Chapter 2

Chapter

Two

Romeo

Luckily for Dante, he’d caught the hint when I left him waiting outside of the elevator while I ran upstairs to change back at The Gin Mill. I wasn’t in the mood for company or conversation. As much as I’d wanted to drive to the Buccelli mansion on my own, I’d complied when he’d insisted that he had to escort me there.

I guess, in some ways, that was fair. I’d turned off my phone the moment Cory and I’d gone up to the belfry after I’d killed Huey. Trusting Dante to take care of the cleanup and knowing that Harlow would take care of the hotel, I’d wanted to be alone and focus completely on my boy. I was used to violence and death, but he wasn’t. It pissed me off that Huey had exposed him to that. If I could, I’d kill him all over again. Cory had been through enough.

While I’d accomplished my mission to pamper Cory, when I’d gone up to change out of my gym clothes and turned my phone back on, I found I’d missed a phone call from Nico yesterday, followed by a missed call an hour from Dante, and then one more from Nico around dinnertime. If a person valued their life, they didn’t ignore a call from the Don of a crime family. The fact Nico had called twice meant this meeting wouldn’t be pretty.

As soon as Dante rolled up to the front of the house, he put his nondescript car in park, leaving it idling, and jumped out. Exiting the vehicle, I wasn’t surprised to find him waiting there for me. “Sorry about this, Romeo, but rules are rules.”

Holding up my arms, I spread my legs and allowed him to frisk me for weapons. I’d left my trusted girl at home, sheathed and underneath the mattress. At home? The idea of changing my routine and staying with Cory was settling in much easier than I’d expected. Which sort of freaked me out more than anything. More than whatever this little meeting I’d been forced into did.

“Good to go. I gotta move the car, so shoot me a text when you’re ready for me to take you back to your love nest.” Dante smirked.

This kid was a smartass, but he’d done me a solid, so I ignored his ridiculousness and moved toward the front door. It swung open, and a frowning Rocco glared at me while yelling, “Dante, have someone else move the car and get your ass in here. Boss wants to see you, too.”

Dante’s eyes widened as his gaze flitted toward me, but he responded to Rocco with a respectful, “Yes, sir.”

Rocco spun on his heels without another word and stomped down the hall toward Nico’s study. The guards lining the walls all stepped back, trying to avoid his wrath. I’d probably find it more intimidating if I couldn’t remember him as a little guy having the same kind of fit when he didn’t get his way with his mother.

“What the hell did I do?” Dante hissed in my ear. “You better not have gotten me in trouble.”

Well, shit. This already wasn’t going to plan. I needed Nico on my side, but if Rocco was angry with me, then it was because his oldest brother was. Picking up my pace, I followed Rocco across the threshold, unsurprised to find Nico sitting behind the desk, Vin leaning against the large piece of furniture on one side, and Rocco stopping, spinning around and planting his feet and crossing his arms over his chest on the other.

Ah. Intimidation. Nice.

None of them spared a glance at Dante as they focused on me. Rocco still glared, and if looks could kill, then Vin’s gaze would take me out, but it was the expression on Nico’s face that concerned me the most. It was completely blank and void of any type of emotion. Damn . I’d taught him that look. It was the same one I wore when confronting an adversary. It was the power move—intimidating as fuck. Normally.

I nodded my head at all three in turn, from oldest to youngest, before turning all of my attention back to the man in charge. “Nico?—”

“It’s Don Buccelli,” Vin interrupted.

“Show some respect,” Rocco added.

Anger welled up inside me, and I wanted to tell all three where they could go, but then Cory’s face floated through my mind. My sweet quirky boy, who not only had a home here, but a successful business filled with employees who he loved like family. A man who I’d do anything for, which included staying in one spot. There was no way I could safely do that without the backing of this Family.

Then there was also the matter of Emilio, Cory’s nephew. Quite frankly, I didn’t need their help to find him or rescue him if he was still alive—which I highly doubted, in all honesty—but he was the son of a soldier from another Family. If things got messy, I needed influence and power. Something the Buccelli name carried.

