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“My family’s from Sicily, way back. Like they always used to say, you got to obey the Don.”
“I’m obliged to you, Marie. This will not be forgotten.”
“Like I say, officially we ain’t talking and you’re a suspect. Off the record, I’m glad you’re taking over from Umberto. I never liked that son of a bitch. I was working vice when your mother was sold to him. I knew something had happened when she disappeared. Which brings me to my point. We’re all squared away except one thing.”
“Which is?”
“One of the bodies we’ve brought up from the cemetery, I’m fairly certain it’s your foster mother.”
I swallow the emotion that’s coming up before it gets out. “You’re sure?”
“Not yet but I’m hoping you’ll be willing to look at some of the effects she was buried with. Confirm an I.D. Maybe tomorrow morning if you’re in Chicago overnight tonight.”
“Where?”
“Meet me outside the McDonalds at Union Station? I’ll drive you the rest of the way.”
“I’ll be there.”
“See you tomorrow then, Don Lauria.”
The phone goes dead. I hold it steady in my hand, thinking about what she just said.
“You’ll be where?” Chloe asks.
I turn around. She’s standing in the doorway of the bedroom, looking as beautiful as the day I met her. She’s bruised and battered but she’s on the mend. As am I. “They might have found my foster mother’s body in the cemetery,” I tell her. “Not far from your parents.”
“That’s good, right?”
“I have a place to mourn her. That’ll do me.”
Spock’s finished eating and is circling my ankles, making Chloe laugh. I scratch his furry head before walking over to her.
“It’s over,” I say. “At the meeting tonight, I’ll be telling the families I’m going to be running things for the next few years at least. Will pick a successor to take over once we’ve got a family on the way.”
“We’re having a family, are we?”
“I was thinking girl and boy.”
“Were you?”
“You want two girls?”
“I want some of the stuff you have to do to get a girl and a boy.”
“Paint the nursery? Pick a car seat?”
She unbuttons the top of her pajamas, revealing just enough cleavage to get my cock twitching. “This give you a hint?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Sorry, going to need something more concrete.”
She sighs, cussing under her breath as she undoes the rest of the buttons, pulling either side of her top apart to flash me her chest. “You get it now?” she asks. “Or do I have to draw you a diagram?”
“What you need to do is get in there and get on all fours. I heard that cussing coming out of your mouth.”
“As you say so often,” she replies with a grin. “Got to obey the Don.”
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