AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We’re at a crossroads. What I want doesn’t match what he needs to do, and I’m not sure how we make this work. I shake my head and sigh, watching the landscape flit past, and Gavino’s face darkens as he glares at the road.
“I don’t agree with everything my oldest brother wants,” he says, not looking at me. “I love my family. I’m loyal to the Famiglia. But I worry we’re going in the wrong direction.”
“And what direction is that?”
“He wants to change the way we do business.” He hesitates as if he’s wondering whether he should keep talking. “For a long time, the Famiglia made its money on the streets. We were a mafia family first, and whatever legitimate businesses we ran were all in service of the Famiglia. We took care of our people and focused on flourishing inside of our territory. But we’ve gotten big in the last fifteen years. Bigger than anyone thought we would. Cheap drugs from Mexico flooded over the border thanks to Casso’s wife, Olivia, and her cartel connections, and we’ve been shipping them out all across the country. The money is good, very good, and everyone’s getting fat and happy.”
He talks about importing and selling illegal drugs like it’s no big deal. I watch him, surprised but try not to let it show. I know this is dangerous—men like him rarely ever talk about their business in such stark, detailed terms—and the wrong move could make him suspect me in a way I really, really don’t want.
“Things are changing now.” His jaw tightens and so does his grip on the wheel. “Casso’s shifting our focus away from importing and distribution and more toward some of the legitimate businesses we’ve established. All the old ways are dying, and our people on the street are getting left behind.”
“Isn’t that good though? I mean, you don’t have to worry about getting arrested all the time.”
His lip curls and he shakes his head. “You’d think so. Casso would say yes, of course. But I’m not so sure.”
“Why? I don’t understand. You could die in jail if you get caught with those drugs.”
He dismisses that with a grunt. “It’s the risk we all accept when we get involved in this business.”
“Sounds like a risk you don’t need to take on.”
“If we go legit, we’ll be leaving dozens of men behind. We have capos, lieutenants, their soldiers and their families, all these people depend on us to earn for them. When we go legit, we’ll be leaving them all behind. They can’t work in a damn office, half the guys in my crew never graduated from high school. Hell, even if they could, they still wouldn’t. They work with me for a damn reason.”
I let out a soft breath. “You’re acting like these are decent people. They’re a bunch of criminals.”
His eyebrows raise. “I’m a criminal, princess. And if I recall correctly, you are too.”
“Don’t act like you’re the only one that knows people like them. I grew up in hell. I know what your soldiers are like.” I grind my teeth, trying not to get too angry, but I remember Mom’s string of worthless boyfriends and their friends coming through my house. Half of them were abusive to her and the other half tried to fuck me and I was only a little girl back then. I had to figure out how to keep them off me real fast. Mom was always too busy, or too enamored, or too high to notice what was going on, but I remember the handsy assholes that followed me into the bathroom, and her one boyfriend that stole underwear from my dirty laundry when I was thirteen. I remember, and I hate them for it.
But that’s not fair to Gavino. I don’t know if his people are the same ones that made my life hell. For all I know, he runs a crew of saintly drug dealers.
He grunts in reply. “All I’m trying to say is, Casso’s changing the direction the Famiglia’s headed in, and while I don’t agree with him, I also won’t outwardly oppose him.” He goes quiet for a moment and glances at me as he slows. We’re close to the villa now and I can practically see it nestled in its little valley between red-rock ridges. “But if you do something about Malcolm, I won’t stop you either.”
I frown at him. “What are you saying?”
“Take your shot, Jeanie. When you get it, take it.”
