by K. J. Thomas
Welcome to my life!
Two
ASHER
I pace back-and-forth in the conference room. We’ve been waiting for almost a half an hour. It’s understandable Liam and I always like to get there first to check things out. I have men doing ground searches right now. Not that there’s much to cover since we’re in fabulous fucking New York City. Don’t get me wrong. I love upstate New York, I just can’t stand the cluttered nastiness of Manhattan.
Luckily, this is just a business building and not filled with apartments. If it was, my men would still have to go through every single one. You never know who’s lying in wait for you.
I run my hands through my hair as a normal realization hits, any one of these families would jump at an opportunity to end me. The Mancini’s are one of the top controllers of the east coast and to knock us off would be power that’s unimaginable for some of these other families that are lower in the ranks.
Luckily for them I enjoy living, I just don’t necessarily enjoy my place in this world. They know better to try anything against me.
My men will continue searching until they’ve gone through every inch of this place. The conference is supposed to start in another thirty minutes, so it doesn’t shock me when other families start to show up.
I continue pacing. I’ve got to keep my head in the game. This is a big meeting, there’s shit we’ve got to get cleaned up. Since I’ve been in California and not out here, my business in New York has started to go downhill.
Sure as fuck ain’t on my side. Some of the other families need to control their men a little bit better or just get rid of them. That’s what I recommended to them; shit has been nonstop.
The only way we’re able to make this work is if we keep united.
What most normal citizens never see is that we help with the revenue for the cities. Politicians always turn a blind eye, with a big open pocket. The mafia can take care of a lot of the shit that’s plaguing the city. Plus, we’re able to raise the e-commerce like crazy.
We do have a couple of good businesses but most of our dealings run bad.
It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how shit works. We might be doing bad but for some strange ungodly reason we’re still protected by the authorities.
When it comes down to it, they need us, a hell of a lot more than we need them.
I grab a bottle of water this time and take a seat. I shouldn’t even be here dealing with this. We’re on our second week now. The Boss’ are trying to hammer out terms and doing everything else that we can, so that all the families agree on exactly what needs to be done.
I should be at home sliding into Avery. My dick goes hard just thinking about her. This is one of the times that I wish I didn’t have this job.
I could leave this up to Liam and a couple of the other guys but there’s too much shit to deal with right now to trust my second in command to make the right choices. I trust him with my life but not the business side yet.
Several times I thought about texting or calling Avery and letting her know that I’m still thinking about her. I smile as I take a sip from my water. She probably thinks that I have given up on her, on everything that I wanna do. She’s gonna be shocked when I just show back up. Hopefully, it’ll be much sooner rather than later, like tomorrow.
Snapping me out of my own thoughts is the families starting to come in. It shouldn’t shock me, but the first members to come in is Vito Romano and his sidekick, Mario.
I smirk. Aren’t they curious when I’m gonna put two and two together since Mario visited Avery at school? I’m kind of impressed that they don’t even seem to care. It’s like they just put all their cards on the table and that was it.
The Russians, Italians, Irish and the Mexicans all venture their way in. I know I should be up and ready, you never know what can go down, but I’m just fascinated with watching everybody’s expression as they come in.
They all walk in like they’re walking into an ambush; it’s the way of life but it’s still kind of funny. It would just take one person to trip or a cup to slide off the table, then it would be a full-blown fire party. These guys need to relax.
Well, almost all guys. The Mexican Jefe is a woman who is the Spanish cartel that I’m intrigued by. An exceedingly hot woman. She gives me a wink as she walks by me to her place at the conference table. If Avery wasn’t filling up my thoughts twenty-four-seven, I would totally hit that. I don’t even think it would be a problem seeing as she can’t stop fucking staring at me.
I’m at one head of the table and the Romano’s are at the other head signaling the two strongest families on the east coast. Normally there would only be one Italian family, they’re starting to pull up a little too fast.
Vito Romano is trying to make his way into New Jersey, which I don’t mind at all. If there’s one place I hate more than New York, it’s Jersey. The rest of the family wouldn’t have a problem with this, either, only if we knew for sure it stops in New Jersey.
The human condition lets you never stop, you just want more and more. You want to be richer and richer while the poor become poorer and poorer. You want more power until you have it all, till there’s nothing else you can reach.
I do not know one made man that is content where he’s at.
Everybody knows that one day it’s going to happen, it’s going to come down between the Romano’s or the Mancini’s. The Mancini’s will definitely fucking win. There’s only room for one Italian family on the east coast, and it’s not the Romano’s.
The room starts to quiet down as Vito gets everybody’s attention. He is the one with the most seniority in the room and the most respected. In here, like any boardroom, he is in charge and respected by most.
Since I am in charge of the east coast, I could easily overtake Vito and control the meeting myself, but I just don’t want to. Everyone in this room knows that, even Vito. I’ll take over if the need arises and only then. I want this shit to hurry up and get done so I can get out of here and back to his granddaughter. I put my head down and chuckle to myself.
