Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“I heard you’re into drugs now. What the fuck, Gabe?”
“Jesus.” He sighed. “Does she tell you everything?”
“You left without a trace. We were fucking worried. Dad had a team of professionals looking for you everywhere.”
“Dad.” He let out a laugh. “Have you spoken to him?”
“Yeah. That’s another thing I want to talk about. He kept telling me not to worry about you, like he knew exactly where you were. Are you working for him now? Is that what this is?”
“I wasn’t with him,” he said. “I’m flying over there tomorrow. You should come with.”
“For what?”
“Uh . . .” A short laugh left his lips. He scratched the back of his neck, the way he did when he was nervous. My stomach flipped.
“Spit it out, Gabriel.”
“The job I was doing? Dad was pretty well informed about it.”
“What do you mean?” My eyes narrowed on him.
“He set up the goddamn meeting.”
My heart pounded harder. “Who’s the client?”
He shook his empty bottle as if more beer was going to magically appear. I got him another one, set it down in front of him, leaned against the counter, and waited. My brother was one of those people who took thirty minutes to tell a two-minute story. I’d learned patience with him. That didn’t mean I wasn’t dying for him to get to the fucking point, though.
“A lot of these guys have very intricate operations. Not that I have to explain that to you,” he started. “Rosie somehow knows about Tommy and some other guys, which is another reason I was worried.” He paused. “This client, I work with his attorney. His name is redacted from most of the papers sent to me. I know all his financials, but I don’t know his damn name. When he said he wanted to meet with me, I was obviously weary. I mentioned it to Dad a couple of nights before I left, and he told me to go. Even if he hadn’t, I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice. The client knew where I lived, where I hung out, he knew who you were, he even knew Rosie by name.”
My heart stopped for a moment, but I let him continue.
“I thought, well, I guess I’ll go. I mean, Dad knows about it, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”
“You could’ve died,” I said, my voice coming out much harsher than I expected it to. “How could you put yourself in that situation after everything we’ve lost? How could you let anyone like that find out about Rosie? Jesus, Gabriel.”
He scoffed. “You’re going to lecture me on safety?”
“It’s different.”
“It’s not different. You know that feeling we used to get whenever one of us was in trouble? I have it every fucking day, Dominic.” His voice cracked. I looked up and saw the fear in his eyes, the concern, and it made me feel like shit. “I worry about you twenty-four-seven. So, what if I go out and dabble with drugs and get drunk? I’m twenty-seven. I’ve been through hell. If you’re going to judge me for it, you can go fuck yourself.”
“Gabe.” I sighed heavily. What the fuck could I even say to that?
“I stopped, by the way. I didn’t do any drugs on my trip, and trust me, there was cocaine on every fucking surface.”
“Did you meet with the big client?”
“Never did. I met with his associates, a lawyer, but never him.”
“And you were in Colombia?” I asked. He looked taken aback by my question, and I had my answer.
“How the fuck –” He stopped talking, face pulling. “Everyone has coke at their disposal.”
“On every surface? You come back with a suntan, Dad knew where you were and didn’t start a war? Am I right?”
“Cartagena,” he said after a moment. “Dad is very friendly with this person.”
“The drug dealer?”
“They deal much worse things than drugs, Dom.”
Oh fuck. I stayed quiet.
“While I was there, Tommy showed up, which was a total mindfuck, by the way, seeing him in another country,” he said.
My jaw set. I didn’t say anything because whatever I’d say would come out as a scream. My brother could have easily been killed over there. He would’ve been one of those people gone without a trace. I bit back my words and let him continue.
“This client of mine was looking into buying Tempt and the strip club Tommy and Anthony own. He wants in on this operation that he has going with other families. Russians, Turks, et cetera.”
“The one Rosie told you about.”
“Exactly.”
“Did you at least get a name?”
“I got a last name, which is the main reason I’m telling you this.”
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Masseria,” he said. “I figured you should know since you’re close with Gio.”
“It’s not Gio.” The room spun. I leaned a little harder on the counter and caught my breath, looking back up at my brother, who looked concerned now. “It’s his father.”