Instead of heading home, I walked down to the restaurant. From the phone in my office I called Joey. Not surprisingly, he did not answer. I forced myself to calm down. I had always done well thinking under pressure, then again, no one I was emotionally invested in had ever been involved before. After a short time, I decided to call my boss. He met me at the restaurant where I explained what the situation was. He was not happy at all about having to intervene with an ally family, but at the same time he was pretty disgusted at the hot-headedness and immaturity Joey was showing. He told me to wait at the restaurant for him and he headed into Jersey to speak to Joey’s boss.
It was a long day of waiting. James, not surprisingly showed up a few hours after my boss had left. I explained to him what was happening, and saw the sheer panic on his face, though to his credit he did not set off into any heroics. Seven long hours later Gina walked in with my boss. One of her sleeves was ripped, and her eyes were clearly red-rimmed from crying, but otherwise she seemed alright.
After they ate, James escorted Gina home. She looked a lot calmer leaving than she had when she walked in.
My boss had stayed to discuss the events with me. He had gone to speak with the Jersey boss and had told him that we were looking for Gina. He explained how Joey had been watching her house, and had taken her earlier that morning. Jersey had called around until he located him. Joey had bordered on disrespect as he continually told his boss he refused to meet him. Eventually, they got him to concede and they made him bring Gina in.
After he received a call from one of the guys watching Gina’s house, Joey had driven over to get her. She had not gone willingly. Joey had pointedly threatened her to get her to leave with him. He had driven her to a place he used when he questioned guys.
“This is a nice place,” he began. “I use it quite a lot with people who think they can disrespect me.” Gina walked slowly beside him with fear flowing through her. “I love my job, you know. See that spot of red on the floor? That’s recent. Had a guy in here just a few days ago. We spent about 8 hours discussing things until he finally passed out. He didn’t make it. Poor guy. Aren’t you glad I’m made of stronger stuff? You’re very lucky to have a strong, respected man like me. It takes a lot to earn the kind of power I’ve earned. And I’m still rising, mark my words. No, no, don’t move away from me. You are going to be right here, right by my side. Tucked in tight against me for as long as I want you.” As he has said this, he reached his arm out and tucked her under it. She had been shivering from head to toe by this point. “Oh, you see those chains? Sometimes we suspend them upside down and take turns using the knife on them. The weak ones talk fast. Some others take longer. But eventually I can break them all. I’m showing you this place so you understand how fortunate you are to have my attention and protection. You would never want to get on my bad side, right? I mean, that would not go so well for you. You’ve already made me angry on several occasions. I think it’s about time you stop playing hard to get. You’re going to settle in nicely after this, aren’t you?“ He turned to her now, reached under her chin to turn her trembling face towards his.
That was how the bosses found him. They had heard most of what was said, which had made them both cringe to know Joey was exposing such things to a civilian, and a woman no less. After the Jersey boss had reasoned with Joey and gotten Gina safely into the car, he pulled my boss aside.
He made it clear in no uncertain terms, that we had a huge enemy in Joey, but that he would be kept under control as long as the boss over there remained in power. The Jersey boss had been pissed that Joey would cause a rift over a woman. He did not appreciate the bad sense that Joey had shown in this situation, and had expressed his reservations over Joey rising up. At the same time, he was hopeful it was just his age, and was of a mind to groom him a little harder hoping to change that side of his character. My own boss thought this doubtful, but only time would tell. For now, Joey was to steer clear of us, my entire family included.
Chapter 13
James and Gina happily began openly dating shortly thereafter. They attended our wedding together, and a year later I stood as best man as James married Gina. James and Gina fully knew what kind of life I was living and over time they began to pull back. I could not blame them; they had a completely legitimate life. James had taken over my parents’ furniture business, which was thriving. Marie and I continued to do well together. After two children she was still the greatest love of my life. From time to time I would hear about what Joey was up to. He had seemingly calmed down, finally started dating someone else and married her. About two years after James and Gina had their son, James, Jr., we heard that Joey had his first child, a little girl.
