Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
Romeo
In so many ways, the last few weeks had been the best of my life. I never imagined that I’d have the opportunity to be with someone like Cory, to have my very own boy. He filled my days with light, infiltrating the dark places in my soul. He was magical, unexpected, and ending each day with him was totally worth the shit show that it was every minute of the day that I wasn’t with him.
Working with Rocco hadn’t been as bad as I anticipated it would be. He had an interesting perspective on life and a good sense of humor. Not that I ever let him see that I thought he was funny. In some ways, I thought that was part of his charm. He didn’t care that I ignored half of everything he said. We’d been doing our job, putting the Buccelli territory to rights, one street at a time.
Rocco preferred to go in swinging, which in many cases needed to be done. He was learning the art of subtlety, though. Learning to wait and read the room before he went off halfcocked. He was a work in progress, but whenever I grew frustrated with him, I remembered the little boy with big eyes who used to follow me around like a puppy. I didn’t know what the future held for me and the Family, but I was determined to leave the youngest brother better-trained than when I found him.
There were other frustrations beyond having to do the enforcer-type crap that I’d always sworn I’d stay away from. Cory’s PI was proving to be elusive. He hadn’t been in town at all since I asked Cory to set up a meeting between us. To hear this guy tell it, he was chasing leads for Emilio all over the country. I didn’t buy it. If he didn’t produce himself soon, I’d tell Cory to cut his funding. No doubt he’d show then.
Frederic had come through with the names I needed for the Pasini Family, and Tracker had been working on them ever since. I asked him to start with researching the Capo who’d had an affair with Frederic’s ex-wife. He’d seemed a likely suspect but had proven to be a dead end, as had all the other members of the organization so far. Maybe Frederic was wrong, and he’d been chasing his tail this whole time.
The information Tracker dug up left me in another awkward position. Sure, I’d agreed to be an associate for the Buccellis, but I’d hired him to help me find Emilio. To hear him tell it, while he hadn’t found Cory’s nephew, he was sitting on a gold mine of information that Nico—or more specifically Vin—would be interested in. Did I pay Tracker for those details or leave it alone? I didn’t owe the brothers any more than what I was doing, but…
That was another thought I shoved to the back of my mind. I wasn’t normally indecisive, and I was finding it unsettling.
I’d known finding Emilio wasn’t going to be easy, but I so wanted to give my boy back his nephew that I’d held out hope that I’d be able to handle this quickly and efficiently. Arrogant? Hell yeah, but this was what I did. Hunting down targets and eliminating them was proving to be much easier than searching for a victim and rescuing them. It really pissed me off. Not my sweet Cory, though. While he hadn’t given up hope yet, he hadn’t expected a miracle. How was it that me, a man who’d never had hope, had?
“Daddy, are we going to sit here all night or are we going in?”
I sighed, staring at the sign for The Tap Tavern. How had I let Cory talk me into doing this? Was there a chance with me living in Takoda now that I would have eventually run into Omar or Nigel or Chip? Possibly. But in a city of three hundred thousand people, and with the crowd I moved in, it wouldn’t have been for a long time. Long enough for me to come up with an excuse why I was here.
Cory reached over and rested his hand on my thigh. “It’s okay to be nervous.”
“What makes you think I’m nervous? I just need to get my story straight, that’s all.”
He huffed. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
He opened his door and exited the vehicle. Cheeky brat . Following his lead, I got out, walked around, and grabbed his hand. “Are you sure this is okay? I don’t want to upset Chip.”
I barked out a laugh. “You don’t have to worry about that. When I told you that he’d found his perfect Daddy, I wasn’t kidding. I didn’t see Chip when I met up with the guys last time, but I met Ollie, his Daddy, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that boy is completely spoiled and doted on.”
Cory hip-checked me. “Hm. That sounds kind of like me.”
Stopping, I pulled him into my arms right there in the parking lot. “How did I get so lucky?” I asked.
Bumping his chest into mine, he smiled softly. “I don’t think it was luck at all. I think you’ve deserved to have some good in your life for a long time.”
“You’re unbelievable.” I pressed my lips to his, letting our kiss soothe my apprehension. The beeping of a horn startled us, and we broke apart laughing.
