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“I’m not my fucking father, that’s why,” I snarled.
Something cracked up my spine and I had the impression the corners of the room decimate into fine, ground powder as though the image was glass had shattered along the seams. I didn’t even realize I had my fingers around Weiss’s throat and had pinned him back, causing the office chair to creak ominously — not until Daniel caught my shoulder and gripped it, murmuring, “basta.”
“Fucker,” I said and stepped back, watching Weiss wheeze and gasp for breath. This time, I pulled out a gun. “Told you, I’m notasking again. And I already have a guy in Florida who likes to take retired agents out for some deep sea fishing. Sucks that an old Boston cop could end up as shark bait.” I tilted my head as Weiss paled. “Poetic, though.”
“Fine.” Weiss closed his eyes. “Fine. Untie my fucking hands and I’ll do it.”
Daniel pulled out a knife and stepped forward. “Don’t be stupid, cop.” His voice was mild but Weiss flinched back, his eyes searching Daniel’s face. Then Weiss sucked in a hard breath when my cousin smiled at him. “Yeah. Don’t feel bad. No one knows until it’s too late. Count yourself lucky. You get to live.”
Anger and agony surged in my veins, but I couldn’t tell Danny to knock that shit off in front of Mickey. Instead, I had to shoot him a glare that he outright ignored.
At the same time, a splutter came from Weiss in the form of the worst lie I’d ever heard, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, yes you do,” Daniel said, and his voice was almost kind.
And there it was, that detachment. It made my skin crawl and when I caught the look on my cousin’s face, I knew I'd fucked up. Daniel was gone. He was gone to that twisted and hellish place that his asshole waste of a father had forced him to create, all to survive the relentless onslaught of fists and fucked-up sentiment that had been his childhood, all thanks to his old man.
“You realize that as bad as Tyler is, as much of a monster as he might be,” Daniel leaned down to Weiss’s eye level, “I’m a thousand times worse.” I winced as my cousin patted the cop on the cheek, and all three of our guys — guys who liked and respected Daniel — took an instinctive step back. “Don’t worry. My cousin keeps the world safe from me. And I like my cage, one that Tyler so kindly guards.”
“Dan,” I said, real panic rising in me. I should've known better than to let him come along. Beatings and blood always fucked with my cousin's head. He had detached himself too deeply, fighting a battle against the bloodlust his father had wanted his son to have and Daniel's natural abhorrence of violence. Now, I had to say something. Who gave a shit what Mickey Weiss read into it? We were probably going to kill him anyway. “Take a walk,frate. Per piacere.”
Daniel blinked and that ghastly look left his face. He almost stumbled back, rubbing his face as he looked around with a hint of something resembling fear flickering in his eyes.
He’d have no memory of this, not until it came back in a nightmare.
I hope you rot in hell, Sal,I thought as my jaw gritted.
“Che cosa ho fatto?” Daniel asked and looked at me, then at Weiss. “L’ho fatto ioquesto?”
“No, that was me,” I said, wishing that our cousin Luca wasn’t dealing with the mess in Italy, “and Heavy, not you. You just made some threats, I swear.”
“Good,” Daniel said and went to the door. “I’ll… I’ll be in the car.”
Fuck.I swallowed hard and looked at my guys. I trusted them all with my life, knew they had my back, but Daniel’s episodes freaked even the toughest of them out.
Once he was gone, before I could even speak, Humberto “Heavy” Basillio said, “We know, boss. Doesn’t leave this room. Don’t worry.”
“He’ll be okay,” his cousin Artie Basillio added. “Always is.”
“And we know what a fuckin’ rat bastard of a father Sal was,” Pasquale Novo added.
“SalMichaelson had a kid?” Weiss asked, his jaw swinging low, staring after Daniel. “Holy shit. That… But…” He blinked several times. “Christ, that kid… I can’t even imagine…”
“It doesn’t matter what you imagine,” I said, aware that Weiss had to know full well what my uncle was like to have that reaction, “because it was a million times worse.”
“Fuck,” Weiss said weakly. “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for, makin’ it seem like Daniel was a cousin from the oldcountry. I know cops who would cut his throat just for being Sal’s son.”
“I’m aware,” I said in a terse voice. “Sins of the father and all that shit. So, now that we’re all such good friends, delete what you have on us and give me the dirt on Hendrix. Unless you’d like Heavy to break your kneecaps.”
Heavy cracked his knuckles and grinned. The atmosphere in the room descended into the sort of convivial air when you found out the enemy of your enemy was both equally hatedanda father.
Weiss nodded and let the rest of the ropes fall to the floor. With a sigh, he opened the laptop and then made a choked sound.
“What the hell?” Weiss asked and looked around, then back at his laptop. “No fucking way!” A laugh barked out of him. “Talk about timing.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s gone,” Weiss said and sat back, his hands working his temples. “Iwasbeing followed.” Another short bark of laughter escaped him. “Someone beat you to it.” The cop nodded at the window. “Look. That was opened. Paint is all cracked. I was wondering why it was so fuckin' freezing in here.”