I tipped my head respectfully. “My apologies, Don Buccelli. I had planned to call you this morning. May I have a word with you alone?”

Immediately, Vin and Rocco started voicing their opinion on that. They weren’t in favor. Nico nonchalantly flipped his hand in the air, silencing them. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you,” he said softly.

If my life and career hadn’t depended on me knowing how to control my features and keep my face blank, they’d have all seen how much his words and delivery surprised me—in the best possible way. Behind me, Dante cleared his throat nervously, but I fought to keep a smirk off my face.

So Niccolo Buccelli really had grown up. I’d been worried about him taking over the Family, especially with the iron fist of control that his grandfather had maintained. Sure, the old man sent his grandsons to do his bidding, but he’d never given them real titles or roles. Everyone knew Nico would take over eventually. Although, I was pretty sure we all thought it would be after the old man died.

Seeing him like this now was encouraging. As much as I hoped to convince Nico’s family to stand beside me, I hadn’t really been sure how much weight that would carry, considering what I’d observed of their territory since I’d been here. Maybe it really had all been the old man’s negligence. There might be hope yet that the brothers would turn it all around. Make this the Family they once were.

“Because you need me,” I stated matter of factly.

Vin pffted. “Need you for what? So far, all you’ve done is pile up bodies.” He thumped his fist into his chest. “And one of them was a Buccelli Capo. How dare you! Who do you think you are?”

Even though I hadn’t been invited, I sat down on one of the chairs in front of Nico’s desk. Rocco’s lips twitched, but Nico’s face remained impassive.

“You’re so arrogant,” Vin said, seething.

I shrugged and shook my head. “Confident, Vin. There’s a difference.” Okay, maybe a little arrogant, but I’d earned that right. “Your Capo was a menace, a disgrace to your Family name. You should be thanking me for dealing with that for you.” I cocked my eyebrow. “And free of charge, too.”

Rocco frowned. “Free? I had to clean that mess up, Bosley,” he said, drawing out my name mockingly.

I waved him off. “It seems I’ll be hanging around for a while. Might as well call me Romeo. There won’t be any hiding by the time I’m done.”

“So, you are here for a job?” Vin turned, facing his brothers. “Didn’t I tell you? You wanted to act like this was some big family reunion,” he said to Rocco. “And you, you’re over here having private meetings with him.”

For the first time, Nico’s eyes moved past me toward the door. Vin paused his tirade long enough to follow his gaze, and his jaw tightened. Guess he finally realized that Dante was in the room. Not the best look having a temper tantrum in front of a lowly soldier.

Clearing my throat to get their attention, I said, “I didn’t lie to you before. I came to Takoda for personal reasons.”

“So you picked up a contract since you got here?” Nico asked in that same soft voice.

“I wouldn’t say that, exactly.” I turned and smirked at Dante. “What do you think? Is looking into a missing person for Cory a job that these men need to be concerned about?”

Interest flared in Dante’s face, but he quickly masked his reaction. I didn’t blame him. He’d sworn an oath to this Family, so it wouldn’t do him any good to show curiosity in something that concerned me when I was obviously on their shit list. “I wouldn’t think so. No,” he answered my question.

Vin pffted again. “That’s the owner of that strange-ass hotel you’re staying at, right? Since we had to do another clean up over there, I’m thinking we need to investigate the owner a little harder.”

I gripped the arms of the chair to keep myself from diving across the room and putting him against the wall. “That won’t be necessary. He had a little roach problem, and I took care of it. But he does have another situation that I think you might be interested in.”

“And what’s that?” Rocco asked. He pointed at Dante. “His face just twisted up all weird. What’s that about?”

Honestly, I didn’t know why he’d have a reaction to this. I hadn’t said a word about Cory’s nephew to him. I’d find out later. If I got my way—which I intended to—Dante and I would be seeing a lot of each other. “Cory’s nephew, Emilio, went missing four years ago. He was only eighteen.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nico said, folding his hands together on his desk. “But I don’t know why I’d care about that.”

