Page 7 of Duty

“You have a while to get everything sorted on the personal side of things,” his father said. “No one is saying that you have to run out and get yourself settled with a wife right this minute, Andino.”

That was that. Andino’s future was decided and he didn’t get a single say in it all.

Duty waited on no one.

“Now,” Dante said, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers. “Onto other business.”

Yes.

Other business.

Apparently, Andino’s entire life could get upended just like that, but business still had to be talked about because this was their way. This was how they all lived.

“What business in particular?” Andino asked.

“You have a gun run coming up, don’t you? You’re handling the details of it—fill me in.”

Andino held in the cringe fighting its way over his lips. “All is well on that front. It’s a typical run. I don’t expect any problems.”

Except there was.

A lot of problems.

Their runner had been picked up on charges. He wasn’t getting out. The run still needed to go through, and Andino was going to need to do what he needed to do to get those guns to the man who bought them. Otherwise, they’d have a hell of a lot more problems to deal with.

Thing was—he only knew one gunrunner able to do it.

A man his boss hated.

Cross Donati.

Dante’s hatred of Cross stemmed back to something that happened between the gunrunner and Catherine—Dante’s daughter, and Andino’s cousin.

It didn’t matter.

The guns had to be run.

Andino would just make sure his boss never found out who the fuck was running them—at least, not until after.

Yeah, that worked.

Andino nodded. “Everything is great, boss.”

Dante smiled. “Make sure of it, Andino.”

• • •

The best part of Andino’s day was when nothing was happening at all. Usually, his life was busy because that’s how he lived, always on some kind of go. He didn’t take much time to relax, but his spoiled dog didn’t give him a choice. There was nothing Snaps liked more than to chill.

Trailing his fingers through the pit bull’s short-haired coat, Andino walked his dog through the silent park. Snaps was happy, content even. So was Andino.

Snaps took lazy strides, staying directly at Andino’s side at all times like the dog had been trained to do. Thinking back, Andino hadn’t wanted a dog, and certainly not one that required a lot of his attention all of the time. He didn’t have the patience for that nonsense.

And then his father showed up at his door one day with a scarred puppy in his hands when Andino was just twenty-two. Maybe the little pup had reminded Andino’s father of the rottie he’d had all those years ago before the dog succumbed to age and cancer. Andino wasn’t really sure, but Gio hadn’t given him a choice.

No, his father simply passed over the whimpering puppy and explained how he came about him. Snaps had been bred from a puppy mill, apparently. The fools who had been breeding the dogs did so with the purpose of using them to fight. Snaps had been nothing more than fodder to the dogs around him. If he survived, he would live to fight. If an older dog killed him during the period when the dogs weren’t being watched, then so be it.

Another litter would be born.