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Bruno
Bruno Gluttony knew better than to trust anyone, especially not anyone in his family’s syndicate. But there was something about his partner, Gino Trotta, that made him want to trust him. Hell, he wanted to do more with Gino than just trust him. They had been working together now for almost two years, and if he was being honest with himself, he had fallen in love with the guy. The question was, would he be able to let his guard down and finally let Gino in?
“I’ve been waiting forever, man,” Gino said. “Are you coming or what?” They were on assignment. His father had stuck them both on babysitting duty and Bruno knew that was some sort of punishment for being so vocal about his father’s crooked business dealings. If Bruno had his way, he would stop all the killing and vendettas that seemed to fuel his father’s daily existence.
“I’m coming,” Bruno said, storming past him, “and, you need to remember who is in charge here. I’m the one giving the orders, not you.”
“Got it,” Gino said. He was wearing the cheeky grin that always turned Bruno on. A part of him wondered if Gino had any idea what he did to him. Probably not. Hell, Bruno knew that the guy dated, but he wasn’t sure if he was into women or men. They really never discussed shit like that, and why would they? They were partners at work, and that’s where things ended.
“I just didn’t think that a pee break would take you so long, man,” Gino teased. Bruno should have known that he wasn’t going to drop the subject. “I mean, you sure that you’re okay?”
“You aren’t funny,” Bruno grumbled. “I got a phone call while I was in there and took it. I didn’t know that I needed to run my plans by you beforehand.”
Gino held up his hands, “Not at all, boss,” he said. God, he hated when Gino called him, “Boss.” They both knew that he didn’t mean it.
“Shut the fuck up,” Bruno growled. “You know that I hate it when you call me that.”
“Call you what?” Gino asked. He was still wearing that sexy, shit-eating grin that made Bruno want to punch and kiss the guy all at the same time.
“Boss,” Bruno shouted, “you know that I fucking hate it when you call me that.”
“Right, sorry,” Gino said. Bruno could tell that he wanted to call him, “Boss” again, but he bit his tongue.
“Let’s just get out of here,” Bruno insisted. They were standing at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, having the stupidest argument ever. All he wanted was to get into the car, drive home, and drink until he felt he could put the whole day behind him. That was going to take quite a few drinks though.
“Who called you?” Gino asked, changing the subject. Shit—that was not what Bruno needed. He had opened his big mouth and now, he was going to have to come up with a damn good lie because telling his partner that Damion Pride had called him to tell him where they were meeting, wasn’t happening. Bruno was working with the other syndicate families to bring down his father. Sure, that made him sound like a monster, but it had to be done.
“My father called,” he lied. “He wanted an update on our assignment.”
“I see,” Gino breathed. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him that we didn’t have any news,” Bruno said. “Can we just get out of here?” he asked.
“Sure,” Gino agreed. He followed Bruno out to the car and slipped into the passenger seat. He was quiet for the first time all day, and Bruno wondered what that was about.
Bruno got into the driver’s seat and looked over at Gino. “Do you have something that you’d like to say?” he asked.
“Why do you ask that?” Gino questioned.
“Because you’re quiet and that never happens,” Bruno accused.
“I guess I’m quiet because I’m just trying to figure out why you’re lying to me,” Gino said.
“Lying to you? Why would I do that?” Bruno asked.
“I’m trying to figure that out myself. I thought that I’ve proven myself to you, Bruno. I’ve had your back for two years now—doesn’t that earn me a little bit of trust?”
“Of course, it does,” Bruno agreed. He felt as though he was walking right into a trap, but there was no way of stopping himself from jumping in with both feet. “I still don’t understand why you think I’m lying to you, Gino,” he said.
“Because I was on the phone with your father while you were in the bathroom. He was calling me for my daily update on you,” Gino said. Bruno knew that his father didn’t trust him but hearing that Gino had been feeding him updates about him just plain pissed him off.
“You were doing what?” Bruno asked.
“Let me explain,” Gino begged. “I don’t ever tell him anything of worth. He dragged me into his office about six months ago, telling me that I was going to give him updates about you every day.”
“What kind of updates?” Bruno asked.
“He wanted to know who you met with, who you spoke to on the phone, and if you said anything damning that might hurt the syndicate,” Gino said.
