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“Hello.”
“What’s the matter with you?”
“It’s Franky.”
“What about him?” I snarl.
“He was supposed to lie low for a while as I figured some things out. He’s been checking in twice a day. It’s been two days since I last heard from him. A few of my guys have been coming up missing but Franky—”
I hang up, not able to hear anything more. I bury my face in my hands and my shoulders shake. I knew he would bring this down on us. All I ever wanted was to save my boys from this. Now…now, I can’t even breathe.
Gio
I light a cigar and blow out the smoke as I sit back in my chair and listen to the voice on the other end of the phone. I have the call on speaker for Jace to listen in as he sits across from me with his head bent, blocking my view of his expression.
“It had to be done. No one I care about was hurt. Dario was too comfortable. I want him relieved of the pressure of Don, but he can’t be lax yet.”
“Yes, I get it, but your grandfather got involved. He’s getting older. I need you to be more careful with him.”
I grunt and nod as if she can see me. She’s right, I should have considered Nonno’s protectiveness. We’re all just like him.
However, I was shocked to hear he went all Nicky Santoro at his age. Although Giuseppe Di Lorenzo is the stuff the mob movies are made of. My nonno is the Don for a reason. This wouldn’t be the first time they’ve tried to wipe out my family and my grandfather earned his respect then. Only, he lost his brothers, I don’t intend to lose mine.
“I’ll keep this in mind. You don’t have to worry about him.”
“How’s Carleen? Has she remembered yet?”
“No, nothing yet. Ny and Holly are still working. They have to be cautious because of the baby.”
“She was so small. How can we be sure she will remember? Maybe we shouldn’t trigger this.”
“We’ve all talked about this. She wants her to remember. Let me worry about it. I have everything under control.”
“As always.” She laughs softly. “Your brother still doesn’t know he’s going to be a father. I don’t like it. Maybe jogging her memory can wait. She belongs with Dario.”
“I can make that happen. I was actually thinking the same thing. As Jace said, we’ll need to set that in motion soon. She’s already showing. Maybe I can kill two birds.”
“Gio,” she says in warning. “Nothing to harm the baby.”
“I would never. Jace will control everything.”
She sighs. “Do what you must. I could use Ny with me for a while.”
At this, Jace lifts his head, he looks how I feel. I work my jaw. I’m not ready for Ny to take off again, but I already knew this was coming. Another sacrifice.
“I think it’s time you let Dante loose on his own problem. He doesn’t need to know the whole truth,” she continues as I remain silent.
I shake off my annoyance. I need to bring this all to an end. When I do, everyone will be where they belong. All my sacrifices will be worth it.
“No problem, I’ll give him a reason to address Kumar. As a matter of fact, I can connect it to Dario, ease his mind about the shooting. Make it all fall in line with everything else,” I say.
“Perfect. I like that idea.”
“And the wife?”
“Mine. I know where she is. I will be in and out.”
The call ends and I smile. I know exactly how I plan to handle this all. The Kumars were hired to, as the Italians say, taint the bloodline. Riccardo believes himself to be a crafty son of a bitch. He’s not.
A Black wife will never be the end of the Di Lorenzos no matter which brother marries one, but I get what he thought he was doing.
“No male heir who can be traced back to the other side, no Di Lorenzos,” Jace says as if reading my thoughts.
“Or so they thought. Make sure Ny is there when she lands, get her whatever she needs.
“Also have Ny uncover the paper trail, I want Anderson to find it when I send his team digging.” I pause to think. “As a matter of fact, make it look like payments were going to a third party. Keep the third party hidden for now. Make sure it can be linked to that guy’s shell company in the end.”
Jace stands and nods before he leaves the room. I sit puffing a few rings before I put the cigar out and make a few calls of my own.
Chapter 34
Your Problem
Dario
I don’t like feeling like a sitting duck. After the shooting, I’m not willing to bring Carleen here anymore. She’s safer where she is.
It’s tearing me apart to be so far away from her, but her safety always comes first. My biggest problem is feeling like Apollo is hiding something from me. Whenever I ask about Carleen, he starts to act strange on me.
