by June Kramin
“I’ll give you that one. I didn’t know what to think about them hooking up with us, but it seems to be going okay. What’s your position now? You going to keep up this act? I can’t understand what your motivation may be to try to pull off being boss when it’s not your place. And Eddie, I can’t believe you’d sit back and let a skirt do it.”
“I’m right here,” Mandy said.
“No offense, but I don’t take kindly to having my Johnson being jerked. Where do you stand, Amanda?”
Earl answered for her. “She stands where Eddie says she stands. We may have her out front, but you know where everything has always come from. Nothing has changed.”
“Well, isn’t that just the cat’s meow coming from you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, don’t you expect to be scooting Eddie over and taking the granddaddy of all seats, Granddaddy?”
“What are you talking about, boy?”
“The fact that your son thinks he’s going to be in charge, and you are his new right-hand man.”
“What?”
Gunner laughed. “I thought it was quite humorous myself. What a little prick.”
“Hey now, something has seriously come unglued with Darin, but he’s still my boy. You know where he is?”
“I’m supposed to call him tomorrow. Said he personally took care of the sniper and now it’s up to me.”
“He told you he killed Sinclair?”
“I didn’t realize you were on a first name basis with the sniper.”
“We figured some things out a few days ago. I just haven’t had a chance to fill you in. Things got crazy with the funerals.”
“So Angelo is really gone?”
“Yes. Sorry I lied to you. We needed to keep him safe. I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. I’m not sure where we’re going from here.”
“Well, I can tell you what Darin thinks about this whole thing. He said he’s not coming in until I take out the fed.” He spoke to Earl and Eddie as he motioned his head to Mandy. Hunt hurried to her side. “Relax there, Big H. I’m not doing nothin’ to her. I figured he lost his mind somewhere in that eighteen-year-old piece of ass. I don’t know what she’s feeding him, but damn…he’s lost his mind, thinking I’m going to off Amanda. She may not be Vince’s daughter, but she’s part of Vince’s team and sure as hell ain’t no fed.”
Mandy stood and faced Earl and Eddie. “Still think I’m off my nut? I knew someone’s train of thought was heading this way. He did think he could take over with her at his side. Dammit. We talked about this practically the first day and bought her bullshit poker face.”
Earl took Eddie by the arm. “This doesn’t sound like him at all. You’re not killing my boy for whatever his part is in all of this. He says he took out that French dude. That has to count for something.”
“No one is killing anyone, Earl,” Mandy reassured him. “You need to get him in here and spell it out. I can’t imagine this is what Angie had in mind.”
“Don’t be too sure on that,” Gunner said.
Mandy spun around. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I’m sure she’s the one that put it in his head. She walked in here acting like a fucking queen, and we were her subjects.”
“She did?”
He laughed. “I don’t think Darin sought her out wanting the title. I’m sure it was the opposite. She found herself an in, and he’s getting led around by his dick. Too bad he’s stupid enough to think they can pull it off. This deal, not his dick. Sorry, Mandy. And sorry, Earl. I don’t mean no disrespect, but you weren’t here. You’d’ve taken him over your knee yourself.”
“So what do we do about the little bitch?” Earl asked.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Hunt said. “She obviously has it in for Mandy. First things first. We don’t know who else she’s trying to get to kill Mandy off.”
“Sully for one,” Gunner said.
“Sully?”
“I hung up with him after I called you. They had already been there before they came here. Sully didn’t say anything to his face, but he thought Darin was off his nut, too. He obviously isn’t doing his homework if he thinks Sully would harm Amanda for any reason.”
Hunt turned to Mandy. “Babe…I don’t like this.”
“‘Babe’ already?” Gunner chuckled. “You two do move fast. You can stay here tonight if you want. No one will get through. He’s showing up at noon tomorrow. Want to chill and confront him, then?”
“No. We’ll figure this out. I still need answers,” Mandy said. “I’m not going to sit here and be bait.”
“What else is still out there?” Eddie asked. “This should be wrapped up.”
“There’s still missing pieces as to why Sue was behind the killings.”
Gunner’s eyes widened. “Sue? Lonny’s Sue? You shittin’ me? She’s as pure as the driven snow. Lonny saw to it that she never knew anything.”
“She hired the assassin.”
“What?” Gunner looked away then smacked his forehead with his palm. “Wait a second. This is about her kid, right?”
“Yes.”
“Damn.” He sat back down. “The mob just ain’t what it used to be. You broads are going batty.”
Mandy’s phone rang. It was James. “Excuse me, guys. I have to take this.” She walked out of the office.
Chapter Sixty
Mandy answered the phone with, “Is everything okay?”
“Can you talk?”
“Not really, but you have me worried. Spill it.”
“Angelo is fine if that’s what you’re worried about. He’s safe and sound in a house off the west coast. Excuse me if I don’t tell even you where yet.”
“That’s fine. We’ll hash that out later. What’s wrong, then? Why are you calling me?”
“I’ve had a few days to pour over that book you gave me.”
“And?”
