Becoming the Street Boss: A Zanetti Famiglia Novel

by Faiman, Hayley

  “What will you do if I give you the man behind it?”

  Gavino laughs softly. “What do you want?”

  She licks her lips, then I watch as her lips curl up and she leans forward as if she’s going to tell him some kind of secret. I hold my breath, waiting to see what she’s going to say and wondering just how fucked up it all is.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  MASSIMO

  Pippa should be at home, tucked into bed, or at the very least she should be asleep in one of the rooms here, but she’s not. Instead, she’s standing in front of me while this cunt stares at Gavino and we all wait for her to tell us what the fuck is going on.

  “Roman didn’t want to pay you any money. His bakery was the most popular in the area and he shouldn’t have to pay you people a dime. You should have been paying him to stay in the neighborhood.”

  “So you’re fucking Roman for free? His wife know about that?” I ask.

  Erin snorts. “His wife is worthless,” she snaps, jerking her chin up in the air.

  I wait for her to tell us what exactly she is to him. She doesn’t say anything for a while, her eyes shifting from one person to another, then finally they find Mia’s.

  “Mia, you know about Roman, don’t you?”

  Something flashes in Mia’s gaze, she looks down at her feet, then slowly lifts her eyes up to meet Erin’s. “I know exactly who Roman is,” Mia grinds out.

  “Care to educate the class?” Gavino asks, straightening his legs and standing to his feet.

  I watch as he puts his hand behind his back, his chest open and seemingly his mind as well, but I know the truth. He is on the fucking edge right now, seconds away from losing his shit on the whole room.

  There’s a moment of silence. Then Mia lets out a sigh before she speaks. “Roman is around ten years older than me. He’s not Made, but he used to be a friend of the famiglia. So much so, that he used to hang around a bit.”

  Mia clears her throat. We’re all holding our breath, knowing that whatever she’s going to say, it’s going to be massive. Mia has a look of disgust on her face.

  “Antonio Rossi was in charge back then, naturally,” Mia whispers. “Roman came to a few parties, not family parties.”

  “But you were there? How old were you, cara?” I ask.

  Mia’s body jerks. “Fifteen.”

  “Roman?”

  Mia nods. “He’s the reason no Made Man wanted me, not to keep anyway.”

  “He’s the reason you became a comaré?” Arlo asks.

  Mia’s eyes water, but not a single teardrop falls. She’s probably the strongest woman I have ever met. My Pippa is strong, but Mia personifies the word. I watch as she inhales through her nose before she lets the breath out with a long sigh.

  “He’s the reason I felt like I had no choice but to become a comaré. He raped me. Took my self-worth, because when you’re the daughter of a Made Man, your self-worth is your virginity. So, I turned to a different life when I felt like the one I had been groomed for was over.”

  Pippa gasps, obviously unknowing of this part of Mia’s past. Vino, Arlo, and I aren’t as shocked. We knew there was a reason why Mia is the way that she is. Though, Vino may actually have known the reason all along since he and Mia have dabbled in bed play together over the years.

  “He rape you too, Erin?” Vino asks.

  She laughs. “Absolutely not and I highly doubt that he did that to you, that he did anything you didn’t want. Roman is a good man. He’s saved me.”

  “Saved?” Brando asks, speaking for the first time in a while.

  Erin’s eyes flick over to him, her lips curve up into a small smile. “Saved,” she purrs. “Roman is a good man. But more importantly, he is a man who stands up for what he wants in life.”

  Mia snorts. “Let me guess, he wants you? He’s going to make it all wonderful? You’ll be shitting rainbows as soon as you give him what he wants?”

  “What?” Erin whispers.

  “I mean that’s it, right? I don’t know how you met him, how you became involved with him. I know now that you’re from the city and not Ireland. And I know Roman’s MO He wants women to fall at his feet, to feel like they can’t breathe without him because he has some fucking special relationship with them that he couldn’t possibly have with someone else. He’s manipulating you, Erin. It’s what he does.”

