Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 123153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Lizzy places the phone on speaker. Then peeks over at me once more. I’m on the edge of my seat, with my phone in his hand, trying my best to look like I’m not paying attention and failing.
“Ny, Gio asked if you’re coming home for the holidays? I have you on speaker.”
“It depends. Am I wanted home for the holidays?”
Say yes, Gio. You better say yes, asshole.
“Absolutely, I miss you. I was hoping you would come home,” Lizzy replies instead.
Fuck, it has to be Gio. That’s who Ny is waiting for. I’m going to choke the shit out of him. Come on, bro. Grow the fuck up. Be the gangster you are for this thing and get us our woman.
“I would like to get to know my friend’s sister more. Come home. I’ll send a jet to…”
Gio pauses to wait for Nyla to answer the implied question. She laughs. She knows he already knows. He’s testing her to see if she’ll lie. More of their games.
“I’ll come home. I have to go.”
Gio bares his teeth for a second before he quickly schools his features. I sit back in my seat with a tiny smile. That was enough. She’s coming. Thank God.
Chapter 14
Back to Business
Jace
“She’ll be on the jet by Monday,” Gio murmurs from behind his desk as he tosses his phone down, bringing a smile to my face. “You happy now?”
“Don’t act as if you’re not.”
“I’m not delusional. I know what happens when she arrives. This is far from over. It’s only the beginning.”
“A beginning that needs to happen. Things have to be different this time, G.”
“Here you go telling me things I already know. They will be. This time I mean it. I’m not hiding anymore. There’s nothing keeping me from showing her how I really feel. Things will be different.”
I narrow my eyes at him. He glares back at me. The stare off is broken when his phone rings. He picks it up to check it but pulls a face and reaches into his desk to pull out a burner to return the call.
“Yeah, what you got for me, PJ?” He places the phone on speaker for me to hear.
I tune in. PJ is one of our guys working on that list Gio got from Toni. He’s a cop who’s been in Gio’s pocket for years.
“El Capitán Vega isn’t doing you or Fish Face any favors. He’s one of your first problems.”
Vega is one of Gustloff, the fish-supplying drug dealer’s captains. Hence, the Fish Face reference. I never liked his shifty-looking ass.
“Looks like he’s been skimming packs to traffic on his own, but the asshole got busted trying to cross the border by car. Like, do these guys not get why things are done the way they’re done?”
“Apparently not,” Gio grumbles.
“Well, border patrol got his ass, and they flipped him. He’s been connecting dots between your people and Fish Face.”
Vega is going to have to go. I can see it on Gio’s face. I’m thinking Gustloff will make the list as well.
“What else you got for me?” Gio says with a calm I know isn’t real.
“Junior’s a junkie. A CI, for sure. He’s trying to make a run for it. That’s why he’s stealing from Daddy. The fuckup just can’t stop using and has blown through everything he’s gotten from stealing.”
That explains a lot. Silvio has never been late with a payment. I know about Silvio Jr.’s coke problem, but I didn’t know he turned rat. They probably got him on some drug charge and flipped him.
Spoiled pussy. His father is under our protection. All he had to do was shut the fuck up. We would have come in and cleaned up whatever it was.
Now look. I frown and continue to listen. That was a long-ass list. We have some cleaning up to do.
“Next guest at the table. The Jersey Prince,” PJ says.
He’s talking about Vito. This guy makes me sick. He thinks he’s untouchable and runs his fat mouth. He also thinks he’s better than Gio because he was made first. Real piece of shit.
“He has some tax problems and a body they’re pinning on him. Some underage sex worker who OD’d in his hotel room. He’s been singing and dancing his way out of his problems. Definite confirmation there.”
Gio
Twenty minutes later we’re headed down the hall to Dante’s office. I’m stewing. Loyalty and honor mean nothing these days.
Most of the names on that list I wasn’t surprised by, but I had held out hope someone would come back clean. To save me the time of having them erased, if for no other reason.
None of them are useful to me anyway. I understand Dante’s endgame, but it’s not something I would have done. Drugs are never an option, no matter how long or short you believe the game to be. They shorten your life span no matter what.