Chapter 16Ciara

Chapter 16

Ciara

Luca went all in, and I hesitated. I knew my hand was good but wasn't sure how much. I looked at my cards, then looked at my money.

"All in," I declared after a long minute.

"You sure?" he asked, cocking a brow.

"No … yes, yes I'm sure." I sighed.

I wondered what his cards were. Did he have a royal flush? I drove me crazy not knowing.

"Come on," I urged. "Lay your cards down."

He placed a Jack of hearts, then a Jack of spades. He was doing this slowly. Two Jacks meant that he had either four of a kind or a full house. He placed another Jack, and my shoulders sagged, my heart sinking. I thought I'd lost until he set a queen down. That was three jacks and one queen. He had one card remaining in his hand, could it be another Jack?

"What're you waiting for?" I urged. "Show me the last card."

"No, you show me yours first."

Impatiently I set down three tens and a queen. My phone buzzed but I let it ring out.

"Now show me your last card."

"No, you show yours."

"Are you kidding me?" The phone rang once more. "I should get this so just end the damn game."

He dropped a queen, which made me sigh again. A full house was what he was getting all hyped about. I began laughing, throwing my head back and really letting it rip.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You are, with your measly hand." I threw my other ten on the table which elicited a loud gasp.

"Are you kidding me. How'd you have four of a kind?"

"Because you're no match for me in poker. You may win in Gin Rummy but there's no way you can cheat and win me here. I gotta answer my phone."

The phone had stopped ringing, but I looked at the strange number and returned the call. It rang three times before a man answered.

"Hello this is Ciara, you called me?"

"This is Detective Mckoy, we met at the hospital. You never came back to the station."

"I've been busy, detective."

"Well, we completed the autopsy and your brother's body is cleared for burial."

"Thank you."

"I'd like to ask a few more questions, could you come to the station soon?"

I chuckled. "Detective, do you have any leads in this investigation?"

"We found out your brother was being bullied, but the bully moved away. His mother said he went to live abroad before the shooting, but witnesses say that wasn't true. We're verifying everything."

"Don't you worry Detective, I wont be coming to the station anytime soon."

"Miss Braithwaite, I know you work with Dimucci, but I'd advice not to do anything illegal."

"You wanna hear something illegal Detective?" Fuck da fuck off and get off my phone."

I hung up and slammed the phone down on the table. Luca was looking at me quite amused with a silly smile on his lips.

"What you looking at?" I snapped.

"What did I do?"

"Damn that freaking detective. He got nothing, yet he wants me to do nothing. Who the hell does he think he is?"

Luca reached across the table and took my hand. "Calm down Baby. He's just doing his job with the resources he got. But we never disrespect the police."

"You expect me to apologize?"

"I'm sure he knows it's your grief talking, but next time be a little more respectful. You can't tell the popo to fuck off."

"Aaaiiish."

"Now what did he say?" Luca asked.

"Cory's body is cleared for burial, the autopsy has been completed. But I don't want to bury my brother before I finish this. I want him to rest in peace."

"Okay, we'll keep the body at Costas until you're ready."

Costas was the family funeral home where the Dimucci clan and associates were hosted for burial. But he was all the way in Chicago. I wasn't sure this was the right thing since I wasn't familiar with the king himself, Blaze Dimucci.

"Are you sure about that. Will Blaze agree?"

"You forgot, I am a Dimucci."

"Yeah, I forgot. Okay, I wanna talk to Nando first ‘cause I don't wanna leave Champaign right now."

"You don't need to leave Champaign. Blaze will send Costa and escort to pick up Cory."

I didn't believe Luca had the power to make these decisions without Blaze present.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I can call him right now if you want."

Hesitantly, I nodded. He picked up his phone and dialed, putting the phone on the speaker feature. After a couple of rings, a deep smooth voice came cursing on the line.

"You little shithead. You haven't been keeping me posted. You think because you're with my brother you don't need to report to me?"

"Cuz…"

"Don't Cuz me. I'll deal with you later.," Blaze then softened his voice. "How is it going over there. You didn't call for backup, what's going on? How is she doing?"

My eyes widened. Did Luca tell him about me?

"She good, just a bit fiery right now, but she's always like that. She just told the cops to fuck off, I can't believe she did that."

Blaze burst out laughing. "Sound a lot like my Makeba."

"Yeah, you're right. But Cuz, the body is released for burial but she isn't ready for that yet."

"What have you been doing? You say you love this girl and haven't called Costa. Do you want me to do that for you?"

"No Cuz, Ciara doesn't believe that I have the power to do that."

"Have you been lying to her?" Blazed asked. "Have you told her you're my successor?" Luca went quiet. "You haven't told her. Get your shit together Luca. And don't call me with rubbish next time."

"Okay Cuz."

"Alright, get the transportation of the body done and call the reserve if needed. You don't need me for all that shit. Take care of her, okay?"

They said their goodbyes and ended the call. He set the phone down and looked at me. I wasn't sure if I should be pissed that he kept such a big deal from me. But as I recalled I hadn't given him much chance to tell me. We jumped into the relationship because I wanted to ease my pain with sex. Since then, there has been no time for personal chit chat.

"So, you'll own Chicago one day?"

"Well, I'm basically next of kin, being first cousin. Nando is the only sibling and he's in charge of Champaign."

I scoffed. "Not that he wanted it. As I understand it, Nando wanted nothing to do with the family business. But taking back from the Mercados was his right."

"That's right," he agreed. "Now, I got some calls to make, and I think I'll call in some guys from the reserve team."

"Why?"

"Babes, you haven't seen Blaze's team yet. Training is ten times that of this team and he has more than quadruple the number of soldiers. Moreover, the trainer is an ex-marine."

"Okay we need all the help we can get since we have no clue about the size of Santiago's gang."

While Luca made his call, I called Neve. I promised to come see her when I could, but I didn't want to visit until my vengeance was settled and I was in a better state of mind.

I was also thinking of something blaze said about me being like Makeba. She was the woman who cared for Neve when here parents passed away. I was curious to mee this power couple of Chicago and was grateful Blaze was on my side.