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I let out a quick laugh, trails of tears down her cheeks taking away my will to speak any further. Words felt so useless sometimes. This was one such case. I felt some moisture along the side of my thumb, her sad eyes continuing to gaze up into mine. That feeling made me want to hold her again. I snaked my arm around her neck and pulled her into my embrace, my fingers stopping over the back of her neck. I squeezed her figure in my arms, leaving a soft kiss on top of her head. I smelled her hair, wishing I’d done that weeks ago. Regret poured into my insides; I had screwed up with her big time. She locked her arms around my waist, more of her sniffles and sobs destroying the awkward silence. I sucked in a deep breath, easing my fingers out of that lush hair of hers. Kissing her forehead, I lowered my arms down to her hips and gave her a gentle push back.
“Take care.”
I offered her just two words, before setting my sights on the window I had come in from. I couldn’t give her anything more. Besides, I had delayed this long enough. I had done what I had set out to do. I had explained myself to her. Piper wouldn’t remember me as some selfish prick who’d just dumped her after one night in bed together. I didn’t know how she would remember me, but at least she wouldn’t be mad at me. In my mind, this simple truth made the climb up her fire escape worth it.
30
LEONARDO
This washands down the most important meeting we’d ever had.
I was so tense that I couldn’t even sit my ass down.
I just leaned against his kitchen counter while the two of us waited for Matteo to turn up.
I would have given pretty much everything I owned to know what was on Cesare’s mind that night.
I often bragged about my ability to read people. Whether it was a guy or a woman, I could often tell by the look on their faces what they’d been thinking.
Not with Cesare.
That big son of a bitch had a great poker face. I couldn’t recall a single time when his expression gave him away. Even though we managed to pull off that armored truck heist, one just couldn’t know how he felt. Yes, he’d high fived me and Matteo and smiled, but that only lasted about seconds. After that, he went back to the same mysterious guy I’d known most of my life.
Serious.
Analytical.
Calculating.
He was all business.
When he went out to buy something from the local supermarket the next day, Matteo and I wondered if his cousin actually enjoyed all this. We couldn’t find an answer, but we did come to a conclusion.
If he did enjoy whatever we’d been up to, he wasn’t doing it like me and Matteo. He just wasn’t made like that. He wasn’t going to cheer, laugh and crack jokes after a success. He would share in the fun at first, and then, he would go back to what he did best.
Leading. Taking charge. Making split second decisions and acting on them.
Once Matteo had arrived, I felt my anticipation doubling inside me. He and I stood side by side while Cesare stepped around the armchair in his living room and faced us with a stone-cold look in his eyes.
“Before I tell you my decision, I want you to know I’ve hated the past week or so,” he said, his tone calm. “We were all pretty edgy. We were all ready to rip each other’s throat out, but I’m also glad that we didn’t let things get out of hand. A fight would have fucked us up.”
“Cut to the chase, will you?” I told him, growing all the more impatient.
“Guys, we need to face reality here,” he advised, his gaze traveling from me to Matteo and back to me. “The Roselli family’s got resources. We don’t. So, if we want to stay alive, we have to work with them.”
“Cesare…”
“I’m still talking here,” he said, pointing up to his mouth. “I know you’re going to bitch about them trying to kill us in Amanda’s. Hell, I wanted to tear those motherfuckers apart when we met them in that warehouse. Right now, though, there our best chance at becoming members.”
“How thefuckwill we do that?” I asked, raising my voice. “The mob’s trying to whack them, too.”
“By beating the mob to it,” he replied, his eyes sparkling with determination. “We take out our wannabe killers? We get the respect we’ve been looking for. There’s something else that makes me want to work with the Roselli family.”
“Let me guess,” Matteo suggested, his tone lazy. “Piper.”
“Yeah.”
And there it was.
