Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Bosley
When did my life become such a clusterfuck? I should've stayed out of this damn town. A good orgasm didn't clear my head. In fact, it only fucked it up worse. His Daddy as he came had flicked a trigger in me. I'd told him I was a Daddy without any thoughts of the possibility of him being a boy. Which was wrong. There was no body type, no age, no strict rules, and I'd made a wrong assumption. Wrong for him. Wrong for me.
I didn't mess with boys unless we talked about it first. Until they knew that I wouldn't—couldn't—stay. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt someone, and my Daddy heart couldn't bear the thought that I'd left Cory messed up or abandoned the way I'd left Chip all those years ago. It hadn't been intentional with him. We'd talked about it, and yet it had happened anyway.
Being a Daddy for those weekends was special to me. A way to wash off the taint—the brutality—of my existence. But after I heard what Chip had suffered, I'd promised never to play that way again. I'd never bring someone into this life, the only one I'd ever known. Maybe someday, far in the future, I could retire in some remote area, far away from this life, and I'd find a boy then, but not now.
And Cory, quirky Cory, he needed someone now. I should've known. Even as I'd drooled over how hot he was as he ran on that treadmill, there'd been something about him that called to me. A softness. Damn, I'd really screwed the pooch on this one.
A man approached my car, keeping a hand on his sidepiece, and I realized I'd sat out in front of the Buccelli mansion for too long. They'd given me a time, and I needed to get my ass in gear. Holding up my hands so the guard could see them, I nodded toward the handle. He tipped his chin up at me, and I exited the car.
"I'm here to see Don Buccelli. He's expecting to me."
The guard was on the younger side with a baby face, so I didn't recognize him, but he grunted like someone who'd earned his place guarding the home of the new Buccelli Boss. "I know who you are. Boss saw you pull in. Turn around."
My jaw tightened, but I turned and allowed myself to be frisked. I had no beef here. All I wanted was to get the fuck out of town, so I'd left my baby in the trunk. All the tools of my trade were wrapped and in the compartment for the spare tire. I highly doubted Babyface would ask to search there. At least, he better not. If that had been Nico's orders, I'd see it as a sign of disrespect. One that I didn't deserve or appreciate.
The guy stepped back once his search was complete. "You're clean." No shit, asshole. "Do you know where the study is?"
It was my turn to grunt. The guard scowled, and I rolled my eyes, dismissing him as I turned and strode up the steps to the front door. The foyer was clear except for a couple of soldiers leaning against the walls, watching me with curiosity. My gaze swept around, noticing that the old-style Italian décor remained. Unsurprising since the former Don, Nico's grandfather, and his wife were still alive and resided here. At least according to my intel.
Unlike the man in the foyer, the two soldiers guarding the office door were standing at attention on either side. They both glared daggers at me, but neither stopped me as I gave three brisk knocks.
"Get your ass in here, Romeo," Rocco, the youngest Buccelli brother, yelled. The kid was a livewire. A hothead. More aggressive and likely to solve problems with blood than his older siblings.
As I made my way in, I heard Vin, the middle brother, hiss at Rocco, "Shut your face. This isn't a social call."
Rocco, who was the youngest by ten years and an oopsie baby from what I heard, glared at his brother, then turned toward me with open arms. "Romeo."
Holding myself stiffly, I stopped before I reached him and inclined my head in his direction. "Call me Bosley," I said.
Rocco snorted. "Yeah, Bosley Taylor, right? What a stupid name."
Vin crossed his arms over his chest. Vincenzo Buccelli was the quiet one. In my opinion, the scariest of the three. In his three-piece suit, he looked more like a boring-ass banker than what he was. The wickedly smart, often underestimated grandson of a mob Boss. The son of a brutal man, who'd paid for his own sins with blood.
"Don't mock him, Rocco." Vin shot his little brother the stink-eye. "You need to pay better attention. Bosley was the surname of the man who paid for putting Romeo's mom in prison with his life. Taylor was the last name of his first paid kill. He's not to be underestimated."