  She shakes her head. “I’ve known him my whole life,” she whispers before she licks her lips. “He was my neighbor.”

  “The truth comes out,” Gavino mutters. “This man has been in your life, he’s how you got connected with the famiglia, with this profession, but to what end? It wasn’t to get a Made Man, what was it?”

  Erin jerks her chin toward Mia. “He’s always been obsessed with her. Always. Nothing has changed, you know he calls his wife Mia when he comes? He calls me Mia. But I don’t mind it, because I know that in the end, he’ll have me and I don’t care what he wants to call me. I just care that I’m his.”

  “You’re desperate and sad,” Mia breathes. “Why all of this, hiding and stalking of Massimo and Pippa?”

  Erin grins. “I did that for fun, the real target has and always will be Mia. I even have pictures of your times with Gavino. Video, too. We fuck to the videos.”

  “You’re screwed in the head,” Pippa exhales. “Completely fucked up.”

  Erin’s gaze flies to meet mine. “Do you think that your wounds will cause you pain for the rest of your life, bitch? I think they might. Do you still have nightmares? How are all your painkillers and booze treating you?”

  “You cunt,” Pippa screams.

  My arms tighten around her, I keep her in front of me, holding her to my front as I imagine all of the ways that I’m going to tear this bitch and Roman apart. Piece by fucking piece and I will. Neither one of them will live to see the light of day if I have anything to do or say about it.

  Erin giggles, her head flying back as she does. Then she straightens and looks directly in Pippa’s eyes. “We fucked the night you were shot, it was one of the best nights of my life. All of you needed to learn a lesson. You have to leave these businesses alone. They don’t owe you anything,” she cries.

  “And yet, nobody has taken anything from you. In fact, you’ve been treated fairly, paid well for your services, even by the Made Men who come to see you. Nobody has hurt you, not a single client has left as much as a bruise. So please tell us why you’re so insistent that we’ve all done you wrong?” Gavino asks, sounding far too fucking reasonable for my taste.

  This bitch and her man fucked with my wife, shot her, stalked her and did the same to Mia. Enough is enough. They need to die, and slowly.

  “Massimo had Roman’s bakery burned to the ground. You don’t think that’s cause enough?”

  “Not for all of this,” Gavino says. “Not when I know that Roman received insurance money and rebuilt the bakery just months later in a different district.”

  “It’s principal,” she snaps.

  “It’s not,” Gavino murmurs. “It’s an obsession and you’re playing a part. When he gets what he wants, you will cease to exist to him, Erin.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she whispers.

  Shaking my head, I take a step forward, shifting Pippa to the side and behind me. “It’s the principle.” She grins. “Massimo deserves to have what’s coming to him for fucking with the bakery. Pippa as his wife has been forced to bear the brunt, that’s how it rolls.” She shrugs.

  “And Mia?” Arlo asks.

  “Mia will be kidnapped and held hostage?” Brando asks. “He’s obsessed with her, that’s what will happen, right?”

  Erin shrugs. “If that’s what he wants.”

  “What happens with his wife and kids? He’s still married, very married, and his wife owns half of everything now, so he’s not going to walk away, not from her.”

  “I’ll kill her myself.” Erin sneers. “She’ll die and I’ll fuck him in her blood.”

  �
�When did she get so batshit crazy?” Gavino asks, flicking his gaze around the room.

  There’s a moment of silence before everyone starts to laugh softly, including the batshit crazy Erin. Lifting my hand, I run my fingers through my hair, wondering how in the fuck all of this happened.

  How in the actual goddamn fuck?

  And then I wonder, how in the fuck are we going to deal with this?

  I know that all I want to do is end the whole thing, permanently. And I will. Soon. Once we get all of the information that we need from her.

  Erin is too lost to her own obsession with Roman. One that I have no doubt at all whatsoever is completely unhealthy and has been for far longer than any one of us could even imagine.

  She can’t see what’s really happening, that Roman is using her, though I’m not sure what exactly for yet. Before both of them die, I will find out what his main goal is in all of this and where the fuck he’s been hiding for five years.

