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“Let me help arrange things. We can go back to the city for the meeting to keep this place off your father’s radar. That way, if someone runs back to nark, we can get out of the city and come back up here,” Gino said.
“Fine, I’ll leave finding the place to you. Also, you can take care of security and all that stuff. I’ll call the higher-ups in the family and arrange the meeting. Send me the details when you have them. We’ll need to make sure that this doesn’t turn into an ambush.”
“Agreed, but you can leave that to me. You just worry about getting the family members to agree to show up. I’ll keep everyone safe,” Gino promised. Bruno was counting on that because he knew that some of the members could turn on him and run back to his father, but that was a chance that he was willing to risk.
* * *
Gino had found the perfect space for them all to meet—an empty warehouse that was owned by the Gluttony Syndicate. They were hiding in plain sight and Bruno had to admit, that was the genius part of the plan.
Most of the family members he invited showed up. A few respectively declined, and that told him what he needed to know—who was loyal to his father and who might possibly be turned. Bruno just hoped like hell that this plan worked because if not, his father would never willingly let him take over the syndicate, and trying to do so would mean an all-out war.
“You’ve got this,” Gino whispered as they looked around the roomful of familiar faces. “Most of these people have known you since you were just a kid, and they want change as much as we do.” His guy was right—they were there because they wanted to make a change in the way that the Gluttony Syndicate was being run and that change would start with him.
Bruno took a deep breath and let it back out. “I’ve got this,” he repeated Gino’s words. He stepped out of the shadows of the corner of the room and pasted on his best smile. “Hello,” he breathed. The crowd returned his salutation, and he took another breath, letting it out. He felt so out of his element, but then again, he was. His father didn’t usually let him take the lead on any of their larger events. Maybe he was afraid that Bruno would win over the other syndicate members, as he was trying to do tonight, or maybe, he just didn’t like to share the limelight.
“I know that you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here tonight,” he started.
“We have a pretty good idea why we are here,” someone shouted from the back of the room. “What are you going to do about your father?”
That was the question of the hour. What was he prepared to do about his father’s tyrannical reign? “Whatever it takes to take him out of power,” Bruno promised. He meant it too. He knew that his father might not leave willingly and that he’d have to do the unthinkable—kill his own father.
“You’re prepared for the war that he’s going to wage on you and anyone who goes up against him?” Hilda asked. She was one of the oldest members of the Gluttony family and the fact that she had put her trust in him meant everything to Bruno. “You’ll be able to protect us?” she asked. This was the part of his plan that the syndicate members might not like so much.
“I am,” he said. “And I can protect all of you, but that will mean that we have to join the alliance.” A gentle murmur ran through the crowd followed by Hilda shushing everyone.
“Let him speak,” she insisted.
“Thank you,” Bruno said. “Listen, we all want change and the only way to do that is to let go of the past. We need to let go of the old ways and the wars that my father has waged against the other families. He’s torn so many families apart—deciding who lives and who dies. I want to change all of that now. I want peace and I’m betting that most of you do too and that’s why you are all here. Give me a chance to prove that this alliance can work. Six other families have been in an alliance for over a year now and they are reaping the benefits of peace. That can be us, guys,” Bruno said. “Don’t we deserve some peace rather than living in fear of what my father is going to do next?”
“I say we take a vote,” Hilda shouted to the crowd. “All in favor of seating Bruno Gluttony as the head of the Gluttony Syndicate, say aye,” she yelled. Most of the crowd shouted, “Aye.”
“And, nay,” she called. Two men in the back shouted, “Nay,” and turned to leave through the back door. They might be running off to report to his father, but that was the chance he was taking by calling them all together tonight.
“The ayes have it,” Hilda shouted. “Don’t make us regret this decision,” she said, looking Bruno dead in the eyes. He knew what the consequences were if he let them all down. They’d do the same thing that he was planning to do to his father. He had a big job to fill, and he planned on making them all proud.
“I won’t let you down,” he assured. “I appreciate all your support and trust in me. I’m going to bring this syndicate into the future, and we will all have the peace that I’ve promised.” Bruno wasn’t sure how he was going to make that happen, but his first step was to let Damion Pride and the others know about the vote of confidence his syndicate had just given him. If all went well, the Gluttony family would be allowed to join the alliance and then, he’d be able to take care of his father. He just needed a little help from his new friends.
Gino
Gino walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water after working out. He loved that they were spending so much time up at Bruno’s cabin. In fact, he wouldn’t mind staying there long term, but he knew that couldn’t happen once Bruno took control of the Gluttony family. His place would be in the city where he could run things, but Gino hoped that they’d be able to get back to the cabin as much as possible. Maybe they’d spend weekends there or even holidays. Would Bruno want that? They hadn’t really talked about forever, but that was exactly what Gino wanted with Bruno—forever.
Bruno had run into town to pick up a few groceries and Gino decided to use that time to go for a quick run. If he played his cards right, he’d be in the shower, soaping up his body, by the time Bruno got back home and he’d be able to entice him to join him. He heard the car door close out in the driveway and peeked out the window to find two of Mr. Gluttony’s guards staring back at him.
“Shit,” he mumbled to himself. How the hell did they find them? Bruno said that no one else knew about his cabin and he was careful when he went out to meet with the other family heads, not letting on that they were staying out of town. They drove back down to the city in the dead of night and returned to the cabin the same way, making sure that no one had followed them. Someone must have slipped past their defenses and reported back to Bruno’s old man about the cabin. He was going to have to do some fast thinking and even faster talking if he was going to get them out of there before Bruno got back home.
Gino pulled the back door open and pasted on his best fake smile. “Hey guys,” Gino said.
“We’re here to take you and Bruno back to the boss,” Victor said. Victor and Gene were two of the old man’s top supporters. They’d do just about anything to make the boss happy, including some pretty gruesome torture. In fact, that was their specialty. If the two of them were there for him and Bruno, they weren’t just going to be taking them back to the boss. They’d both be bloody and broken by the time they were dumped on Mr. Gluttony’s floor. Then, he’d probably finish the job himself. The heartless bastard would have no problem killing his own son.
“Well, I’m sorry to say that you missed Bruno,” he lied. “He’s already gone back to the city to meet with his father this evening. Maybe you wouldn’t mind giving me a lift into the city and we can meet him back at the office.” He knew that he was turning himself over to the devil himself, but he just couldn’t let them get their hands on Bruno. They’d be signing their death certificates. At least this way, he’d be buying them some time. The guys would take him back to the syndicate and rough him up a bit and Bruno would have time to come up with a play—one that hopefully included involving their new allies and mounting a rescue for him because he was pretty sure that he was going to need one.
“I think you’re full of shit, but I do like the idea of you coming back to the city with us,” Gene said. “We can have a little fun until your boyfriend shows up.” So, they had heard that he and Bruno were together. Old man Gluttony would have had a stroke finding out that his only son was gay. God, he wished he could have seen that.
“Sorry, you’re not really my type, Gene,” Gino joked. From the look on the old guy’s face, he wasn’t amused.
“Shut the fuck up,” Gene shouted.
Victor pulled his gun from his shoulder holster and pointed it at Gino. “Let’s go, wise guy.” Gino dramatically held his hands in the air and walked out the back door. He just hoped like hell that Bruno would figure out what had happened to him.
