Page 65 of Unruly

“Since the end of November.”

“Catherine, it’s almost the end of January now.”

“Yes, but—”

“That’s two months you’ve purposely kept this information from the Three Families,” John said, venom coating his every word.

“No, just you and Andino,” she clarified. “Cross knew the day after the initial meeting.”

“But you didn’t think to inform us?”

His shout reverberated through the office, and likely out into the hallway. She was surprised that Cross’s footsteps didn’t follow the shout.

“Okay, I will let that one yell slide,” Catherine told her cousin as calmly as she could manage, “but trust that the next one will earn you something you won’t like, John. This is business—these agreements, the supplier, and the contract is my business. Neither you, nor Andino, would have given me a chance to even try to fix this or figure something else out. You both would have butted your big ass egos and mansplaining into it without even considering I could fix it. Let me do my job.”

“Yet, here we are, two months later, and you still—”

“I am working on it!”

John’s jaw clenched, and she thought he was holding back his barely held together emotions. Catherine figured once he left her home, she should probably call his wife and give the woman a heads up. Sometimes, a little upset in John’s emotional state or his very carefully controlled life could tip the scales of his Bipolar Disorder. They had learned over the years that it helped if those around John kept an eye out for changes in his behavior or upsets happening because then his wife could either help him through it, or … well, Catherine didn’t know what happened beyond that. She suspected John took meds, and probably had a therapist who worked with him, but those were things that were never on the table for discussion.

Both he and his wife made that very clear.

Catherine respected them for their choices, and didn’t push for personal information. Right now she needed John to extend the same hand to her on the business side of things.

“John,” Catherine said, forcing her tone to be level, “you know I never question your ability to be a good boss for your organization. Despite the shit I know you deal with on a daily basis, and the struggles we have all seen you go through, I never ever tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing in business because of your disorder.”

John’s gaze narrowed slightly. “Sure, that’s true enough.”

“Please give me the same respect here. I know I’m not my mother, and that I still have growing room to do yet, but I am capable. I absolutely can figure this out if you just give me some time.”

“And what will Andino and I do about the fact we are very quickly running out of cocaine?”

Catherine pushed back the chair she sat in, and pulled out a drawer in the desk. Inside rested a folder of information regarding her own supply of cocaine, how much was left, and where it had been stored in different warehouses. It was never a good thing to keep too much of something in one spot just in case a raid happened.

Backups were needed in this business.

She pulled the folder out, and tossed it over to her cousin. “There, an extra supply that should handle both of you until closer to spring, hopefully.”

John snatched the folder, and opened it. Looking over the documents, he asked, “And what about you, or even Cross’s famiglia?”

“He’s got enough, and made a quick deal with Tommaso in Chicago should he need a bit more.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything about you.”

“I have enough to handle my girls for now.”

John chewed over her assurances and offers before finally saying, “I do have to let Andino know what I learned today. It’s the respect of the matter. He needs a heads up, Catty. You should have already given us both one.”

“Lesson learned, then,” she said with a nod. “Try to keep him off my ass for a bit, though?”

“Do you think you deserve that bit of grace, considering?”

“I think the less issues I have to deal with, the faster I can get this shit figured out.”

John sighed, and then nodded. “Done.”

It was a good thirty minutes after John had left, and Catherine hung up with her cousin’s wife, that she finally went in search of her husband. She assumed Cross would come to her for an update after her meeting, but he was nowhere to be found.