“There was a very interesting piece of paper in it.”
“You going to keep making me drag this out of you? I may be pregnant, but I can still flip your ass to the ground.”
He laughed. “I want you to come in.”
“Why? Just tell me what you found.”
“You won’t allow me the satisfaction of seeing the look on your face?”
“One.”
“You owe me.”
“Two.”
“All right. Pregnancy is making you cranky.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Angie isn’t Vince’s kid.”
“Excuse me?”
“He had blood work done. A DNA test when the kid was two. She’s not even his.”
“But he let anyone that knew believe she was. Why would he do that?”
“Beats the shit out of me. It’s tucked in with her birth certificate. He’s listed as the father. I looked it up. She’s still on official record as his kid.”
“Sonofabitch.”
“Where are you? What do you have going on? Anything I can help with?”
“I can’t talk now. I’ll call you back later. Looks like we have a new ball in play. Thanks, James.” Mandy hung up and returned to Gunner’s office. “You guys are going to love this.”
She conjured up a quick lie about having a hunch and calling in a favor to the city records office.
Gunner laughed at the new revelation. “Who gets to tell the little prince? Please, dear Lord, let it be me. Stupid shit got married for nothing.” He regarded Earl. “Sorry. No offense.”
“She’s still pregnant,” Earl replied.
“Maybe,” Hunt said. “Could have been a ploy to get him to marry her. My guess is she doesn’t know she’s not really Vince’s kid.”
“Or…” Mandy paced the room. “She does know. Maybe she was in on this with Sue.”
“How in the hell would those two find each other?” Earl asked.
“I don’t have a clue. Maybe she found out about the book a
nd tracked down Sue to get it so nothing could stand in her way. She can’t honestly think she can take things over with Darin.”
“Man, I gotta call Sully.” Gunner was still laughing and reached for the phone.
Mandy stopped him. “Wait. We need a game plan first. Earl? Have you even tried to call him?”
“No. I just figured he’d call when he was back.”
“Try giving him a call. See what happens.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when Earl’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. “It’s him.”
“Don’t let on that you know anything. Act normal.”
“Hey, boy. About time you get around to calling me. How are things?…Tonight? Well, I’m sure that’s not a problem…What news?…To both of us?…I understand that, I guess. Must be good news…Okay. See you at seven.” He hung up. “Says he’s pulling into town tonight and wants to have dinner at the house. He said he has great news and wants to tell me and his mother together.”
“I guess he expects you to be happy about the wedding and the baby.”
“Then he is a dumb ass. What now? I fake it through the meal like I’m a moron and don’t know anything? My boy can read me better than that.”
“You let him show up and tell you what he needs to. Hunt and I will show up an hour into things and break the news to them.”
“I’m going, too,” Gunner said.
“I can’t have you show up at my house. You’ll have my wife flip a gasket.”
Mandy turned to Gunner. “Sorry. You’ll have to sit this one out.”
“You will come fill me in, though, won’t you?”
She winked at him. “Will do. Hey, I never said thanks for trusting me.”
“You and Angelo have always done right by me. Even after slapping around Sully, you had him, too. We’re not new here, Mandy. You don’t think we’d smell a fed from a mile away?”
She grinned. “That’s why you run this leg of things, Gunner. Nothing gets past you.”
It was hard for Earl to try to play happy father over dinner that night. His wife was thrilled about the news. Both the marriage and the baby. She wasn’t happy to have missed a wedding but assured them she’d start plans on a reception right away.
“I don’t know why you had to run off and do this, Darin. I could have thrown something together fast enough.” She took Angie by the hand. “Don’t think we feel any less of you, dear. Who is married a virgin these days? I’m thrilled at the news.”
There was a knock at the door and Earl stood. He was relieved when Hunt and Mandy finally showed up.
“It’s about time you got here. I was waiting for my wife to get online and start picking out fucking tablecloths for a reception.”
“So they shared the lovely news?”
Earl scoffed. “Yeah.”
Mandy placed her hand on his arm. “News not sinking in and making you feel better, Grandpa?”
He moved his arm to shake her free. “If that no-good boy wasn’t trying to take things over and become my boss, it might be a different story.”
“Who is it, Earl?” His wife called.
He smirked and hollered back. “My boss.”
A chair scooted back hard against the wood floor. Darin was now standing by his father.
“Amanda?”
“Hi, junior. We need to talk,” Mandy said as she shoved her way in. He tried to run, but Earl grabbed him by his shirt and held him there.
Chapter Sixty-One
Earl’s wife excused herself to do dishes while everyone sat in the living room.
“What are you doing in my home?” Darin blurted out.
“It’s my home, son.”
“You really going to pull this crap? What’s she doing here?”
“She’s my boss and yours.”
“Well, she shouldn’t be. She’s not Vince’s daughter. My wife is.” Angie slid closer to him.
“Actually, she not,” Mandy said.
“The hell she’s not. You sure as shit aren’t.”
“Maybe not, but I have everyone backing me and no one doing anything but laughing at you.”
“Bullshit.”
