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“You may go, Elliot.” Massimo dismisses the foot soldier as I make my way inside his office. Elliot inhales sharply when he sees me and scurries out of the office like a little rat. The new recruits are always skittish at first.
“To what do I owe this pleasure, Ezra?” Massimo asks, leaning back in his leather chair. I remain standing, and he doesn’t offer me a seat. It doesn’t matter whether you stand or sit in front of Massimo Moratti; either way, it’s clear that he holds the upper hand. I always eschew the power games with him.
“I know you put Crew on me last week when I came to your little gathering.” Asking me shit as if I’ve ever thought about getting out. After Massimo, Crew is the next in charge. I doubt he’d want out no matter what.
“Oh?” Massimo raises a brow.
“You wanted to know If I want out of this life? Well, here’s your answer. I fucking want out.” He remains in his relaxed pose; a tangible tension fills the air when the words are out of my mouth.
“Ezra Beaufort. What did I tell you the night you took the oath of omertà and officially became a made man?”
Fuck, I knew he would ask. “You said once I’m in, I’m in, there’s no leaving.”
“Exactly. I made sure you knew what you were getting into, but you remained sure about your decision. You don’t get to waltz into my office now and tell me you want out. There is no out.”
“I was a fucking child. I wasseventeen. There was no way I could have known the full ramification of my decision…you know it, Moratti, so cut me some slack.” I was a full blown addict who just had my supply cut off because Dad stopped dealing drugs to save me.
I found Massimo after two weeks of desperate research. Here was someone willing to give me enough to get by; all I had to do in exchange were odd jobs like passing cash to some rough looking types, carrying backpacks I wasn’t supposed to go through–which I did once and saw they were filled with pistols, elementary stuff.
It was a sweet deal at the time. I would have said anything, agreed to anything, so it wouldn’t end. I didn’t realize that by fully joining the organization, I’d get promoted from those harmless odd jobs to something much more involved. I definitely didn’t consider the effects that being in the mafia would have on my future family. Hell, I never expected to have anyone but myself to worry about, and I’ve never valued my own life very highly.
I’ve lived day to day for so long that it never occurred to me to consider my actions beyond the next job. Whether the request came from Alex or Massimo, my life felt out of my hands. But no more. I’m going to be a father now, and a father is in charge of his family’s well-being above all else.
He tilts his head at me, unimpressed. “You might have been a teenager, but you knew enough to find me and strike a deal with the devil. I helped you get clean within a year in the family, Ezra. If you had told me then you wanted out, I might have considered it. But it’s too late now.”
“But I did tell you, remember? The night I turned twenty-two. I came to you asking for a way out. You told me to wait, and I trusted you.”
I trusted him because during that period, he was more of a big brother to me than Alex was. He was the only one who seemed to understand the full extent of my predicament. The only one who checked in on me, who thought I could amount to anything. Even if it was just as his enforcer, it was something, and more meaningful than what my own family was willing to offer at the time.
“Because it was already too late. You’d already been with us for five years. I still had to deal with men whose loyalties weren’t entirely mine. I couldn’t just shake the whole foundation of the organization by letting you go.”
I nod, understanding that he wasn’t in a position to let me go back then. “And now?”
“And now it’s waywaytoo late.”
“You’re in charge, Hudson. If you say it’s not too late, then it’s not too late.”
He finally sits up, his face impassive. “Calling me by that name isn’t going to change anything, Ezra. It is too late. You’ve been in this organization for over a decade. You know too much and are too valuable for me to just let you walk away. If that’s the only reason you’re here, you may leave.”
I don’t budge, my heart hardening the longer I stare into his clear green eyes. Those eyes that were like a lifeline to me the first pain filled week I went without using. I thought we’dbecome closer than anybody else in the organization. He’s really going to do this to me?
“Huh,” he murmurs, frowning as he takes me in with fresh eyes. “You didn’t care much about leaving before. What changed?”
My muscles tense, but I force myself to relax. I can’t let him know about Charlie or our babies. Nothing good could ever come from him having that knowledge. I roll my eyes insolently, “You’re a fool if you really think that.”
Massimo goes still, and I hold my breath. I just crossed the line, but I have to snuff all doubt out of his mind. I don’t need him digging into my business. “Have a good night, Massimo.” I spin around to walk out of his office while I still can.
“You know, there is a way for you to leave the organization.” His words stop me in my tracks. I turn my head to him in question.
“Remember this,La Fiamma, the only way out of the Moratti family is through a body bag.”
I give him a curt nod and walk out. When I get to my truck, I hesitate before I turn on the ignition, something niggling the back of my mind.
I take out my burner phone from the steering wheel compartment; sure enough there’s a message from Massimo, sent a minute ago. An order to supervise the arrival of the guns we’re expecting at the warehouse. My jaw clenches and I tighten my grip on the phone almost painfully.
I floor the gas and peel out of the parking lot, spraying gravel in every direction to get as far away from him as I can. Even if just for tonight.
CHAPTER 16
