Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
A low rumbling sound came from Vito, and he moved forward on his chair.
Lucien held up his hand. “I know you want to protect your man. But I need to understand exactly where we stand.”
“I did because I started receiving threats from Benito’s organization. I knew they had people watching me. I got notes in my locker at the arena and in my mailbox at my apartment.”
Vito scowled. “You didn’t tell me he knew where you lived.”
Lucien cleared his throat. “I’m handling this.”
Dom glared at Vito. “Back off.”
Vito leaned back in his chair and gestured for Lucien to continue.
“Thank you ever so much,” Lucien said. “You were convinced that if you could get the money to pay them off in full, they would back away, then you’d only have us to deal with?”
“That’s right, and I had no idea Vito was a Marchesi. That was—”
“Fate,” Vito said.
Devil snorted. “I thought you didn’t believe in shit like that.”
“So did I,” Vito said. “But Zeke changed me.”
“Not enough,” Val said.
“Stop,” Lucien growled. “I saw that you proposed a payment plan.”
I nodded. “Yes, and I will follow through with it.”
“Did you give him the money, Vito?”
“Not yet. Once I realized Benito was involved and we would need to eliminate him, I wasn’t sure what the situation with his loan would be.”
“No use paying a dead man,” Angelo said.
Lucien gave a put-upon sigh. “So you’re holding off on making a payment until the situation is resolved?”
“That’s right, but I’ll clear my debts to them and to you. I don’t want to owe anyone.”
“You’re going to owe us a hell of a lot,” Lucien said. “But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“It’s not.” Liam spoke for the first time since we’ve been introduced. “They are a lot of trouble, but it’s worth it.”
Val gave a look of mock offense, but Angelo and Devil just laughed.
“I suppose my husband would say the same,” Lucien said. “We do protect everyone in our family, and if Vito has claimed you, then you are included.”
That was far more than I’d expected from him. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate all that your family has done for me so far.”
“And we will appreciate any assistance you can give us in bringing Benito to justice.”
“Our kind of justice, right?” Devil asked.
“He married a cop, you know,” Angelo said.
My eyes went wide as I stared at him. “Seriously?”
“He quit the force before we got married. But I mean, when I seduced him, he was a cop.”
“I’m telling Joe you said that,” Lucien said.
“Go ahead. It’s the truth.”
I could see how his family, especially Lucien and Dom, could scare the fuck out of anybody, but I liked them. I hadn’t expected that. I’d assumed Vito was some sort of anomaly, but they were all fucking charming.
“Can we figure out exactly what we’re going to do to eliminate Benito and everyone who’s taking up with him?” Vito asked. He was obviously itching to get on with planning the main event, not that I wasn’t, but I’d actually been enjoying myself talking to his family.
I reached over and laid a hand on his thigh. “We’ll get there.”
“Damn fucking right we will.”
“Patience has never been your gift, has it?” Dom asked.
“Fuck, no.”
“Such disrespect.”
“I’m sorry, Pops. I’m anxious. I want this done.”
“We all do,” Lucien said.
“Why don’t you take the floor, Dom.” Lucien motioned to Vito’s father.
“With the information we got out of Benito’s allies who were watching us at the arena, we know where he’s staying in the city, and we know most of the other key players.”
“Any way we can deal with them all at once?” Val asked.
“Possibly. We could stage the takedown at Benito’s house if we could make the others believe he’d summoned them there. That plan has a lot of chance to backfire if too much communication is made between the players. I don’t imagine Benito is the kind of guy who says things more than once or allows back-and-forth chitchat from the men who work for him, but it’s definitely a risk.”
“I don’t love it,” Lucien said. “But I think we could pull it off.”
“The other option is we lure Benito to a spot where he thinks he can take us. He’ll bring his key men with him, and we’ll be ready for them. We might not get them all, but we can track the others down.”
Val shook his head. “That’s too fucking risky.”
“What if you told him you were going to turn me in?” I asked.
Vito rose out of his chair. “Fuck no!”
I gestured for him to sit down. “It is an option.”
“You have a fucking game tonight.”
“After the game.”
“No. Anyway, he’d rather have us than have you.”
“But what if he thought he could get the whole package? Or what if he thought you were willing to make some kind of a deal?”