  PIPPA

  I stand to the side, quietly, as I think about everything that’s been going on the past hour or so. Erin and Massimo fucked, something he paid her for many times. Erin and Roman were neighbors, they fucked and she fell in love with him, even if that love is completely manipulated and fake.

  Roman used to hang out with the older group of Made Men, maybe as an errand boy? He raped Mia and she felt as though he ruined her chances of finding a man and becoming a wife, but she’s a freaking badass woman now, so I hate that it happened to her, but look at her now.

  Massimo was taking protection money from Roman’s bakery, something Roman decided he didn’t want to pay anymore once his father died.

  His bakery was forced to close after Massimo had it burned to the ground for what he did, for ratting him out to the feds. Massimo went to prison and Roman had me stalked by Erin and possibly shot me himself.

  “I’m confused,” I mumble to myself.

  A cool hand wraps around my forearm and I turn my head, tilting it back to see that Mia is looking down at me. She has a small smile playing on her lips and it’s clear that she wants to hear my question.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Why?”

  Nodding, I lick my lips. “Why didn’t Roman stalk me himself? Why did Erin pretend to be in love with Massimo, why was she the one running around and emailing him all these years? If Roman is stupid enough to try and kill a Street Boss’ wife in daylight, in the middle of the street, why did he hide for five years? Why?”

  “It’s a good question,” Gavino mumbles.

  “And why is Erin so freely giving us all of this information?” Mia asks. “If it was me, and I’d been hiding and being sneaky for five years, I would not freely give up anything, especially my lover.”

  “Is Roman even alive anymore? Have you found his wife, his children?” I ask.

  Gavino jerks his chin as his eyes flick from Mia to me, then over to Massimo. “This is why we don’t let women in the famiglia,” he grunts.

  “And why is that?” Mia snaps.

  Gavino’s lips twitch into a smile, it reaches his eyes and I have to admit, he looks downright gorgeous when his entire face smiles that way.

  “Because you’re too smart.” He chuckles, taking me away from my thoughts of his looks.

  “Where is Roman?” Gavino asks.

  Erin’s eyes widen, she crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head a couple of times. Clearly over this back and forth game, Gavino closes the distance between them. I catch the glint of something in his right hand and I watch as he reaches for the back of Erin’s head and wrenches it back.

  I gasp when Gavino lifts his opposite hand up and there is a knife in it, a knife that he now has pressed against Erin’s neck. One wrong move and her skin will be opened, it will slice along her taut throat and she’ll bleed out in seconds.

  “I’ll only ask one more time. Without any real valuable information, your life is just as invaluable to me.”

  Erin growls but doesn’t pull away from him. She doesn’t even flinch. “Roman is dead. He killed himself when Massimo was released. Said he knew that he would be caught. It was inevitable, because while your men may slack, Massimo would not relent.”

  “What the fuck is the point of all of this?” I snap.

  Erin laughs, her body shaking slightly, her neck beginning to bleed from Gavino’s hold of the blade against her throat.

  “Maybe the point is that she’s fucking insane?” Mia asks. “Or maybe, it was never about Roman and all of that is just to throw us off.”

  Erin’s gaze flicks to a couple different faces around the room, then stops on Brando who has been extremely quiet for a long while. Arlo, Mia, and Massimo all three turn around to face Brando. He takes a stumbling step backward, Erin giggling in the background.

  “Stay right the fuck where you are,” Massimo barks.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  MASSIMO

  Without a second thought, without a moment of hesitation, I watch as Brando attempts to make his way toward the door, walking backward. Reaching into my shoulder holster, I take out my gun and point it directly at his forehead.

  Arlo jumps to his feet, charging him. I watch as he disarms him without even taking a breath, throwing Brando’s gun on his desk, along with another one that was strapped to his ankle. Gavino lets out a grunt behind us.

  “What the fuck?” I breathe. “What the actual fuck is happening here?”