Anger threatened to choke me. This family was the only one who knew my secrets. The names I went by and why, and I hated that. I despised the feeling of familiarity it bred. "Bosley is the name I go by when I'm not working. Most of my clientele don't know my face, so I'd rather you not throw around my given name."
"And yet, even in your off-time," Vin said with air quotes around off-time. "You carry your violence in your name."
I ignored him, focusing on Nico. Niccolò Buccelli sat behind the monstrosity of a desk that had resided here since I was a kid. He'd been given this right, but I still remembered his own father backhanding him halfway across the room when he'd walked in and found his eldest son sitting on his grandfather's throne. It wasn't really a throne, but it might as well have been with the honor that seat was given.
Nico eyed me coolly. "So we're to believe you're not working."
I gave one stiff shake of my head. "No. I'm in Takoda on personal business."
Vin smirked. "You'd have us believe you have a personal life. What, Romeo Caputo has friends outside of us?"
I wasn't their friend, but I bit that back and said, "No, but Bosley Taylor has acquaintances." I wouldn't say that they mattered or were real friends because who knew what one of the younger two men would do with that information. "No contracts, though," I said to Nico, staring him in the eye so he could see my sincerity.
Vin huffed. "So you're really expecting us to believe that you're not here for a contract? You're going to lie right to our faces like that."
I glanced at him, then back at Nico. "It's exactly what I expect you to believe."
"Personal, you say?" Nico asked. "And you didn't think I deserved to know you're in town?"
"No, Nico. I didn't."
Vin moved closer, glaring at me. "It's Don Buccelli now. Show some fuckin' respect."
Again, I ignored Vin and inclined my head at Nico. "My apologies, Don Buccelli."
Rocco groaned with exasperation. "This is ridiculous. Romeo's family. Familia." He turned his palm up, gathering his stretched fingers in a point and shaking his hand. Good to know one of them thought this whole conversation was a waste of time.
"But he's not Romeo today. Isn't that right, Bosley?" Vin asked with a twist of his lips. "Romeo would show our familia, our brother, respect, but apparently, Bosley can skate in and out of town without a care in the world."
Sick of this already, I tsked. "We're not family, anyway. I'm not a part of any Family. I'm my own man."
Rocco slung a very unwelcome arm over my shoulders, but I held still. Alert. "Come on, Romeo. I don't mean part of the Family at large. You're part of our family." He thumbed his hand on his chest over his heart. "You were like an older brother to me growing up."
"No, he wasn't. He didn't have a choice but to be here. He didn't care about us," Vin said scathingly. "If he had, he'd have come here as soon as Nico was named. Or countless times before that, like when Vita needed him."
Vita, Vittoria Buccelli, was Vin's twin sister. She was younger than him, the only female, and the baby of the family until Rocco. Their old man never stopped treating Vita like the baby, but their mom had gotten her own little prince in Rocco. Family was messy. Especially when the family ran a crime Family. "She didn't need me, Vincenzo. She had you."
"She had us," Rocco said.
Vin ignored us both. "Hell, if he had respect, cared about us, his first stop into Takoda would always be here. Personal business." I could tell it took everything in him not to spit on the floor, and I was shaken. This amount of emotion…this wasn't Vin.
A bad feeling slithered down my spine. The Buccellis weren't trying to call me on the carpet or get me to do a personal hit for them for old-time's sake. Something was wrong.
Rocco squeezed my shoulder, still friendly, but with enough pressure to know that the good-ol'-boy attitude he was displaying was nothing more than an act. "As much as I hate to agree with Vin, he's got a point, Romeo."
I clenched my teeth, irritated that they kept saying my name over and over. So many of the old-timers were gone, dead or in prison. I'd only recognized one face as I made my way into the house, and he'd keep his mouth shut. If for no other reason than respect for my uncle. I didn't want the guards outside the door to overhear them.
