Jameson's Debt
Page 7
Xander took deep steadying breaths, but a wry smile played at the edge of his lips. No one in the room doubted he intended to make the Rizzo family pay for any decision not in his favor, in much the same way as his father had. “Then the matter is settled,” he said, still not picking up on the dom’s mood towards him. Xander was used to getting his own way. Manuel should have taught him better. “As no-one else has raised an issue, we are free to vote. We have wasted far too much of the dom’s time already.”
“Making the right decision is never a waste of time,” Bianchi said.
“Does anyone have an issue with Jordan Swash,” I said and took great delight in watching the change come over Xander’s face. “The head of the Swash family.”
“No fucking way,” he screamed and stood, slamming his fists on the table. “Jordan has no fucking claim to the position.”
“On the contrary, Dom Bianchi has already stated that both the Swash and Caruso family have a claim. Are you fucking correcting the dom again?” Espsotio asked, his voice like ice.
Xander’s face reddened and he looked fit to explode. He stood, his fists clenched against the table. He tried and failed to get a hold of his emotions. “You’re not going to get away with this,” he snarled. “I’ll make each and every one of you fucking pay.”
“Sit down,” Bianchi said.
“You,” Xander said, pointing at the screen and then at me. “The two of you. You did this. You had no fucking right.”
Espsotio stood along with the others at the table. The dom quietened their threats with one word, silence. Only Xander continued his tirade.
“It seems we have another dispute for you to mediate,” Dom Bianchi said to me and raised his eyebrow as a signal to what he wanted me to do.
I nodded, pulled the gun hidden beneath my jacket, and shot Xander Caruso in the head.
Epilogue
Jameson
If anyone had told me a few days ago that I would be back in New York and working for the family again, I likely would have shot them in the head. But all things considered, we had the best possible outcome. My brother was quickly voted in as second in command. A role I had no doubt he would excel at. Gabriel didn’t have to worry about Xander and neither did Carina.
I’d always been one of the dom’s favorite nephews—it’s the only reason I was allowed to walk away from my life and not killed all those years ago—so to say Bianchi might have been biased towards today’s outcome was an understatement. Still, he wasn’t pleased with my decision to turn my back on the family, and the outcome could have gone in Xander’s favor. Too bad, he was too much of a narcissist to keep his own superiority in check for half an hour. And me, I had the luxury of being able to live in both my worlds. To maintain my impartiality, I was free to live in Colorado and stay out of the day to day running of the business. Dom Bianchi and I would chat online every week and I would offer what little advice I could and deal with any disputes that arose. I could live with that. Maybe the families would be quick to realize that I hated playing games and had no intention of standing for their petty squabbles and manipulations.
The dom had disconnected after the vote and most of the others left, but Jordan and Gabriel stayed to discuss business. Not wanting to be involved, I’d grabbed the limo back to the hotel. The sky was overcast with gray clouds and rain pounded on the windows. If I was lucky, I could be on the next flight out of this God-forsaken place.
I spotted Carina standing in the lobby, staring out into the street before the car came to a stop. The second it did, she ran forward, ignoring the rain that plastered her dark hair to the side of her face and seeped into her flimsy top.
“Gabriel told me what happened,” she said as soon as I stepped out of the car. “W-why? Why did you do that? I know how much it meant for you to stay away from the life.”
“It was the only way to keep you safe.”
She ran her hand over her wet head, and I did the same. “Because that’s what you do, you protect women. Is... is that why?”
I smiled. For the first time, Carina actually looked a little afraid. I touched the side of her cheek with my hand. “That’s not why,” I said and brushed the rain from her lips. “You look so beautiful right now. You always look beautiful. I did it because I never want to take my eyes off you. Come back to Colorado with me and see if you feel the same way about me.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “I’ll go anywhere with you. But I don’t need to go to Colorado to know that I never want to spend another minute without you. I already know it to be true.”
With that, and with rain drenching every part of us, she stood on tiptoes and sealed her lips against mine.
I hope you enjoyed this short story, which crosses the bridge between the Forever Midnight MC world and Jameson’s previous Mafia life.
It’s slightly different to the rest of the series because it was written for the Crimes of the Wicked Anthology, which is no longer available.
As always, stay safe and stay well. I wish a long, happy and healthy future for you and your families.
Victoria
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