So many years had elapsed that it all seemed like a distant memory. We had completely and utterly forgotten about the threat of Joey. Until one day when I received a cryptic phone call at the office, “I still haven’t let it go.” That was all the caller said. A week later, James and Gina were killed. They had done a great job making it look like an accident. The clues were only subtle enough for those of us in the lifestyle to pick up. We knew, instantly.
Sitting at the funeral, watching the agony on my nephew’s face had broken my heart.
“It doesn’t make sense.” He had said to me. “Something just does not feel right.”
I watched him closely for months after that, kept in close contact. He was too bright for his own good. He took over the furniture store, but seemed fixated on finding who had caused the “accident.” I walked into his office one day at the store and quickly realized just how much he was tormented over his parent’s death. He was not at all settling into the idea that it was an accident. Newspaper clippings, the menu from the restaurant his parent’s had been in that night; maps of alternate street routes. He was seeking understanding of a tragic accident, only it seemed too perfect, he said.
“James, what if I told you I believed they were killed by someone?” I had to know the answer to this, it had been plaguing me for weeks.
“What? Do you know who?” He had jumped up and come at me excitedly.
“Easy, easy.” I said putting my arm around him and leading him back to his chair. “Ok, you see, I have a very different life than your father did, very different from what you were raised in. I’m not saying I know exactly who did it. But I believe this was not an accident. And I believe the person or people who killed your parents run in a similar circle as I do.” I watched him openly, waiting for his response. Waiting for his show of trepidation, or disbelief. Something.
“It’s someone you know?” He looked at me, eyes sharp. Seeing that look, that belied rage inside made me remember the turning point in my own life when I had willingly walked down the path I lived.
“I don’t know that answer now.” I believed it to be Joey; I just did not want to go on. My entire argument rested on a vendetta from twenty plus years ago. It was not enough, no matter how much my gut knew it was him.
“I want to know. I don’t care how long it takes, I want to know who.”
“Why, what will that solve?”
“An eye for an eye.” Was all he said. His voice stone cold. All of the warm, safe life that James and Gina had provided him had been dashed in the last few months. I could see the anger in him; feel the heat inside him for revenge. He had that spark inside, the same one I had once had. The one that made me respond to the more dangerous aspects of this life.
“When that time comes, you will need skills that you do not possess.” I said this softly and slowly. Pulling him into this life was not something I took lightly.
“What skills?” The eagerness was apparent in his demeanor as he sat on the edge of his chair now.
“It’s not something that can be taught overnight, James. It requires work, dedication. But most of all, it compromises your existing morals. I am not sure if you can handle that.”
“Try me.” He responded. I wanted to laugh. It was the exact answer I would have given.
&nbs
p; “We’ll see.” I retorted, perfectly willing to end the conversation now. Marie would kill me if she knew what was happening at this moment.
“No, we won’t see! Either you can help me and tell me what I need, or I will ask around. Yes, mom and dad wanted me to steer clear of the kind of lifestyle you have, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what you do, or who you are out there on the street. I’m not an idiot. I hear things, I pay attention. I know what you do, and who you are. I hear the respect that people have for you. I understand if you don’t want to help me, but be assured, I will find a way now that I know that’s the path.”
In the end, I helped. I pointed him in the right directions. He learned about weapons, and close combat. He learned how to break in to places without being detected, how to get around alarms. How to disarm cars; how to arm small bombs. He learned about other chemicals that could help in kidnapping situations. He learned how to intimidate in order to get his way. He learned how to observe the room without being noticed during that observation. He seemed like a natural. He picked it all up with an ease that was astonishing to us all.
My boss, and our crews were all enraged over what had happened to my brother and Gina. They all vowed to help James in any way they could. Even though, almost a year later, we could still not specifically point the finger at Joey. We all knew it was him. His own boss had mysteriously and very unexpectedly died. Joey had always been well liked, despite his continued hotheaded behavior, so just like that he was bumped up.
I assigned someone to watch Joey. We moved our guy, Don, to Jersey, and within a year he was in a crew close enough to keep tabs on Joey. In the meantime, James began going out on some different jobs. He showed an amazing aptitude for the less desirable skills of an emerging hit man. He eventually moved into Manhattan, under the direction of another boss that I had come up with.
