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)
Part of it was always on Maggie these days.
And that wasn’t like me. Don’t get me wrong, I liked women. I liked the ones who stripped at the club. I liked the ones who went down on me after I bought them a nice dinner. Hell, I even liked the pudgy worker at the corner bakery who always gave me an extra Danish.
But I really liked Maggie. She was gorgeous, smart, and funny. And different. I’d never met a woman like her.
And right now, she was in danger.
Which is why we were walking into Enrique’s again.
Don Gambini was even at the same table. It was déjà vu all over again, as the joke went. Gambini seemed to be a creature of habit.
His men were still all around, but that was where the similarities ended. The seat beside him was empty. For some reason, he’d sent his right-hand man away.
“Good morning, Don Gambini.” Rocco used his indoor voice and was on his best behavior as he set a large brown envelope down on the table. “The DNA results.”
The elderly Don tore open the envelope and pulled a pair of reading glasses out of his jacket pocket. He squinted at the first page of the packet for quite some time. Then he sighed. “Oh, Nicolo, you stupid, stupid boy.”
“It’s just as we told you, sir,” I reminded him of our words during our previous meeting. “Roselli has an illegitimate sister and he’s trying to get her out of the picture. You don’t do that with family.”
Gambini looked up. “I guess he doesn’t consider her family.”
“But Emilio did. He cared enough to leave her the vast majority of his fortune.”
The Don didn’t look convinced, so I tried again. “She’s got Emilio’s blood, sir. His genes. His DNA. She’s his child even more so than Nick is, because she’s not an asshole.”
That line received a faint grin from the Don, but then it quickly faded. “Your boss is guilty. You know it—I know it. You don’t fuck with family. He should have taken it like a man and given his sister her cut, no matter how much it was.”
My heart sank. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“You’re right, Winslow,” he admitted. “What happens to Roselli’s enterprises if you remove him? There’s going to be chaos in the streets. Rival crews will want to take advantage of this disorder and step in to claim Roselli’s turf.”
“That’s a problem for another day,” Rocco responded. “We’ll deal with it. You won’t have to worry about chaos. All you need to do is give us the green light. What’s right is right, Don Gambini. Roselli must pay.”
“Maybe we should resolve this quietly,” he suggested, interlocking his fingers. “Maybe I could tell him to step down and retire. He’ll just take a few million and disappear in Sicily. He owns a lot of real estate over there.”
I jumped in before Rocco could respond. “With any other Don, that would work. It would be the honorable thing to do.” Rocco gave me a side glance, trying to judge where I was going with this. “But Roselli isn’t honorable. That guy is so cheap that he won’t even tip a hobo for wiping dust off his windshield. You really think he’ll settle for a couple of million bucks and move to Italy? Because I don’t.”
“Slater’s right,” Rocco agreed. “There’s no way Roselli will just go away quietly. He won’t let anyone else touch what he thinks is his. He’d probably take Maggie out even if there was no chance for him to stay in power.”
Something about the way Rocco said her name seemed to have caught Gambini’s attention. “You like the girl.”
Rocco nodded.
“And you too, Winslow.”
“Yes.”
The Don shook his head. “I suppose that’s your worry. As for Roselli, I know how cheap that fucker is. But this still isn’t an easy call to make. I still don’t know how you’re going to maintain order in the streets after he’s gone.”
“With all due respect, we’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s our job,” I said carefully, my tone calm. “Once Roselli’s gone, we’ll gather up every gang leader and explain things to them. If they step out of line, if they try to claim even a block, they’re dead. Simple as that.”
“I’m going to need more than that,” Gambini stated, resolve lining his face. “Your word just isn’t enough. I don’t care what you have to do. Hire mules; people you trust; people you know won’t fuck you over, but keep distribution up and running. After all, I think you’ll benefit from this, too. That drug money is going to go straight into your pocket.”
Drug money. Just hearing those two words together made my stomach churn with disgust.
I hated drugs. So did Rocco and Julian for that matter. We’d never touched them—not even a joint. Now, Gambini’s terms involved us taking over the drug trade in Roselli’s stead. Nothing could change. Every gang in the area had to stay out of this business, because he was too afraid of the repercussions.