by Hamel, B. B.
He’d protect me even from that.
Don Leone put his hand flat on the table, inches away from Dante’s. He leaned forward and spoke in a low, measured voice.
“Dante, you can’t kill Vlas,” Don Leone said. “But you can take everything from him.”
Dante looked up slowly, the pain slowly twisting into uncertainty.
“What are you saying?” Dante asked.
“Take all of this territory. Take all of his businesses, all of his money, all of his people and his drugs and his girls. Take Eastwick, every inch of it. Take Gray’s Ferry. Take it all, Dante, and let the city know that although Vlas Volkov may not be dead, he’s as good as worm food. Show the city that he’s worthless, Dante.”
Dante frowned and stared at the table top then slowly relaxed his hands. He sat back in his seat and appraised the Don before nodding his head. “All right,” he said. “I’ll take his money and his territory. And when I find him, I’ll bring him to you alive.”
“Good.” Don Leone smiled, and looked like a friendly old man. “Bring me that pathetic fuck. I’ll use him to leverage a deal out of his father. This is going to work out for us, Dante. I’m very happy you decided to come speak with me first.”
Dante bowed his head. “I am too, Don Leone.”
The Don slowly got to his feet. Roberto put down his newspaper and walked over, helping the Don along. Don Leone paused as he moved toward the door and looked back at me.
“This was your idea, wasn’t it?” he asked.
I frowned. “I, ah, it was— yes, Don. It was my idea.” I felt flustered but I didn’t want to lie to him.
His smile got even bigger. “Good. I knew you’d be worth his time. Keep making him better, Aida.” He turned and left the bakery without another word.
Dante sat there, staring at the door. Nobody spoke and the silence was thick with tension.
Then the back door opened and Sergio came out with a big, elaborate loaf of bread, multiple strands woven around each other.
“Ah, fuck,” he said. “Did I miss the Don already?”
Dante looked over and barked a laugh. The tension immediately left the room.
“What the hell is that?” Dante asked.
“It’s bread,” Sergio said.
“No shit it’s bread,” Dante said. “Was that a gift for the Don?”
Sergio glared at him. “Of course it was.”
“You could run out there and catch him,” Dante suggested.
“Fuck that,” Sergio said. “And fuck you too.” He walked over to the display case and threw the bread in there. “Fifty dollars for that fucking hunk of shit.” He turned and stormed off, throwing the doors open, and disappearing into the back.
Dante howled with laughter. I grinned at him and walked over. I sat down in his lap and he put his hands on my hips. I leaned down and kissed him softly on his rough lips.
“What do you think?” I asked. “Good enough?”
“It’ll have to be,” he said.
“When you’re done with him, Vlas might as well be dead,” I said.
He nodded slowly and reached up to grab my hair. I let out a little excited gasp as he pulled me down and kissed me again. “Damn right,” he whispered.
“All right, you two,” Steven said.
Dante let me go. I looked over as Steven lingered near the doorway.
“What’s your deal?” Dante asked.
“I’m going to go spread the word,” Steven said. “Let the guys know what the plan is.”
Dante nodded. “Good. Tell them to find Vlas, but he has to be alive. No fuck-ups on that one, Vlas can’t die.”
“Fine,” Steven said.
“And tell them we’re taking Eastwick and Gray’s Ferry. Tell them to start making a list of all of Vlas’s businesses and all his associates. We’ll flip those that’ll come to us and kill those that won’t. If I can’t have Vlas’s blood, I’ll settle for the bottom-feeding fucks that worked with him.”
Steven nodded and gave Dante a very rare smile. “Works for me.”
“Get moving,” Dante said.
Steven saluted and left without a word. I snuggled close against Dante.
“Happy you listened?” I asked.
“Don’t press your luck.” He kissed my hair and held me close.
There was going to be a war. But it didn’t feel as terrifying as I thought it would.
Instead, I was excited.