James’ criminal career was impressive. I knew my brother was watching from above completely disappointed that James, Jr. had taken this path. It was something my brother had never understood. He did not have that side of himself that needed to release that adrenaline, or the side that even thrived from the rush that could be had with this kind of power. I did feel guilt over leading James to this lifestyle. In all fairness though, he was not completely in. He was called in for different jobs. He was trusted. He was efficient. But he was not made. I watched him from afar, with pride even as the twinges of guilt rose.
His legitimate life was thriving. He had completely turned an already great business into an enterprise. Clearly, he had inherited his father’s knack for business. His employees loved and respected him. The quality of the pieces he was bringing in had created quite a reputation for the store increasing revenue to a volume that had never been reached before.
Despite it all though, I knew the flavor of revenge was beating deep within him. I just prayed it was not his only driving factor in life. If it was, then once he got what it was he was seeking, he would fall apart. As far as I knew he rarely dated. This was a constant cause for worry with Marie. She felt strongly that a man in his mid-twenties should be exploring adventure a little more. Little did she know he was having adventures of an altogether different nature.
Chapter 14
Our years of patience paid off one day when Don, the man we had moved to Jersey, came to visit. He had recently been on a trip to Vegas with Joey and his crew. Amidst all of the high roller frivolity, Joey had begun speaking about the sweetest revenge moment he had ever had. In his belligerent state he had told all about meeting Gina. How she had been the only woman, ever to reject him. He went on about the months they dated, and how he considered it sweet foreplay the more she tried to break it off.
Apparently, he still had some of the pictures from when he was having her followed. He stated he liked to look at them whenever he started to feel stressed. Don said Joey’s crew had done their best to get him to stop talking about this, but Joey had brushed them off. Joey had even gone so far as to pull Don into another room so as to finish the story uninterrupted.
“Oh, she was a pretty thing. She just did not seem to understand the game she was playing. Poor girl.”
Don knew this was his only chance, “So you just let her walk away from you?”
Joey laughed, “Oh yes. At that time, I let her walk. But I got her good in the end. Her and the man she chose over me. Followed them for months. They thought their life was so great. Their sweet little furniture store; their darling little son. They forgot, you see. They forgot how they slighted me.”
“Well it had been many years.” Don had to keep him talking; he looked like he was about to pass out.
“It had. But I made a promise, you see. I promised that brother of his, Tony, that I would show him my pride. So I had to follow through. I had to.” For a moment there, he almost looked regretful, but he shook his head and took another sip of scotch before he went on, “I killed them a few months ago, did a great job making it look like an accident. Now, Tony has to live knowing I took something important from him.”
Don recounted it all in the details he had learned. I immediately arranged a meeting with the Manhattan boss, and we set a plan in motion that James would carry out. After a lot of debating back and forth, we decided not to tell him exactly who he was hitting or why. As much as he had proven himself, I was still worried that this would be too emotional for him to carry out with a clear head, and that created a dangerous hit for him. The last thing I wanted was to put him in any greater danger than he was already in.
This should be an easy hit, though, he might question why he was ordered to kill a woman. We made up some version of the truth without directly stating the whole truth. He would know that it was the daughter of a major enemy, but he would not be told which one. We needed his head clear. Once it was finished we would be able to tell him, and he would have the satisfaction of knowing he had brought insurmountable pain to the one responsible for killing his parents.
I knew it was only a matter of time before he would ask how this all connected. It was going to be a hard story to recount. Nothing in our lives had been regretted. I never for a moment would regret the day I met Gina, for she introduced me to my Marie. I would never regret how Gina had filled my brother with such love. So many great things had come from the day I helped Gina move those boxes in across the street. As soon as James finished this job, he would be out. It was the agreement I had made with all of the bosses involved. Once this was over, I would tell him, and together we both could try to heal from the nightmare of the last few years.
Bad Boy Romance: The Hitmans Payback (Bad Boy Alpha Male Mafia Pregnancy Romance) (Contemporary Crime Thriller & Suspense Romance) Page 4
