be turned to me.
I enter the meeting room, and it looks like I’m the last to arrive.
Everyone is already here.
My parents head the table, my father as boss of the family with my mother on his right hand as his consigliere.
There’s a space on his left for me. My brothers Salvatore, Gabe, and Nick take up the seats to the left of Ma in order of their rank of authority. Whom I never expected to be here though are my uncles, and cousins; Christian and Georgiou. It’s literally all the people who are important to the business.
I nod at Pa, acknowledging him in our habitual way, then take my seat next to him.
“Wonderful,” Pa says. “Now that Vincent’s here, we can begin. Vincent, what is the situation?” Pa asks, face stern.
Needless to say, he was furious as fuck about Mark and ordered his killing straightaway. That question right there is him asking me if he’s still alive.
We have no secrets amongst us. That’s the first code of honor. Salvatore would have filled him in on what happened last night. He knows too that Ava offered herself in exchange for Mark’s repayment. We have no secrets, but I hope he didn’t mention that part.
“I have it under control,” I answer. My gaze flicks to Salvatore, who tenses his jaw, and Gabe, who looks off about the whole thing.
I know what’s grating Gabe. He and Salvatore are like two peas in a fucking pod. Salvatore might not have told Pa about Ava’s offer, but I’m sure as shit he told Gabe. Not Nick though. If Nick knew, he would have called me by now. The bottom line is, they’d all think it was wrong.
“Do you?” Pa asks, drawing my attention back to him.
“Yes, Boss,” I reply. “The cops and the feds can’t pin anything on us. Right now, it all looks like speculation aimed our way.”
He gives me an uneasy look. He’s my father, but I’ve worked with him long enough to know that wasn’t the answer he was looking for, and not with the way I’ve been dealing out punishment lately to those who deserve it.
He tenses and bites down hard on his back teeth. “Vinny, we’ll talk after in private.”
Shit….
I groan inwardly. The last thing I need now is Pa on my ass. He’s a lot harder on me than everybody else. He always has been, even when Frankie was alive. It was a clear demarcation of authority. Frankie and I were always going to be the muscle while the other guys would fall in line to run the business in the run-of-the-mill aspects of it.
Two years ago things changed, and everyone had to step up when our enemies tried to eradicate us.
Pa looks away from me and focuses ahead, looking at everyone. From one to the next. My uncles are silent. It’s unusual. I get the feeling they know more about what this meeting is about than the rest of us.
Pa finishes looking around, and then he does something he rarely ever does in public. He reaches for my mother’s hand, and she gives it to him. He then looks at her, and she gives him a coy smile.