I couldn’t wait for his guys to start moving on Vlas’s places. I couldn’t wait for the violence, the action, the excitement. I knew it was sick, knew it was coming from a dark place inside of me, but I didn’t care.
Sitting in Dante’s lap, I felt invincible, I felt alive.
That was all that mattered.
28
Dante
Steven picked me and Aida up early the next morning. I’d spent the whole day before meeting with my soldiers, laying out plans, and getting my pieces into position. I felt high from the excitement of it all, but that didn’t surprise me one bit.
What really shocked me was the way Aida stepped up.
I worried about her. I thought she might not be ready to go into full-on war mode. I couldn’t leave her behind, since it wasn’t safe, but I was afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle being in the room when we talked about murdering men and destroying buildings.
But instead of shying away, she embraced it.
The fucking girl took to it all like she’d been waiting for the chance. She spoke up a few times during the meeting, made some suggestions, asked some questions, and seemed like she actually wanted to learn the business. When we got back to my house later that night, she sucked my cock with a wild abandon I’d never seen before, and let me fuck her raw until she screamed my name and was drenched in sweat.
Now, she was practically glowing as we climbed into the back seat of the SUV. She wore a tight white lacy top that was cut low with thin straps and a bow in the front, right between her luscious tits. Her high-waisted jean shorts barely covered her ass. She borrowed the clothes from Biagio’s girlfriend, and I could tell Aida was going for a certain effect.
She wanted to draw attention to her body. I couldn’t blame her, the girl looked incredible, but it was the first time she’d really gone out of her way to put on an outfit that made her look like a sexpot, even though that’s how she always looked to me.
I didn’t need to ask about the clothes. I knew what she was doing, and the girl was fucking smart. She wanted to throw any men off their game when she came into the room, especially men I was meeting with. They’d be too busy staring at her tits and not paying enough attention to what I was doing. I took her hand and squeezed it as Steven turned around to look at the two of us.
He frowned. “I’m not your chauffer,” he said.
“Too bad,” I said. “Did you get confirmation on the meeting?”
He grunted and turned around. “He’ll be there.”
“Good. Let’s get moving then.” I squeezed Aida’s hand and she smiled at me, her teeth dazzling. I was tempted to pull her against me but I felt like a lovestruck fucking teenage boy.
I could barely recognize the woman she was turning into, but I fucking liked it.
“Who are we meeting with?” she asked.
Steven glanced in the rearview. “You didn’t tell her?” he asked.
“Not yet.” I looked at Aida and shifted toward her a bit. “We’re meeting with my contact inside the Jalisco.”
Her eyes went wide with surprise. “Didn’t the Don tell you to leave them alone?” she asked.
“He also told me to do what I had to do,” I said, although I was paraphrasing a bit. “This won’t get back to the Don and it won’t matter.”
“Dante,” she said, shaking her head. “You should be careful. I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“He says he knows where Vlas is.” I spoke the words slowly, staring into her eyes, and I watched as her expression shifted from nervous uncerta
inty to something much different.
Hate and rage played across her face.
“How do you know?” she asked.
“We’ve been in touch with him since everything happened,” Steven said. “Just last night, he said the Jalisco had heard from Vlas, and they knew where he was hiding out.”
“Shit,” Aida said. “Why didn’t you tell me right away, Dante?”
I shrugged. “Wasn’t completely sure and I didn’t want to get your hopes up. We’re going to meet with our guy now and work out the details of how this will go down. I can’t say this will definitely pan out, but it’s our best lead so far.”
She nodded slowly and took a deep breath. Her breasts swelled up and down and I was almost fucking mesmerized. Her little distraction trick was going to backfire if I couldn’t get myself under control.
“All right,” she said. “This is good then. We don’t have to bring the Jalisco into this anymore though. Let’s just find out where Vlas is and move on, right?”
“That’s the plan,” Steven said, frowning.
