“You know about this, I know about this, Luca and Sergio…” Phoenix swore. “Either they set me up to fail or they’re testing me, not that it matters, I’m doing the right thing. This time, I’m doing the right thing.”
“Horrible.” Tex sighed. “When death is the only way to do right.”
“Memorize the names, memorize the photos, you won’t have a lot of time to react Tex. Remember, this is life or death.”
The recording stopped.
Dumbfounded I stared at Mil and then Trace. “What does that mean?”
“We have a few theories.” Mil cleared her throat. “I haven’t shared it with anyone. I mean, I’m not an idiot. I love my brother, but my trust? It doesn’t stretch that far, I’ve been tailing him, or my men have been tailing him. I just… I don’t know Mo, when I told Trace, she said I should come to you. It’s possible that things with Tex, aren’t exactly what they seem.”
“And if they are?” I asked the question they both were too afraid to whisper out loud, knowing that if it was true, he was lost to me for forever.
“Then,” Mil said, shrugging, “he really does kill everyone, turns to the dark side, marries some Nicolasi bitch with a giant hairy mole on her face and buck teeth, and we order a hit on her and make it look like an accident.”
I laughed. Laughed for the first time in what felt like forever as Mil looked at me as if she was dead serious. I loved that girl. Just… loved her. “You get scarier the longer you’re married to Chase.”
“He’s a really bad influence.” Mil nodded, eyes wide. “So much violence in one body, impressive really.”
“Gross.” Trace held up her hands. “No more details.” She turned to me. “So you gonna sit and pout all day or can we lure you out of the bedroom with talks of coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls?”
I perked up. “Chase baked this morning?”
“Chase bakes when he’s stressed.” Mil nodded. “Or not getting any.”
Trace groaned in her hands.
Mil threw up her arms. “I was tired! Last night was draining, I said no, sue me, at least you get rolls out of it.”
“We all win.” I nodded triumphantly. “Thank you for your sacrifice, Mil.”
“Welcome.” She grinned and pulled me in for a hug. Trace wrapped her arms around both of us.
“It will be okay,” Trace said. “I promise.”
“I hope you’re right.” I frowned. “I really do.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
When you don’t get your way… tail a person and find out the truth.
Sergio
I TRIED TO HIDE the surprise on my face when Mo walked into the kitchen smiling. Chase’s mouth dropped open; apparently I wasn’t the only one shocked. Nixon kicked him under the table.
We all stared at the table, me at my coffee and then back up at Mo as she took a roll from the pan Chase just pulled from the oven, and stuffed it in her mouth.
Tex marched into the kitchen.
I shifted uncomfortably. Damn it was like watching a TV show. He stepped around Mo, careful not to touch her, poured himself a cup of coffee then came over and sat with us at the table.
Bee soon followed.
And then Phoenix.
I almost choked on my own roll when in silence, everyone continued eating their meal as if last night hadn’t been complete and utter chaos.
“Next week is Christmas,” Nixon announced not looking up from his paper. “Chase you making Lasagna?”
“You know it.” Chase lifted his roll into the air and took a large bite out of it, moaning as he chewed.
“Tex, you wanna help put up decorations, I think you should still be here… or are they shipping you off to Sicily right after The Commission?”
Nixon was officially fishing for information in the most upfront way I’d ever seen a man fish.
I leaned forward, noting how Phoenix did the same thing, both of us waiting for Tex’s answer, both for different reasons. I was told to let the chips fall and I hated that I was putting faith in two men I really didn’t like all that much.
Tex gave a non-committal shrug “Like they could ever tell me when or how I should leave.” He smirked. “I can easily decorate your giant ass house Nixon… eyes closed.”
Nixon chuckled and held up his coffee. “Well I would hate to break tradition. You know how Chase likes to pretend he’s helping when really he’s freezing his nuts off.”
“It’s masculine,” Chase piped up. “Nailing shit to the house.”
Mil rolled her eyes.
“So it’s settled.” Nixon set his coffee down, it clattered against the table. “The Family will all be together for Christmas. Breathing, alive, celebrating?” His eyes met Tex’s.
Without as much as a flinch, Tex lifted his coffee into the air and smiled. “Of course, wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I almost groaned and dropped my head to the table allowing it to bang a few times just so I felt the pain.
What. The. Hell. Was Luca thinking? We’d be lucky to survive that long.
Four more days until The Commission and things weren’t looking better. Campisi’s clan would be there, not just Alfonso but all of them, Luca had made sure of it with his ridiculous invitation through Phoenix, which meant only one thing.
Either Alfonso survived or Tex survived.
Either way one of them would have to make an example out of the rest of the families in order to stay in power. The Cappo di Cappo didn’t do small and if Tex truly wanted to see another Christmas, he was going to have to put on the show of a lifetime.
Luca had said to trust them.
I trusted no one but myself.
I had no choice but to drink my coffee and pretend to be ignorant of every side of the situation.
The girls easily fell into conversation with each other—everyone but Mo.
“So?” Bee directed her attention to Mo. “You think you can help me?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Mo licked her lips and shook her head. “Sorry, I’m tired.”