Cory took my hand and squeezed. “You ready to do this, Daddy?”
“Yeah, boy, with you by my side, I got this.”
Holy shit, I wasn’t at all sure I had this. I was completely lying when I said I wasn’t nervous. As much as I’d never told Omar the truth, I hadn’t lied either. Anytime I told him that I was on business, that had been the truth. When I’d told Chip at the end of our weekend together that it was because I had a new contract, that had been the truth. I was a businessman. Just not the type of business I could tell people about.
From the last time I was here, I knew that these men were aware of the mafia presence in their city. They knew who the Buccellis were. My plan to tell them that I had suddenly retired and was staying in town with Cory felt more far-fetched the closer we got to the table where I saw Omar, Nigel, Chip, and Ollie waiting.
Was I really lying, though? I wasn’t presently working as an assassin, and I wouldn’t be taking any more contracts as long as I was with Cory. Ugh . Associating with Nico’s family and doing whatever must be done was as good as being a hitman. Hell, my uncle’s job as enforcer for Nico’s grandfather had been like an assassin on steroids.
All four men stood as soon as we reached their table. I was surprised to suddenly have an arm full of Chip. “Bosley, it’s so good to see you. I hated that I missed you last time, and I wasn’t sure you’d ever be back.”
My gaze shot to Ollie, who merely chuckled while shaking his head. “He’s been excited to see you.”
I’d forgotten how cute and tiny Chip really was. He leaned back, gripping my biceps, and beamed at me. Without thought, I smiled back. “You look good, Chip. Really happy.”
“I am.” With a sweet smile still on his face, he let me go and turned to Cory, holding out his hand. “Hi, I’m Chip. Who are you?”
“Chocolate Chip,” Ollie muttered, sounding exasperated.
Cory chuckled. “That’s okay. I’m Cory. I’ve been looking forward to meeting all of you. Ro—Bosley’s told me so much about you.”
Catching the slip, Omar’s eyes narrowed, and Ollie crossed his arms over his chest, seeming smug. What the hell was that about? Nigel pushed up next to Chip and introduced himself to Cory next. Then, like the good men they were, Ollie and Omar dismissed whatever thoughts they were having about me to shake my hand and greet Cory.
A waiter arrived as we sat down, so Cory and I ordered a couple of waters. Cory had driven, and I was too shaky to drink. I needed to be on my game for this dinner.
The waiter had no sooner walked away when Chip asked, “So are you Bosley’s boy? I saw you holding hands.”
Cory entwined our fingers. “I am.”
Chip folded his hands together and rested them on his chin. “That makes me so happy. Bosley deserves a good boy.”
“It’s funny you say that. I just told him the same thing.” He winked at me.
“So how did you meet?” Nigel asked. “And also, can I just say, I love that vest and newsboy cap combo you’re rocking.”
With my own nerves, I hadn’t realized how tense Cory had been until it melted from his body at Nigel’s words. He’d asked me if he should change before we left tonight, but it hadn’t even occurred to me that he was worried about his classic 20s style outside of the hotel. It was so much a part of who he was that I didn’t even think about it anymore.
“Thank you,” Cory said. “I really love how you paired the blue streaks in your hair with your eyeshadow and skirt.”
Nigel fanned his face. “Please. Thank you for noticing.” Omar smiled indulgently at his boy. They were as cute now as the weekend they met.
“Nigel’s a fashion designer,” Chip said. Then he leaned forward. “Now hurry, how did you and Bosley meet?”
They were off and running, starting with Cory describing his hotel, then Nigel spoke about his move from Oklahoma after he met Omar. By the time they got around to Chip explaining how he ended up in Takoda with his friends and Ollie, our dinner had arrived.
Ollie tapped the side of Chip’s plate. “Eat up, and then maybe you can take Cory up to the bar for one of those fancy alcoholic dessert drinks you like.”
“Oh, I drove,” Cory said.
Omar’s chin tipped down as his eyes bore holes into my face. I had a feeling Ollie had been sending them to the bar on purpose. Since there was no escaping this, I said, “You should let loose a little. I’ll drive home.”
Excited in a way I hadn’t seen before, Cory grinned. “Are you sure?”
“Ab-so-lute-ly,” I responded in the funny way he had.