I glanced at him and gave him a flat look then turned back to Aida. “You’re turning into a little mafia tactician, you realize that, right?”
She smiled and shrugged. “I’m here and I’m in this. I guess I decided I’m going to embrace the role.”
“Good for you,” I said. “I like it. Suits you.”
“You think so?” She laughed and tilted her head. “I just think you like my outfit today. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you staring.”
“I bet you have,” I said. “Don’t think I don’t know why you’re wearing it.”
“To distract easily distracted men like you,” she said.
“Okay, enough,” Steven said. “If I have to be your chauffer, at least don’t fucking flirt where I have to listen to it.”
I laughed and patted Steven’s shoulder. “Don’t be so glum,” I said. “We’ll find you some pussy when this is all over.”
“When this is all over, I plan on getting paid,” Steven said. “And my dick sucked. Not necessarily in that order.”
I leaned back and laughed. Aida rolled her eyes but she was smiling too. The car rolled through some side streets and came out onto Broad, the main artery down the center of the city. Steven took us up further, around city hall, and into the north of Philly, well away from our normal territory. He pulled down Fairmount Avenue, took that past the Eastern State Penitentiary, and parked along the street. Aida looked confused as we got out of the car and stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Why are we here?” she asked.
“This is where we’re meeting,” I said.
“Yeah, but why here?” She looked around and her frown got deeper. “Lots of tourists.”
“That’s exactly the point,” I said. “Neutral territory. The Leone Family doesn’t own this territory and neither do the Russians. Right now, I don’t think anyone runs these streets. The gangs control further up north, which means Fairmount is a sort of neutral buffer zone between the crime families and the gangs.”
“Huh,” Aida said. “I never knew that. I’ve lived here my whole life and I never even noticed that.”
“Easy to miss unless you’re in the world,” I said. “Now come on. Let’s not keep our friend waiting.”
Steven took point and we followed just behind him. The morning was crisp and cool with a bright sun and only a slight breeze. Fairmount was an up-and-coming neighborhood with some little corner mom and pop stores, some fancy hipster bars, and a few ubiquitous Italian pizza places. Tourists wandered from the Penitentiary, which was an enormous stone prison that closed years ago and got mostly used for tours, down to the Art Museum which was only a few blocks away.
The trees were nice though looked like they were young and recently planted, and there was construction going on in most of the buildings. The neighborhoods north and south of Fairmount were mostly families, and the streets were quiet, clean, and safe. If it weren’t so far from all the action of the main center city and beyond, I could see myself living in Fairmount and being happy there.
Steven took us to a placed called Bishop’s Collar, a bar that was painted black all around the outside, with a black door and black window frames. He lingered for a moment by the front door then knocked a few times.
A young guy with a goatee answered and looked around. “Just you guys?” he asked.
“Just us, Mikey,” Steven said. “Open up.”
The young guy, Mikey, nodded. He was wearing a black chef’s outfit with the wide loose pants and button-down shirt. All he needed was the classic chef’s hat, but that was missing from the ensemble.
“Is he here yet?” I asked.
Mikey nodded. “Sitting at the bar. He came early.”
“Smart guy,” I said. “You mind bringing out something to eat?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Mikey looked nervous, shifting from foot to foot. “Hey, Dante, you sure this is okay? No trouble, right? I heard things are going down and I’m just a little nervous, you know? This is a good job, I don’t want to lose it.”
I patted him on the shoulder and took a right. There was a small flight of stairs that descended into the bar area. Sitting on a stool in the very center was a short guy with light brown skin, dark black hair, and brown eyes. He wore jeans and a button-down black shirt. He stood and inclined his head as I approached him with Aida just behind me.
“Gerardo,” I said.
“Hello, Dante.” He had a thin face and a wiry build, and I could see tattoos on his wrists and hands, though none were visible on his neck or face. “Nice place you got here.”