  I feel like I’m going fucking crazy. My head is spinning at the speed of everything happening around us, thankfully my arm is steady as fuck as I continue to keep my gun directly focused on Brando’s forehead.

  “Tell them, Brando. Tell them how you found out I was the one stalking Massimo, then Pippa? Tell them how you snuck into the house late at night, how Roman gave you a taste of me. How you fucked me.

  “Tell them how you knew where he was the entire time and never told Massimo or any of his men. Tell them how you’re the reason Massimo went away. How you called the feds, tipped them off to visit with Roman, how you encouraged the whole fucking thing. Tell them,” Erin urges on a laugh.

  “You were playing the police department and me at the same time?” Massimo asks.

  Brando grunts. “You really think I’m loyal to anyone? Roman offered me something that I couldn’t resist.”

  “A whore?” I snort. “I could have given you one for every night of the week if you’d wanted.”

  Brando shakes his head slowly. “Women aren’t as valuable as you think they are.”

  “I don’t know, I seem to do well with them,” Gavino murmurs with a small chuckle.

  Brando laughs, though it comes out kind of fucking evil sounding. My body jerks, my gun still steady as I continue to point it at his head, waiting for the moment that I can pull the trigger. I have never wanted to kill someone that I thought of as a friend more in my life than I do this motherfucker right now.

  “Money,” I say. He jerks his chin. “Money and sex are what makes the world go round, so if it wasn’t about a woman, it was about money.”

  “His insurance payout was out of this world. He was obsessed with stalking you, with getting evidence that would put you away for life. When I saw the pictures of that night, I knew it was him. He’d been on me for a few days.”

  “Do I even want to know how you knew him?” I ask.

  Brando shrugs a shoulder. “I knew his wife more than him. Pretty thing, had very bad taste in men.” He laughs.

  “So, what, you figured you’d call in the feds on the extortion deal and that was that?”

  “Extortion holds a far less prison term than murder. I figure I did you a fucking favor as a friend,” he snaps.

  Gavino lets out a loud laugh. Brando’s body jerks back as if Gavino’s laugh could physically harm him. We all watch, waiting to see what is going to come next. Now that we know more of the actual fucking truth. Brando sold me out to the feds for cash and because he had a thing with Roman’s wife.

  “A
favor,” I mutter. “Thanks for the fucking favor.” Inhaling a sharp breath, I shift my gaze over my shoulder for a moment to get Gavino’s attention. “Can I be done with him?”

  “Be done with it, except I want to ask one more question.”

  Brando is physically shaking now, his body trembling in his spot. I would be scared too if I were about to die.

  “Wh-Wh-What?” he asks through trembling lips.

  Smirking, I let him shake for another couple of moments, my eyes skirting over his body, wondering if this big badass cop is going to piss himself or not. I kind of want to make him wait a while to see if he will.

  “Was it all worth it?” I ask. “I assume the bulk of your money is still sitting somewhere? So, you got all of this money, you didn’t vanish to live on a beach somewhere in luxury, so was it all worth it?”

  His eyes flick behind me toward Erin, then back to me. I watch as he gulps, then shakes his head once. “For five years it was pretty fucking sweet,” he admits.

  “And now?”

  “You’ll be caught and I’ll see you in hell.”

  I pull the trigger without a second thought. Blood, brains, and hair fly everywhere. I can’t take my eyes off of his body. He stays standing for another few seconds before his body crumples to the floor.

  Nobody makes a sound in the room. Not even Erin, who I expected to scream like a banshee. Turning around slowly, I lift my gaze to meet Gavino’s. He snorts.

  “Now that we know who got the feds involved. A man we let into our lives, a man we took out of our lives,” I say.

  There’s a knock on the door and we all freeze. Arlo stands and kicks Brando’s body away from the entrance to the room, opening the door just enough to stick his head out. I hear his voice, but I’m too far away and he’s talking too softly for me or anyone else to hear what he’s saying.

  “Luca is here, with your guard friend from prison,” Arlo announces.

  “The fucking plot thickens,” Gavino grunts.