Page 10 of Ruthless Passion

"Vito's been hassling some of the actors. The girls mostly. He's threatening them, saying if they don't act in his films, he'll put them center stage at Trips."

"So, we’ve got the feds sniffing into our business because we wash money for Don Marzano. We have a rival family stealing our actresses to force them into making porn at his janky strip club. On top of that, we're going to have to put our own money into making this Starlight film. Why didn't we make anything with the money Marzano gave us for that?"

Sonny runs his hands through his balding hair. "I got greedy. I didn't think the feds would swoop in a month after we put the project to bed and ask for proof. The one time we don't make the movie is the one time we're getting nailed for it. That's my fuckin luck."

I grab Sonny's shoulder. "We're going to make that movie. Let me take care of Agent Shaw and the Starlight thing. Can I trust you to do what you do to keep the girls safe from Vito? Whatever you do, it has to be quiet. We can't afford a war against the Dacosta crime family when Don Marzano can't even give us a heads up about an investigation."

"Do you think that Marzano is setting us up?"

I don't give it much thought, telling Sonny, "No. I think Gina's right. He's got a lot going on with the shit that went down with Julian and his mother. Shit, his father, Charleston Blackwell recently died too. I'll reach out discreetly and see what comes back from their side. If things don't seem right, we have a parachute to get out of this shit."

"That means going to New York then." Sonny sighs. I know his apprehension is from the idea of uprooting his family at the drop of a hat. Three kids, my sister, and his mother moving across the country while I disappear on my private jet isn't the happy ending either of us wants.

What's worse, for the first time since we hatched our business strategy, I have someone making me want to stay behind. It's crazy how a few minutes and a few kisses with one woman has me ready to second guess my future. Even crazier, is how much I want to see how Jo fits into it.

5

JOSEPHINE

Everything moves in slow motion as my life flashes before my eyes. My chest seizes from panic before Mom-adrenaline kicks in for me to dash after Jett. Up the steps and through the front door takes seconds, but after rushing through it, I'm confronted with a mass of giggles and shouts. My younger brother, Collin, swings Jett around his body like an acrobat.

I slam the door behind me to get them to stop, shouting, "WHAT THE HELL, COLLIN? You scared the shit out of me."

My nineteen-year-old brother stops twirling his nephew around long enough to put him down and do some secret handshake they made up.

"I texted you like three hours ago, Jo. Why haven't you checked your phone?" he asks, and that's when I notice something is wrong.

The cashew hue of his skin shows he's been spending the bulk of his time outdoors. But the blackening puffiness under his right eye shows he's been fighting, too. I pull out my phone to see absolutely nothing. Holding the phone up to him, I show him the absence of new messages.

"I didn't get anything from you, and what happened to your face?"

"That's because I got the message." Jett grins with pride and pulls out his phone. "You only let me have six people text me on this phone. I thought the message was for me."

Collin tousles Jett's curls, telling him, "It was for the both of you, but you should still tell your mom I'm coming by."

"Jett, you go and get ready for bed. Collin, what happened to your face?"

"But Mom, I gotta tell him how lucky his socks made us today."

"I'm going to need those back, too, little man," Collin says, running his fingers through his dark brown curls with streaks of blonde. Thankfully, Jett looks more like Collin than Duke. It seems like the only traits Jett got from his father are his blonde hair and blue eyes.

"You can have them back," Jett says, nodding. "That black eye means you need them more than I do."

Jett pulls his sneakers off to reveal the lucky socks sticking to dirty fabric softener sheets to suppress the odor. Collin squints and turns his face away.

"Exactly. Absolutely horrendous. By the looks of them, they can probably walk out of here on their own. So, yes, baby bro, take your rancid, magical cotton tubes back to the dorms." I laugh as my pulse finally returns to normal.

"About that." Collin purses his lips together. I can see the hesitation in his expression. It's a familiar one from our younger days, when he hated disappointing me as much as Mom and Dad. I've been taking care of my little brother since they brought him home and tonight doesn't feel any different.

He lets out a deep exhale. "This black eye isn't really a big deal compared to what happened after I got it. First, there was a fight in the dorms. Some asshole was being too pushy with his girlfriend, so I got pushy back. We slugged it out until I knocked him out. Then campus security came. One of them cracked me in the eye because I didn't know it was security. I thought it was the dude's friends trying to jump me from behind. Swing fists first, ask questions later."

"All that happened today? Are you hurt anywhere else? Is there someone we can talk to about security giving you a black eye?" I ask him.

"Technically, I started the fight. The asshole kept slamming his hand against the wall right by the chick's face. Shit, it pissed me off. No one deserves to be treated like that. Now that I'm big enough to do something about it, I will every fucking time. Anyway, I got kicked out for the next two weeks which means I'll be crashing here unless Shannon lets me bunk with her."

"No, don't bunk with your—" My gaze shifts to Jett, being mindful of how I speak. "Your puck buddy."

"I want a puck buddy," Jett says with all the innocence in the world.

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