“Not mine,” I said. “But the chef is a friend, so he hooks me up. Come on, sit down. You want a drink?”
“Nah, I’m good. Maybe coffee if they got it.”
I gestured to Aida and she stepped forward. I noticed Gerardo’s eyes moved down her body and an appreciative smile came to his lips.
“This is Aida,” I said. “She’s mine. She’ll be listening in. And you know Steven.”
Gerardo pulled his gaze from Aida and nodded to Steven. “What’s up, man?”
“Hey, Gerardo. Thanks for coming.”
“Well, when the biggest, baddest Capo in the Leone Family comes calling, I gotta pick up.” Gerardo sat down and I went behind the bar. I found the coffee machine, took a second to figure out how it worked, and found some ground coffee in a drawer underneath the bar. I got it brewing a minute later.
“I hope you know we’ve been very appreciative of your assistance lately,” I said to Gerardo. Aida sat at the bar a few stools down from Gerardo, leaning forward and showing off even more of her breasts. I couldn’t help but smirk a bit as Gerardo kept sneaking glances in her direction. Steven sat at a table behind Gerardo, and I thought I saw him playing with something in his waistband, probably his Glock.
“Anything, anything, man,” Gerardo said. “We don’t like war, war’s expensive and what’s the point of killing if all it does is bring down heat, right? We want peace on the streets, especially now that we’re moving into this territory.”
“I’m not sure your bosses see it that way,” I said, still on the other side of the bar. Mikey came out a moment later with a platter of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and waffles. He placed it down and nodded at me then hurried into the back.
Gerardo laughed at the food and ate some bacon. “Good friend, man,” he said.
I poured him some coffee when it finished. “My Don spoke to me about your organization,” I said, steering the conversation to business.
Gerardo sipped the coffee. “Yeah? Did he?”
“The Don told me that your organization isn’t happy that I interrupted your deal with Vlas.”
Gerardo frowned. “Not what I heard.”
“Tell me what you heard.”
“You made a good offer, man,” Gerardo said. “Vlas was hard to work with, kept making demands, changing terms, pushing timelines back. My boss was getting fucking sick of him, man, and
when you came along offering to buy him out, my boss was like, yeah, fuck it. Let’s fucking go for it, right? You Italians, man, you’re a bunch of violent bastards, but at least you pay on time and don’t fuck around on the details.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That sounds about right.”
“So I don’t know what your Don is hearing or whatever, but I’m telling you, man, this is a good thing. My boss is happy, he just wants to set shit up with you and get paid, you know?”
“That works for me,” I said. “I need to get approval from my Don, but I’m ready to start taking shipments from your people, and the price still stands.”
“Good man, good. Well, shit, this was an easy meeting.” Gerardo grinned at me.
Aida leaned toward the two of us and spoke up. “But Dante’s forgetting something,” she said.
Gerardo turned to her. “What’s that, girl?”
“He’s forgetting why we’re here. We want Vlas, and we want him right now. If you want any of this to move forward, we need his location. We can’t be doing big deals with any cartel with an enemy still at our back.”
Gerardo looked shocked that she spoke like that then turned to stare at me. “This bitch for real?” he asked.
I put both my hands on the bar top and leaned toward him. “Yes, she’s for real,” I said. “And if you call her a bitch again, I’ll cut your throat out. Understood?”
Gerardo gaped at me then burst out laughing. “Fuck, man, you Italians. Like I said, violent bastards. But all right, all right. She’s your girl, I respect it.”
“We need Vlas’s location,” I said. “You want anything to happen with me and my family, I need to know where Vlas is.”
“I hear you.” He sipped his coffee, playing for time, a little smile on his lips again. “Here’s the thing, man. I know you’ve been making offers out on the street for Vlas, you hear me? I know he’s worth a lot to you. And now you want me to just give him up. Seems stupid, right?”
“I’ll offer you fifty grand,” I said. “That’s the friends and family price.”