Nico leaned forward in his chair. "Get out."
Vin's head whipped in his direction. "I'm not leaving you in here with him. There's no way he's here for no reason."
"I said get out," Nico bit out.
Vin glared daggers at his brother, then got in my face, pushing his index finger into my chest. "You better not try anything. You won't make it through the front door if you lay one hand on my brother."
I wanted to taunt him. Ask him if he was referring to Don Buccelli if we were going to act like I was the enemy instead of someone who merely wasn't interested in dealing with the bullshit between the Takoda Families, but I resisted.
Rocco squeezed my shoulder, harder this time. "I hate to say it, but I got to agree with Vin again. Your blood will run like rain in a thunderstorm if you touch Nico."
They were lucky that there was a part of me that remembered them with fondness. Generally, I didn't kill unless it was for payment. But from time to time, I took matters into my own hands, and these motherfucker's caging me in and threatening me would normally be one of those times. " Back off ," I growled.
Rocco snickered. "Sure, Romeo. It's all good." He looked at his oldest brother. Now his Boss. "Nico, you sure?"
Nico gave a curt nod of his head. "I'll be fine."
"All right, then. We'll wait outside." He clapped me once on the back and spun, calling behind him, "Get out here, Vin. Nico can take care of himself."
Vin gave one final poke into my chest, then left without another word. Nico stood and moved around his desk toward me. "They're right, Romeo. Don't I deserve the respect of a visit telling me you're here and your intentions? Even a phone call?"
"I hold no allegiances with the Families, Don Buccelli, and you know it. If anyone sees me here, it can be taken as a sign of me choosing sides. I'm not my uncle. I won't swear allegiance. Not to you, not to anyone."
He chuckled softly, mockingly. "A lone wolf surviving on his own, making his money, and moving on, huh?"
I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin higher. "It's worked for me so far."
He pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk, motioning for me to have a seat. What I wanted to do was get the fuck out of here, but that wouldn't fly. Acquiescing, I sat and crossed one leg over my knee, forcing myself to appear relaxed.
Nico huffed. "I know what you're doing right now, Romeo. You taught me that, remember? How to appear calm, controlled. How to keep anyone from knowing my inner-thoughts and secrets." He nodded. "Yeah, you taught me, and you taught me so well that you landed my ass behind that desk with this ring."
He stroked his thumb over the Buccelli Family ring. Not with the reverence I'd expected but with the detachment I'd taught him to give the illusion of.
"It was your birthright the second your father died. It was bound to happen someday."
He tensed, staring at the office doors like he was waiting for someone to come in. But he wasn't. He was thinking, processing this encounter, buying time. He was right. I'd taught him, and I'd taught him well. He moved to the front of the desk, in front of my chair, and perched half an ass cheek on it, and leaned toward me. "I don't want to say you owe us, so please don't make me."
My spine stiffened. This was why I'd avoided this town. The call for payback for a decision I'd never made and hadn't had control of. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Staring at me intently, he said, "I need your help, old friend, and I want you to do it willingly."
Well, fuck. I rolled my hand at him to continue.
"The transfer of power hasn't exactly gone…smoothly."
I shrugged. "There's always a learning curve. For you. For the Family. You've only been Boss a few months. You have to give it time."
His mouth pinched. "Under normal circumstances, I'd agree, but my grandfather had…how do I say this? Grown lax in the last couple of years. Antonio's hinted at grumbling."
I took in how stiffly Nico held himself and relented, humoring him for a second. "Hinted? What's that supposed to mean? He's your underboss. He should know exactly what's going on." Myself, I didn't like Antonio. My uncle hadn't either. But the man had been faithful to Matteo, Nico's grandfather.
Nico huffed. "I'm sure he does, but he watched me grow up. I think he's protective. Wants to handle as much of it for me as he can while I get a handle on things."