These were grown-ass men, but with the offer of dessert drinks on the table for after dinner, all three boys sped through their meal. “Can we go now, Daddy?” Chip asked.
Ollie leaned over and pecked his lips. “Go ahead. Have fun, but don’t bother Oz too much.”
“Who’s Oz?” Cory asked.
Nigel stood up. “He’s the bartender, but he’s a friend of ours. Come on, and we’ll introduce you to him.”
They were barely out of earshot when Ollie wiped his mouth with his napkin and threw it on his plate. “It’s interesting. I had to run an errand for my mom the other day, and I thought I saw you getting out of a car with Rocco Buccelli.”
Oh shit. What were the chances?
“When he mentioned seeing you to me, of course I said that was impossible since you’d only been in town for a couple of days,” Omar added.
I blew out a breath and pushed my chair back. “I…”
“Cat got your tongue?” Omar asked. He didn’t look thrilled with me, but he didn’t look angry either.
“See, what’s funny about that to me is, we all know the Buccelli’s reputation,” Ollie said.
“And it didn’t seem like you knew each other when we ran into them here last time,” Omar added.
“Except, when I really thought back on that day, your face went blank when they stopped at our table. Completely expressionless in that way a person does when they don’t want anyone to notice them.”
Omar tapped his finger against the table. “Then the wildest thing happened. You reached out and told me that you were still in town and wanted to meet up.”
I licked my lips. “Yeah, wild.”
“So here’s what I’m thinking,” Ollie said. “It looks like the boys are having fun together.”
He wasn’t wrong about that. Watching Cory laughing at the bar with Nigel and Chip, even though they were much younger than him, and he was closer to their Daddies’ ages, it was the freest I’d seen him. Even though he had a special relationship with people like Harlow and Everest at the hotel, they were still his employees. I hadn’t realized until tonight how much he still tried to show at least some semblance of being the big cheese. Good grief. Now I was thinking like he and Harlow talked. It had to be stress.
“It would be nice for us all to get together again. I’d like to go in and check out Cory’s boutique hotel.”
Ollie nodded. “I would, too. I think Chip would get a kick out of the speakeasy. The only thing is, we need to know that our boys will be safe.”
Omar held up a hand. “No one’s asking you to discuss things you can’t. Personally, I’d rather you be silent than lie to me.”
I cleared my throat. “That’s fair.”
Omar nodded, then stood. “I’m going to check on them and make sure they’re not pestering Oz too much.”
As he turned, I finally found my voice. “Omar, you can call me Romeo.”
He huffed. “Well, that’s a relief anyway. Every time I said Bosley, it made me think of that guy from Charlie’s Angels. So weird.” He shook his head and walked away.
After taking a sip of water, I met Ollie’s gaze. “I’m assuming we’re not done.”
He held his hand out across the table. Unsure what was happening, I returned his handshake. “Thank you.”
“For what? Not being exactly who I pretended to be?”
He dropped my hand and smirked. “Even though we chased Dr. douche canoe out of town, I kept an eye on him. The guy was always online. It’s funny, though. He ended up being murdered in what they’re calling a home invasion. Although, they didn’t find anything missing.”
Picking up my water, I took a long sip. “You don’t say.”
He nodded. “It’s funny all the things you can find on the Internet these days, Romeo Caputo.”
“How…”
“I’m an upstanding citizen. Have been for years. But this town, when you’re in dire straits, it’ll give you what you need if you know where to look. Someone took care of the person who hurt Chip in a way that I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing, but that doesn’t mean I’m not glad it got done.” He stood up. “I’m going to hit the restroom, but don’t you forget, if you ever need something, like say, an alibi, you’ve got a friend in me.”
Left alone at the table, my mind spun. What was happening? Omar was just forgiving me for the deceit? Like it was no big deal. Hey, yeah, no problem. Didn’t like the name Bosley anyway. Seriously? But I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Ollie knew what I had done, and finally, I felt peace for not keeping Chip all those years ago. His Daddy, the true Daddy he’d always been meant to have, appreciated that I’d eliminated that sludge from the planet. For the first time ever, I felt redeemed. Maybe I never had to be Bosley Taylor again. Maybe, just maybe, being Romeo Caputo was enough.