Page 36 of Venomous Throne

“We don’t know this man,” Franky started, selecting a sticky, fried roll from the bag.

“He’s not mob,” Donnie added, waiting for his turn.

“Look.” Joseph folded his hands and pinned me with a firm look. “You can fuck whomever you want.”

“You deserve it after Vincent,” Mikey muttered.

“But we have to protect you,” Joseph finished.

If I hadn’t felt the dynamic shift before, I felt it in full force now. Men slept around without a care. To admit a woman was doing it, a woman in authority, was strange.

It shouldn’t be.

But it was.

I took a long sip of my coffee to hide my discomfort. The black liquid scalded my tongue. There would be burns in my mouth the rest of the day, but I took a second sip.

“Well, thanks,” I gulped.

“We thought it was odd that nothing came up, so we want you to be careful,” Franky said kindly.

“And we want to do an official background check,” Joseph insisted.

The fact that they’d come to me, were asking my permission, helped right the balance of my authority. They were only looking out for me. Their need to protect me might have roots in self-serving feelings, but I was still touched by their concern.

“Vet him,” I ordered.

Joseph nodded. The matter was settled.

“And for the record, I’m not fucking him.” I flattened my hands on the island. “He isn’t interested in a relationship.”

Donnie snorted. “Then he’s an idiot, ma’am.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks.

If I was going to fit into the men’s world, enduring locker room talk was essential. And Iwouldfit. I would fucking dominate.

“Who do we know that does assassination work?” I asked, switching topics.

Franky shifted. “I told you, I’ll take care of Marco—”

“No.” I lifted my cup and drained the last of the coffee. “You’re too valuable to me. All four of you. It has to be an outside job.”

“Finding someone on such short notice is going to be hard,” Donnie hedged.

I set my cup on the saucer. It clattered and spun. “Then I propose an alternative strategy.”

“We’re listening.” Mikey reached for a second pastry.

We were going to have to talk about some small dietary changes and mandatory exercise. I couldn’t have my capos, or their soldiers, existing solely on sweets and caffeine. These men needed protein. They needed to be fit and ready for the wars that were coming.

“We’re going to make a series of chess moves,” I started, the idea I concocted formulating into a plan. I spent too many hours in the dead of night playing the game in my head. “Finding the resources is one thing. But we want someone else to do our dirty work. Focus the spotlight on them.”

“What are you saying?” Joseph picked up his cup and finally drank his coffee.

I smiled, feeling the darkness tug at my lips. “Have you ever heard the saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend?”

They murmured in agreement.