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)
He faltered, pausing on the box of cigarettes in his hands. “So why are you here then?”
“Because she doesn’t deserve for the men in her life to be against each other.”
He pursed his lips. “I’d rather take my chances with the quarterback.”
A wave of anger hit me, but I pushed it out. “That’s not gonna happen.”
He studied me for a long moment. I had to hand it to him, after what he’d seen me do the other night, and all the things he could probably imagine me doing, I was surprised he could still size me up like this. “Get out of my store, Dominic.”
With a heavy sigh, I did, but only because I’d be back tomorrow.
“Mister Mayor, I don’t think we’ve formally met,” I said, holding back my amusement at the way William Hamilton’s eyes widened as he looked at me.
“No, but I know who you are.” To his credit, he held his hand out for me to shake. I took it, shook it, and smiled. “Are you here on behalf of our mutual . . . friend?” he asked begrudgingly, looking away.
“Nope.” I chuckled. “He’s in Chicago with his wife.”
“Hm.” He looked over at me again. “I can’t imagine you’re here to sit on Santa’s lap.”
“Nah.” I looked over at the Santa Claus he was referring to.
His people put this free event together every year. Pictures with Santa, food for their dinner tables, and firefighters from local stations giving away toys. If I didn’t have a deep sense of mistrust for politicians in general, I’d probably vote for this guy every election. He was a bit of an asshole to us, but at least he was good to the people that really mattered.
“I’m here to ask for a favor,” I said. “More like quid pro quo.”
“I’m listening.” He kept his eyes on Santa, just as I did.
“I heard that some of your backers want you to take down Tempt so they can swoop in and buy the land.”
“How’d you hear that?” He bristled.
“People talk.” I shrugged.
“What’s the favor?”
“I want you to shut it down this weekend.”
“This . . . it’s Friday.”
“I know, I have a calendar.” I held up the firefighter calendar I’d been given when I walked in.
“And you need it shut down the entire weekend?”
“Yes.”
“What reason would I have to shut it down?”
“I figured you could come up with one. You seemed to have a million of them at your disposal when you were trying to halt construction on the ballet theatre last year.”
He gave a high-pitched laugh. “It would take me hours to find someone to sign off on such a thing on short notice.”
“Really?” I shot him a look. “Your father is a judge.”
“On the right side of the law.”
“That’s cute.” I tossed the calendar on the table next to us. “I’ll tell you what, I’m going to give you my phone number. If you can make this happen by tonight, I’ll take care of your little issue with Tommy Costello, and you’ll be toasting with your donors by Monday.”
His brows furrowed. “And if I can’t make this happen?”
“I can’t answer that. I don’t know what Tommy will do if he finds out you’re trying to push him out of his beloved club for your own gain. The only thing I can guarantee is that he’s out for blood these days.” I grinned, plucked his cell phone out of his hand, shoved it in his face to unlock it, and typed in my number. I pressed it and waited until mine rang before giving it back. “Perfect. I hope to hear from you soon. Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Mayor.”
Nico laughed when I reached him. “I don’t know what you said to him, but he looked like he was one second away from pissing himself.”
“If he doesn’t come through on this, he’ll be doing a lot more than pissing himself.” I walked out the door and back to my car. It was going to be a long weekend, but once this was over, I’d have Rosie again.
“We meet again.” Gio’s voice boomed through the space as he walked in.
“Someone’s in a good mood,” I said, sitting back in my seat when I saw Loren walking in behind him looking equally as happy. “What the fuck is happening?”
“We got drone footage of Joe,” Loren explained as they took their usual seats.
“And this is a good thing?” I asked.
“It’s great, considering it was what got him on the phone with me,” Gio said.
“How’d that conversation go?” Dean asked.
“Well, Catalina led the conversation, so you can imagine how it went,” Gio said.
“She ripped him apart,” Loren said, laughing.
“She did.” Gio chuckled, shaking his head. “But . . .” He drummed his hands on the table. “Guess who we’re meeting with, so that he can verbally announce that he no longer has any stake in anything that has the name Masseria tied to it?”