That didn't track with the Antonio that I knew, but he'd always been different with the Buccelli children. I was my uncle's pain-in-the-ass nephew who'd needed somewhere to go while his dumbass mom served time. He'd hated me. I hadn't been around in years, so Nico would know better. That didn't change the facts.
"You're the Boss. I can appreciate his protectiveness, but it's not his right. He reports to you."
Nico waved that off. "I'll deal with him. But I need information."
"Come on, Nico. If you need someone taking out, eh, for the right price, you know I'm your man."
He leaned toward me, more intense. "But I know you, Romeo. You don't do anything without watching, learning routines, and the lay of the land. That's what I need."
Scoffing, I relaxed back into my chair. "Have Vin or Rocco do it."
He shook his head. "No. I need this information to be unbiased." Glaring, he stood up. "Don't make me demand you stay."
Fuck . I'd repaid my debt time and again, but now that my uncle was gone, the only one who knew that was me. "And your brothers? Will they know what I'm up to?"
He gave one sharp shake of his head. "This will be between me and you. I can't have anyone know how concerned I am. Not even them."
He had to look strong. In control. He wasn't wrong. His grandfather had run this Family for a long, long time. He'd taken over after his own father, and if the rumors were true—which I personally thought they were—he'd been the one to take out his old man. My old friend had big shoes to fill, which wouldn't be easy if he didn't know who to trust.
My thoughts took me to Cory. Quirky Cory. The issues at his hotel weren't my problem, but they bothered me. There was something about The Gin Mill's owner that enticed me. If I stayed in Takoda, I could look into the break-ins myself.
"What will it cost?" Nico asked.
"I thought you were asking for a favor," I answered lazily.
He inclined his head. "I'd appreciate you staying and doing this for me. But it's not your responsibility. I know you don't consider us Familia, no matter how we feel."
"Vin doesn't consider me Familia," I said.
Nico's eyes went hard, but otherwise, he ignored that. "You'd be providing me a service, and I expect to pay. Name your price."
Hmm. "Any price?" I asked, quirking my eyebrow in challenge.
His eyes gleamed, sensing his triumph. "Name it."
"I'll poke around. Follow some of your guys and see what they're up to. In return, I need a little research done at The Gin Mill."
Now that he'd won, Nico moved around and retook his seat back behind the desk. "Why? What's in it for you?"
"Something suspicious is going on over there, and it has my curiosity piqued. There's been some break-ins, and I want to know who's doing them."
"Theft?"
"No. That's what's interesting. The place needs to be wired up with cameras. They need to look like real security. Maybe send a couple associates over as security. Ones who want to prove themselves and get moved up in the Family. I want them to be motivated."
He tilted his head, studying me. "Why's this matter to you?"
I shrugged. "What do you care? You do this for me, and I'll get you the information you're looking for. Sounds win-win to me."
He placed his hands on top of the desk. "I want a month. Whether my guys take care of this hotel issue in a day or two or not."
"That's fair." Hopefully, his guys would handle it quickly. I didn't like the idea of Buccelli's or their wannabees around Cory. "Send Babyface outside over to head the thing up." He looked trustworthy, not as hard as most.
"Babyface?" Nico asked. Slowly, he smiled. "Ah, Dante. He's not as young as he looks if you were thinking of?—"
I stood up abruptly, and he cut off. "No. I'm not interested. Unlike some of the assholes I saw outside, I don't think he'll scare the hell out of the guests."
Nico's smile turned smug. "I do like that about him. It makes him valuable."
So this Dante was deadly, was he? Good. If things got more dangerous at The Gin Mill, I wanted Cory safe. I didn't know why it was so important to me, but it didn't matter as long as it was done. I trusted Nico to do this for me. Stretching my arm over his desk, I held out my hand.
He stood up, and we shook. Each making a deal with the devil to further our own needs. Men who'd hold up their end of the bargain as a matter of pride. Of honor. And despite getting roped into something I had no desire to do, I left satisfied.