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“What?” I shrug as I sit down next to her. “They’re not even here.”
“No, of course, they’re not because we are meeting them at one thirty. I had to add an extra thirty minutes for you to show up on time.”
I pick a piece of bread on the table and bite into it. “That’s smart. See, that’s why you’re our leader. That and because your dad was our old leader, I guess.”
Her piercing blue eyes are on me the next second, attempting to annihilate me. She really hates when anyone takes away her hard work and mentions her dad being the reason she’s our boss.
“Fucking hell, I’m joking. Relax, will you?”
“For things to sound like a joke, you must put humor in it. Not talk like a robot. And I’ll fucking relax when the Lucianos offer us protection. I’m sick of the Kings ruling our town, and it’s time to take them down.”
“Amen to that,” I mumble as I take another piece of bread.
Just before one-thirty, two people walk into the restaurant. One is a tall, broad man with dark hair and olive skin, the other a woman with long red hair and no life in her emerald eyes.
“Is that him?” I ask Emma as he stops by the bar to chat with the bartender.
Emma nods, her eyes on the woman with Vito.
“And that is?” I insist. She’s apparently only got eyes for her. Knowing how much my stepsister loves women, I’m not surprised one as beautiful as that redhead caught her attention.
“That must be Lucky.” Emma takes a deep breath and stretches her neck to the left and then to the right. “Vito’s psychopath of an enforcer.”
“Awesome,” I huff. “If this ends in a bloodbath, we’re fucked.”
“Are you carrying?” Emma’s head snaps to me.
“Of course, I’m carrying. Do you know a lot of NSC people whodon’t?” I pause, reading the answer in her eyes. “Wait, are you not?”
“Of course I’m not, you fucking idiot. We’re meeting with the Cosa Nostra, and they will think you don’t trust them.”
“Idon’ttrust them,” I admit calmly. There is nothing in our world of violence that scares me anymore. Eat or get eaten, that’s how I’ve always lived. I’ve been shot and stabbed before. I’ve faced death as many times as I’ve killed people. It’s them or me.
My pulse doesn’t rise anymore. It used to when I was a teenager, but I’ve built a thick skin and seen things so horrifying that nothing gets to me.
I wasn’t born fucked up, but the North Shore surely made an unhinged man out of me.
Vito and Lucky start walking toward us, their gazes on the both of us. Emma fakes a smile, and she elbows me in the ribs.
“Smile motherfucker,” she mumbles, keeping the fake cheeriness on her face. “Get us killed, and I will find you in hell, Xi. You’ve got my word.”
“Can’t wait,” I murmur back, forcing my lips into a smile as well.
My stepsister knows me too well. She knows I don’t take shit from anyone and that my violence often gets the best of me. But I’ll make an effort for her. We have the same goal in mind, after all. To win back the North Shore.
Vito stops by our table, and Lucky takes a few steps back in true boss and enforcer style.
“You must be Emma Scott,” Vito says as he extends his hands. “Vito Luciano.”
There’s a smoothness and elegance in his movements and the way he carries himself that doesn’t shoutviolence!the way I do.
Vito Luciano has mastered the art of underground crime.
Whereas my appearance and behavior show I’m part of a gang from miles away, Vito lives like a wolf among sheep. And yet I bet he does more damage than I do.
“Nice to meet you,” Emma says seriously as she shakes his hand. “This is Xi.”
He shakes my hand and nods before sharing a look with Lucky.