“Because his father is a Pasini soldier.”

Rocco barked out a laugh. “What do we care about those penises?”

Vin pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, “For fuck’s sake, Rocco.”

With a quick check over my shoulder, I saw Dante fighting back a smile. I turned back around and focused on Nico. “You know what’s interesting? In the time I was running surveillance like you asked, I noticed that the Pasini’s seem to take a lot of liberties in your territory.”

“Explain,” Vin barked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “It seems the rumors are wrong. I’ve heard it said several times over the years that Rocco grew up to be a hothead, but apparently, you’re the one who needs to calm the fuck down.”

Rocco turned to Nico, gesturing at me. “See? Did you hear that? I keep telling you he’s gonna have a heart attack or something if he doesn’t get a grip.” He looked past me to Dante and pointed at me again. “You heard that, right?”

Nico sighed. “Vin is usually completely levelheaded. It must be your charming presence that has him all wound up, Romeo.” He thrummed his fingers against the top of his desk, the cool mask of indifference slipping. “Why do I get the feeling you were going to request a meeting even if I hadn’t had Dante bring you here?”

I tapped my temple. “Because you’re smart.” Holding up my hands in surrender, I said, “It was disrespectful of me not to reach out to you yesterday, Don Buccelli. It was disrespectful, but I’m not used to answering to anyone. Cory was shaken up from his whole almost-dying ordeal, and I was so focused on him that I screwed up.”

“The least you could have done was answer my phone call.”

“Again, I’m very sorry. I turned my phone off and was focusing on Cory.” Leaning forward, with my elbows on my knees and my hands clasped in front of me, I continued, “Listen to what I’m saying, Nico. I’m telling you that I’m staying for personal reasons. I’m not hiding the fact that it’s for Cory, which means you know exactly where to find him and how much he means to me. I know that information in anyone else’s hands would be a death sentence, but I trust you. I trust everyone in this room.

“He needs help finding his nephew. He owns that hotel, so he’s not going anywhere. That means I’m not going anywhere. You know I’ve never gotten involved in any Family business. I take a hit, I do my job, and I move on. I stayed out of Jersey to make sure that my job never touched your Family. But now I need your help.”

“Just like when you were a kid, huh? It seems like you’re always needing something from us,” Vin said with a sneer. Nice of him to throw our childhood in my face. “But what are we getting out of the deal?”

“Me. I’ll clean up the riffraff for you.”

“Why should we trust you?” Nico asked.

“Because I’ll take him,” I said, hooking a thumb back over my shoulder.

Vin shook his head, hard and aggressive. “The hell you will. Get the fuck out of here. We don’t need you, and we’re not sending one of our guys to babysit you.”

Finally, amusement flashed in the cold depths of Nico’s eyes. I had him . “Vin’s right. You can’t have Dante, but”—he swiveled his chair toward Rocco, then forward—“you can take him.”

“Rocco?” Vin and I asked at the same time.

Rocco smirked. “You heard him.”

Vin growled in frustration. “Why?” he demanded. “Why should we help him?”

“Because I believe him,” Nico said simply. “And because Rocco will keep a close eye on him.” He pushed his chair back, stood, and buttoned his suit jacket. “Let’s move to the table so we can have a chat. Dante, I want you to join us for this. Romeo is going to tell us exactly what he’s been up to while in our fair city, how many bodies he’s left lying around, and what he plans next.”

“And why should we believe anything that comes out of his mouth?”

Nico stopped, staring me straight in the eyes as he answered his brother. “Because he finally has someone to live for. Isn’t that right, Romeo? You’re building your own little family over at that fancy hotel. It changes a man, doesn’t it? The responsibility. The pressure.”

I hated how right he was. I’d been a lone wolf for most of my life. Partly by necessity, mostly by choice. Meeting Cory had changed that. Having a boy of my own changed everything. Loving him would be a privilege, but protecting him…that was my duty.