“Shooting.” Bee grinned happily. “Trace and Mil said they’d teach me, can you help?”
“Uh… sure.” Mo set her coffee down. “That would be fun.” When she reached for her coffee again it was at the exact moment Tex reached for another roll.
Their hands collided.
Awkward would be an understatement.
I decided to make it worse. Mainly because I could, and because after looking at the way Mo stared at Tex, I knew. She’d never be for me. I wasn’t him, it was as simple as that.
Didn’t mean I couldn’t at least get in a good jab so he realized what a complete and utter ass he was. “So the girl you’re going to shack up with.” I cleared my throat. “You see her picture yet? Rumor has it Nicolasi girls are really… bendy.”
Mo’s face paled as Tex pushed back his seat and stood. “I couldn’t care less.”
“Well,” I kept poking, “You are going to marry her, I mean the contract’s been drawn up, and you’d be an idiot not to take the protection of the only family still in Sicily… right?”
He closed his eyes briefly before a cruel smile plastered across his face. Phoenix nodded his head to Tex and returned his attention to the paper.
“It only makes sense.” Tex puffed out his chest. “The Cappo di Cappo marrying the Nicolasi clan, just think… we’d be unstoppable. Hell, the Alferos, De Langes, and Abandonatos combined couldn’t out buy us, out weapon us, or stop us. I’m thinking…” He nodded and offered another smirk around the table as he walked into the kitchen. “I’m thinking it sounds good. Damn good, after all what type of leader would I be if I wasn’t fully invested in all that power?”
Nixon clenched his teeth while Chase gripped his coffee cup so hard it almost splintered into his hands.
Phoenix, however, appeared indifferent.
“Good call,” I finally said. “Abandoning the family that raised you in order to join the devil… how… typical of a Campisi.”
>
Tex froze and then slowly turned his murderous gaze on me. I had the sudden urge to jump out of my seat and run. Like a complete coward. “They say a boss always has to order a first hit, Sergio. Don’t make me an enemy, you don’t want to know the pain I could bring you. The suffering, the absolute entertainment I’d feel at strangling you with my bare hands.”
With that he walked off.
Chase let out a whistle and set down the paper. “Happy Sunday.”
“God’s day.” Nixon added.
“I’ve got some prayer beads if you need them, Sergio.” Chase nodded. “You know, just in case.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair.
What was Tex doing?
And why was Phoenix okay with it?
Hell, even if I did end up dead, I’d be okay with the situation as long as it was handled in a way that protected the family. What a completely morbid thought.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
The Mafia by definition should say. “Happy Endings die here.”
Tex
I HAD TO ADMIT, watching Sergio’s shit-eating grin fall from his face as he turned the color of a ghost was probably the highlight of my week, maybe even my month.
With a grunt I punched the bag harder. I needed a way to get out my aggression, and sitting at the table with Mo, pretending not to care when she was staring into her coffee like it held the secrets to the world? Hardest damn thing I’d ever done.
Damn contract. I barreled my fist into the punching bag.
Damn Luca. Two roundhouse kicks. Another punch.
Sweat was pouring down my face.
“Did you get the text?” Phoenix scared the hell out of me as he walked into the weight room and held the bag. I continued punching.
“You mean the text with all the pictures?”
Phoenix nodded slowly.
“You know I have a good memory, man. Six of Alfonso’s men are going to be dead by my hand come this Thursday.”
“And the other fourteen?”
I paused, allowing myself to catch my breath before landing a right hook then a left to the bag. “They’re all old.”
Phoenix sighed. “Kind of the point, Tex.”
I stopped punching and hung my head. “You’re asking me to cleanse the old to make way for the new.”
Phoenix released the bag. “How do you suck out poison? Fast or slow?”
“Why are we sucking poison?”
His eyes flashed. “Answer the question.”
“Fast, you have to get as much out as you can otherwise the person loses time.”
“So you shoot fast… you suck out the poison. The slower you go about it the more dangerous it becomes. Kill them all, Tex. Not one lives. That list, if it ever gets back to you, to me, to us?” he cursed and ran his hands through his hair. “It’s almost like treason, you know?”
“Yeah.” I chewed my lower lip. “I’m well aware of what we’re doing.”
“That’s why they can’t know.” Phoenix grabbed the back with his hands. “Now hit.”
Right, left, right, left, I hit until I was completely spent. Until sweat poured down my face into my eyes.
“Good.” Phoenix stepped back. “Some of the targets will be out tonight. I’ll text you the address. Watch them, memorize their movements, their mannerisms, even drunk they’ll show you their tells. But don’t let them see you.”
“Got it.”
“And Tex?” Phoenix stopped halfway to the door.
“Yeah?” I wiped my face with a towel. “If I’m in the line of fire… I won’t hate you… just know. I would never hate you. Rather I die than any one of those bastards live.”
I swallowed. “Phoenix… were they a part of it? I have to know.”
“It’s not a personal vendetta, Tex.” Phoenix swore and slammed the wall with his hand. “If it was I’d be the one doing the shooting. Just know… those men… they were with my father and with yours. If they don’t die… that prostitution ring stays open. If they don’t die, those weapons keep coming up from Columbia. If they don’t die, it will be our heads. They won’t stop until they’ve hunted us all down.”