At least Vito is a no-nonsense kind of man. He’s been going fast these last few days, like he has somewhere more important to be.
I glance around the room. The back wall is filled with second and third in command standing behind their bosses. Most of these guys seem to all be wearing black suits. The Irish chose nice jeans and a button-down shirt. The room is full and stuffy.
Our cell phones and guns, pretty much any kind of electronics, were confiscated as we entered the building. Everybody has their own damn box with a lock.
If a war were to break out today it would be based on who can fight the best with no weapons. That would make this day much more interesting, I think as I look around at the different men. Fighting is what I love to do. Some of the guys look relaxed and some look like they’re about ready to blow just like me.
“We figured out who is stealing all the shipments,” Vito says snapping me out of my daydream and grabbing the attention of others, too. All of us lost a shit ton of money by this and we’d like to find out who the fuck was responsible for it.
Vito glances over at the Russians, confusing them. “The Ukrainians are making their way into our territories.” If he had anything else to say he didn’t get a chance. Curses are thrown in the air, ‘fuck’, ‘sticky bastards’. Plus, a lot in other languages.
“I would like several guys from each family to get together and make a plan to deal with the Ukrainians. They haven’t been here since the beginning and they sure as shit ain’t going to step in now.” Vito says this with a straight face with his hands flat on the table. I growl low in my chest, which I’m sure only Liam heard. He’s right, we won’t allow them to come in here and get something that they never helped build.
The door flies open as two men stroll in the room while a couple of Vito’s guards rush in after the intruders. There seems to be a man and a younger version of the guy. They both step in the room and make th
emselves at home. The younger guy is huge, like that’s all he does is just work out.
The entrance to the room lines up perfectly with the middle of the conference table. Vito Romano’s eyes have not left the two that have come in. He even quit talking.
I would have to say that the white knuckles gripping the back of his chair is a giveaway. Vito Romano hates these two men that entered, invading his work. Yeah, he looks like one of them kicked his dog.
“Luca Delano,” Vito growls out like it pains him to do so.
The other guy, Luca, smirks and gives him a wink as they make their way around the table and sit down.
The younger guys stands behind the older man. What must be the father takes his place at the table.
“You are not welcome here and you know that. There’s nothing keeping me from putting a bullet in your head right now,” Vito growls as he starts to work his way around the table in the direction of the men.
Everyone jumps into action and blocks his way. Not for the Romano’s but for themselves. If a big fight breaks out in here, I want to say a lot of bad people are going to get hurt. I lightly chuckle to myself again, there ain’t nobody good in this room.
One out of Vito’s men comes up to the table next to him and continues the meeting for us. Vito hasn’t said anything, he’s glaring at Luca. Interesting, I wonder what’s going on there. Everybody has their little spats with other families but this one’s a lot bigger than that.
Mac is the guy’s name I hear after a couple minutes of him talking. He’s just doing the trivial stuff that needs to be addressed like people not paying their fees and other families trying to move up in the ranks.
“Enough!” Vito slams his hand down on the table and stands up. It looks like he got himself together. Something big happened to put that man in an awkward way for several minutes. I look back to see him, he’s watching the whole situation. I turn my head to Liam and nod, he’ll get what I mean. When he nods back, I know he understands. I want him to search the Delano’s, this is interesting.
I’ve heard the name of them before just in passing, nothing big. They’re a rising family. But their hands are mainly dirty from shit like running women.
I continue to watch Vito stare off against the Delano’s. The man never takes his eyes off them. Whatever shit has going on, it’s got to be deeply personal.
My stomach shifts making me feel sick as a thought strikes me down. I wonder if this whole situation has to do with Avery. From what Devon was able to gather is that Avery is the only living heir to the Romano empire. I wonder if this Luca character did something to her.
My hands start to fist, and I can feel my blood start to boil. All I wanna do is jump up and take turns punching the dick with Vito.
Liam must be on the same thought train as I am because he puts his hand on my shoulder nonchalantly, not letting anyone else see, to relax me. That’s all I need to do is lose my shit in here.
I think Avery and I have some talking to do. It’s about time she comes clean with everything. This doesn’t just affect my playtime; this is affecting my business and I need to know what this girl knows.
I seriously doubt Grandpa Vito is going to tell me, especially when it comes to his granddaughter. But at least for the time being we both want what’s best for her, mine for much different reasons.
Mac refocuses everybody’s attention. He’s an intimidating fucker, that’s for sure but nothing I haven’t dealt with before.
“Listen up everybody.” He’s very direct and as boisterous as possible, gathering everybody’s attention instantly. Everyone in this room is at the point where they were mingling, shooting the shit, not really knowing what’s going on between the head of the meeting and some douche that just walked in.
