Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Rocco gave me a long look. After all these years together, he could read me, and I could read him. And I knew, as certainly as I knew my name, what he’d tell me if he could. We weren’t doing this for us—we were doing it for Maggie. All of this was for her, to keep her alive.
“We’ll do it,” Rocco told the Don. “We’ll start recruiting people tonight. They’ll replace Roselli’s guys. There won’t be a gap in ownership on our turf. You have my word.”
As Rocco and Gambini shook hands, I worked to keep my face neutral. This was going to change everything.
Gambini looked satisfied. “You have my permission to take care of Roselli. Dump him off the top of the Empire State Building for all I care.”
“Thank you, sir,” Rocco said, and I nodded in agreement.
“Just remember, you only get one shot at this, boys,” Gambini cautioned. “If you fuck up, Roselli’s going to be so pissed that he’s going to send every wise guy in New York after you.”
And on that note, we took our leave. I’d barely made it to the sidewalk before I gripped Rocco’s arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“So now we’re dealing drugs? For fucking real? Tell me you were jerking Gambini off.”
“Of course I was,” Rocco said, furrowing his brow. “I wanted him to believe I gave a fuck about those goddamn drugs. You know I don’t—I never will. Plus Maggie would probably never speak to us again.”
“But he’s right. We have to do something to prevent a power grab.”
“We will,” Rocco said with a frown. “But I guarantee it’s not going to be us pushing drugs.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
“Hell if I know. Let’s talk to Julian and figure something out.”
“Sounds good.”
And it also meant we’d be seeing a certain gorgeous young woman again, really soon.
28
MAGGIE
It was a repeat of yesterday. Rocco and Slater were heading back here with lunch. Julian and I were couped up at the cabin. The only difference was, Julian and I were on much better terms.
Oh, and then there was the little fact that we were on pins and needles about what Rocco and Slater might have found out. I didn’t know what I was more worried about—if Don Gambini said that they could take out Roselli or if he said they couldn’t.
Both seemed pretty damn dangerous options to me. So much so that I hadn’t been able to enjoy my morning with Julian, even though I sure as hell had enjoyed fooling around with him on the bed yesterday.
Then they were there with good news. Gambini had approved the hit. Julian gave a whoop and picked me up, spinning me around. He set me down and before I could even catch my balance, Rocco gathered me up in a bone-crunching hug. Then Slater did, too. It felt weird to be celebrating the possible demise of my half-brother, but if it was a question of him versus the four of us, I voted for the four of us. Besides, from everything everyone had said, Nick sounded like a real jerk.
But then, during lunch, they’d dropped a bombshell.
Slater broke the news. “Gambini had a condition to sanction the hit on Roselli. You know about his meth distribution network, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Julian nodded. I, of course, was clueless. “What about it?”
“He wants us to take over it,” Slater explained, making me stare at him in disbelief. “When Roselli’s gone, we’re supposed to use our own mules to move the product. That’s what Rocco promised him anyway.” Slater glowered at the big man. “He even gave him his word.”
“When the fuck did we decide we wanted in on the drug trade?” Julian asked, narrowing his eyes.
“We didn’t,” Rocco said, his voice dropping in volume and intensity. “Gambini knows it’s going to be hell out there if Roselli drops dead. Gangs will swoop in and try to take advantage of the mess to establish their own distribution network. He wants to avoid this shit. I had to make a call, or else he wouldn’t have given us the green light to kill Roselli.”
“That’s a shit call.” Julian eyed him with anger. “I’ve seen what meth does to those junkies. I swore to myself I’d never get anywhere near that shit.”
“Well, we can reverse it,” Rock said. “I’ll just give Roselli a call and invite him up here to take us out. I’m sure he can be here by dinner.”
Julian rolled his eyes.
“Do you actually like being on the run?” Rocco demanded, the sarcasm gone. “Taking all these precautions? Being vigilant every fucking second of the day? For me, it means not seeing my son, and leaving him with people who might not give him back.” Anger filled his voice, which wasn’t usual. When Rocco got upset, his voice usually got lower.