“I wish there were another way.”
Phoenix let out a large exhale. “Don’t we all?”
“One more thing.”
“Dude…” Phoenix hung his head. “I’m tired.”
“What would you do?”
He turned, his eyes pensive. “What would I do?”
“If you knew you only had four days to live.”
Red stained his cheeks before he cleared his throat and rocked back on his heels. “Whatever I’d miss the most, I’d do every damn day until it was time.”
“Even if it was twirling like a ballerina?” I joked.
“Right.” Phoenix barked with laughter. “Especially if it was that, I could dance circles around you, don’t make me prove it.”
I held up my hands. “Nobody needs to see that.”
He chuckled.
“I’m glad you’re not dead, man.”
His face turned serious. “Say that after Thursday.”
I was quiet as he left the room. Only then did I whisper, “I will. I swear it.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
And when you fall down… you pick yourself up… and try again.
Mo
I WASN’T USED TO LYING to people that I loved. Usually I only lied to people I didn’t know. Decision made, I gripped the knives in my hand and strapped them to the inside of my thigh. I slid my black knit dress over my head and grabbed my over–the-knee Chanel boots. They’d always had a bit of space on the top so it was easy to sneak weapons. I’m sure clothes whores everywhere were proud of my accomplishment, slipping another two knives into the top, just in case.
I grabbed my black leather jacket and shrugged it over my shoulders, then cracked my neck.
My .45 was lying on the bed. With determination I pulled the gun into my hands and loaded it then pulled back the safety. I needed to be ready for anything.
Lastly, I looked in the mirror.
I didn’t really recognize the girl staring back at me. She seemed afraid and I refused to feel afraid.
Inhaling deeply, I closed my eyes and focused on my own mission. If the guys were going to play blind to what was going on that left me and only me.
Regardless of where tonight led me, even if it meant I was stepping into my own grave, or maybe into the realization that Tex had never been mine to begin with? I’d at least have answers, I’d have peace knowing I had done every single thing I could in order to secure my happiness, my family’s safety, and maybe even Tex’s.
When my eyes opened.
I saw.
Me.
Mo Abandonato, twin to one of the most powerful mob bosses in the country, in love with the freaking Godfather, daughter to a slain bastard and best friend to the De Langes, I popped my neck, the Alferos, and the Nicolasis. God help me.
I would do my job.
After all, a made man is made by his first few kills, by his ability to pull the trigger without hesitating.
I was finally at that moment.
And it felt good. It felt freeing to let go of all the drama, all the heartache, and focus in on the bigger picture.
The Commission and Tex’s sudden shift, along with his and Phoenix’s plans.
I sent a quick group text to everyone telling them I was going out for a run and opened my window, jumping out onto the grass with a small thud.
Tex was getting ready to leave, that much I was sure of. I’d lied to the girls about shooting, knowing I would miss my chance to tail him if I stayed.
I ran over to the black Mercedes and jumped in. It was newer, not familiar to Tex who always saw me drive the Range Rover, even though the Mercedes was actually my car.
I quickly pulled out of our lot and drove around back so nobody would see me, then inched through the gate and waited at the end of our property, by the cows.
Within minute
s Tex sped by in the Range Rover, sunglasses on and attention totally focused in on everything straight ahead.
I smiled as one more thing clicked into place. I’d been counting on him driving the Range Rover. My plans would have been totally shot had he not driven that car.
A moment of pure genius had washed over me as I realized that the same tracker stupid Phoenix had injected into me was amongst all the gear Nixon had in the gun room, as I liked to call it. It was only too easy to slip one between the backseat of the SUV and download the app on my phone.
I waited a good five minutes before taking off.
And what do you know? Tex had stopped around fifteen miles later at a pretty upscale restaurant and bar called, Tapas.
I parked across the street a few cars back and waited. It was now or never and I had all the time in the world.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Too many men involved meant one thing. Elimination.
Tex
I WAS GOING TO OFFICIALLY kill Phoenix. The men I was supposed to be tailing? Complete and utter fools. No, really. They poured in and out of the restaurant, drinking, sucking down cigars like they didn’t cause cancer and laughing loudly.
Each of them was too involved in conversation to even look down the street. Did they really think they were safe here? I didn’t recognize any faces, though Alfonso did make an appearance once when he came outside to smoke a cigar and talk to the circle of men.
They were all in their late fifties to early sixties. It made me sick to think of what they were involved in.
It didn’t bother me in the least that I’d be the one introducing them to the Devil. After all, they’d been in charge of one of the worst prostitution rings known to the Cosa Nostra.
It had started with the De Langes and I thought it had ended the night I killed my father.
I was wrong.
As Phoenix so nicely pointed out by way of Luca.
Two men were constantly reaching behind their heads, scratching at their upper backs, twitchy. Meaning, they were used to distracting with their hands while they used the other hand to pull out a gun. I made a note of it on the photographs I’d brought with me.
Another man’s eyes were downcast as he tossed dice in the air, up and down up and down, waiting, ever so patiently. He’d be the first to pull a gun, the last to die. His movements were smooth, fluid.