“We’ve had reports, at least one from every family, that our soldiers are ending up dead for no apparent reason.” Everyone starts talking excitedly as I look around the room and Mac holds up his hand. “Everybody’s suffering through this, every single one of the families. “
Mac looks down at the piece of paper in his hand and then glances over to the Irish. “You guys obviously the most. It’s reported that you guys have lost seventeen soldiers.” The head of the Irish is nodding his head so hard it’s making his auburn hair bounce wildly. He doesn’t say anything, he just sits there and grinds his teeth.
This is a situation that all of us need to work on together. Apparently, we still don’t have any leads. We personally have lost four guys. But I just know that my men are better than the other ones, especially the Irish. That’s how they wound up losing seventeen. Every single person in this room knows the Irish just wanna drink alcohol and fuck women.
“We’ve assigned a special task force,” Mac keeps talking and I lightly chuckle again to myself. Yep, the five families, well six if you count the Delano’s, but nobody’s counting them fuckers. Anyway, the five families do have a special task force.
It was assembled and put together about fifty years ago. Every family is expected when a problem arises to give their most able men. These are the elite of the elite for made men. This is a prestigious honor among the families. The ones that never betray them and do whatever it takes to figure this shit out.
I chose not to go in on the special team. Well, I really don’t have a choice, per se. I send one of my lower guys. If he helps them succeed, awesome, he’ll move up. If not, I really don’t give a shit what happens to him.
I decided to put my own team in place to see what they can figure out. I don’t trust any of these fuckers in here. Who knows, it could be a guy on the task force that’s killing off everyone. It would be smart; they could sway things in their direction. My only concern is my people and my area. Everything that’s mine.
The rest of the boring meeting goes off without a hitch, thankfully. I know there’s other things that needed to be said, but nobody gives a shit anymore. We’ve been in this meeting for days. We’re ready just to get the fuck out of here.
Vito usually hangs around and shakes hands. He’s basically a cool guy but he’s on the other team. This time he was the first at the door with his men. He’s probably got his guns waiting right outside the building for Luca to come outside.
The Delano’s exit right after going in, in opposite directions toward a service elevator, which makes sense, and the rest of the families follow.
Damn, my life just keeps getting more interesting and less boring.
Three
AVERY
I stare at the ceiling in my bedroom, realizing I should put those glow-in-the-dark stars on the it, then I’d have something to look at when I’m bored out of my fucking mind.
I’ve been back at the house for three hours, ever since Grandpa told me to go home immediately. If it was anybody else, I probably would’ve argued, or even defied him. But I know Vito Romano; he’s not one to mess around. If he tells you that you need to do something, then you damn well better do it. It’s not about being a grandpa thing anymore, it’s really about life or death.
I figured since I was just sitting here and being obedient, I’d at least get a freaking text message telling me what’s going on. The guards in the house are worthless when it comes to giving information. I imagine they’re phenomenal at protecting my life. Hopefully I won’t have to find out, I think as I shiver and sit up.
I could go walk around or even try to get comfortable and watch TV. But the TV is already taken. Apparently, Grandpa’s men are on shifts. No one can leave, so there’s got to be at least thirty guys on three different shifts in this freaking house right now.
It’s not just the boredom. It’s the anxiety of not knowing if my Grandpa is okay or not. I’m even a bit worried about Asher and Mario. Only a little bit about Asher. I just don’t have it in my head right now to figure out what’s going on with him.
I have school tomorrow and now I’m looking forward to it. It’s peaceful. Tate and I can talk, do pretty much whatever we want. There are no repercussions from the stu
dent body since the King isn’t at the school.
“Fuck this,” I snap to no one in particular. I am a woman on a mission, I keep telling myself as I make my way down the stairs. I am not gonna leave these guys alone until I get my cell phone and shit back, and I can go to school tomorrow.
There’s about five guys surrounding the TV in the living room. And by surrounding, I mean these dudes are freaking big. Three of them are scrunched together on our big couch, one is on the recliner and the other one is just standing up. They all have smiles adorning their faces which really doesn’t match with the type of men they are. It creeps me out.
I shake my head as I walk by the living room. There is no point in trying to get anything out of them, I need to find Mac. I heard the guards mention he’s supposed to be back. He’s probably the one that has my cell phone in his pocket and is putting down the orders anyway.
The smell coming from the kitchen grabs my attention leading me toward the yummy goodness. I swear my body starts to float in that direction making me realize how hungry I am.
The sight in the kitchen stops me in my tracks, I almost burst out laughing.
Mac fills up the small space with his imposing build. He’s still wearing his suit pants, but he’s taken off his jacket and his button down, wearing only a white T-shirt, with a freaking apron on.
I can’t hold it in anymore and I bust out laughing. “I am so sorry,” I try to say but I can’t keep my chuckling from messing up my words.
Mac didn’t even turn around. Of course, I thought that I startled him, but this guy is a trained killer, he probably heard me leave my room.
He takes the bread out of the oven and quickly slices it, and then turns around to the island and pushes a plate towards me. “Eat,” he demands while setting a piece of bread on my over filled plate of mouthwatering spaghetti.