“Darin…for God’s sake. Did you really think this is how things worked?”
Angie spoke up. “Of course it is. My father was boss, and he’s gone. So is Angelo. That leaves me.”
“That would leave you the heir of what he left you in his will. Not the new mob queen by default.”
“Do something, honey,” she said to Darin, crossing her arms.
“Did you even go with her to a doctor to confirm the pregnancy?” Mandy asked.
“I don’t need to. I trust her.”
“Would you have married her anyway, boy?” Earl asked. “If she wasn’t claiming to be Vince’s kid and pregnant?”
“Of course. I don’t know what you guys are getting at. I’m not using her, and she’s not using me. This is the way things are supposed to be. It’s what’s right. Mandy has no business running things.”
“So you just order to have me killed, so you can set up and play house.” Darin turned white. “That’s right. The one thing you need to learn is loyalty. That’s earned, not bought or—” she waved her hands up and down at Angie “—bred.” Mandy kept her attention on Angie. “Why didn’t you have the brains enough to stay away like Vince had intended for you?”
“Because this is in my blood, and this is what I want.”
Mandy removed a piece of paper from her inside jacket pocket. “You may want it, but it’s not in your blood.”
“What are you babbling about?” Darin asked. “She’s Vince’s daughter.”
“No, she isn’t.” Mandy tossed the paper at them. Angie snatched it away from Darin. “This is a lie. My mother told me Vince was my father.”
“And she told Vince the same, but he had it confirmed that he isn’t. For whatever reason, he chose to let your mom think he believed her. Maybe she didn’t know who the father really was. Maybe she wanted to have a hold on Vince, and he didn’t mind and wanted to take care of you anyway.”
Tears formed in Angie’s eyes. “I just wanted to belong somewhere.”
“Honey, I can name a thousand places you could have called home that didn’t involve drugs and semi-automatics at the breakfast table.”
Darin didn’t seem to care about the news. He held his wife close as she cried into his chest. “So, what now?” he asked Mandy. “You going to return the hit on me for being a dumb ass?”
“I’m not having you killed, you dumb shit. You think your father would let me in here if that was my plan?”
Earl spoke up. “I’m pissed you’d even try such a stupid stunt, boy, but you’re still my son. You need to pay your dues like everyone else. Of course you may have to eat a little crow with Gunner and Sully. I honestly don’t know what the fuck you were thinking although I do know what you were thinking with.”
“You going to throw me out?”
“You’re not living here with your wife. You decided to go big and get married; you need to play house somewhere else.”
It was Hunt’s turn to reach into his pocket and toss a paper at Darin.
“What’s this?”
“The deed to Lonny’s house. Consider it a wedding gift from Eddie.”
Darin was obviously confused. “You’re rewarding me?”
“Hardly. Eddie wanted to wash his hands of it. Too many memories there for him.”
“There is a stipulation for that, too,” Earl said.
“What?”
“You finish law school.”
Darin threw his head back. “I told you I was done with school.”
“Well, it’s this or hit the road. You and your wife have caused enough trouble for everyone. You’ll go where I tell you to go, or I can’t say what will happen to the two of you.”
Angie finally sat up. “How will we face everyone?”
“It’ll blow over. You can’t be responsible for what you were told yo
ur whole life. Vince wanted you to think he was your father. That’s good enough for me. We don’t have to tell anyone the truth; you need to tone down the princess act a shitload, though.”
She wiped her eyes. “Okay.”
“Eddie and I don’t want it to be known that we let an outsider come in and run things. As far as anyone will be concerned, Vince had two daughters.” He turned to Darin. “And you’d best admit to lying about her being a fed to get Gunner and Sully to take her out. If Eddie hears you keep trying to push it as a fact, even I couldn’t stop him from skinning you alive.”
His head dropped to his chest. “Yes, sir.”
Eddie was in the driveway as Hunt and Mandy were leaving Earl’s home. He rolled down the back window of the limo but didn’t invite them in.
“Go well?”
“As good as could be expected. You got your wish, Eddie. Looks like you’re in charge.”
“I never wanted it this way. It was always an unspoken thing between Vince and myself. Believe what you want, but we were like brothers. We made this what it is today, together.”
“And what an empire you have,” Hunt said as he shook his head.
Eddie stared at him for a brief moment then turned to Mandy. “You can do what you want. You don’t need to move and change your name. We’ll never come after you again. You have my word.”
“For all that’s worth,” Hunt said.
Mandy took his hand, silently urging him to stop.
“There is only one thing I don’t get,” Mandy said.
“What’s that?”
“What it was that triggered Sue. Why did she bother coming back?”
Eddie cleared his throat. “That one I do know.”
“You what? You knew about Sue and never bothered to tell us? You lied before?”
“I wasn’t sure where it would go. It could have been nothing.”
“Come on, Eddie.”
He shrugged. “It took time, but Vince tracked her down. Once he was out, they hooked up and made a plan.”
“Why did he want to bring her back into this?”
“He wanted that book, for starters. I guess he never counted on Sue having it out for him.”