Page 92 of Wicked Truths

He moves his feet off the other couch cushion and sits up. “Hey, Frannie. What are you doing here?”

I groan at the horrible nickname. “I need some guidance and help.”

That gets his attention. I never ask for help, so they know I’m serious.

“Do you want the guys to know whatever you areabout to tell us? They can leave if you want it to stay between the three of us.”

Uncle Tony’s guys don’t like the way Dad and Joey are turning away from the Italian way of running the mafia. To them, the mafia is and always will be about family, not bringing strangers into the operation.

“Considering what I have to talk about, and the fact that they will probably help with this issue, so to speak, it will be easier for everyone to hear it one time.”

Although several guys appear to be missing, but AJ can relay the information to them later.

“Okay, well, let’s hear it.”

All eyes are on me.

“Long story short, one of my friends from the past two years lied about his name. He’s Jax Rossi, and Dad has him in our interrogation room in the basement. He told me that Mom faked her death. He said she’s alive and living at the Rossi estate in New York.”

Several gasps echo through the office, but everyone stays silent. No one knows what to say.

The ringing of Uncle Tony’s phone interrupts the silence. He yanks the phone off the receiver, pressing it to his ear.

“What?”

His jaw tightens, and his eyes narrow as the person on the other end speaks.

“This isn’t good.” AJ whispers beside me.

What isn’t? The phone call or my news?

Everyone watches Uncle Tony as he pinches the bridge of his nose and hangs up the phone.

He looks toward two of his men. “Go handle the guests waiting at the hostess stand. Make it clear that we don’t do business this way, and if they want future business, it will be ten percent more for their stupidity.”

The two men nod and leave the office without a word.

Damn, Uncle Tony is pissed. Tonight seems like the night of bad news all around.

Loud knocking sounds on the door a second before Uncle Tony yells out, “Enter.”

A waiter walks in carrying two plates of freshly cooked food. He places one on the desk before handing the other plate and silverware to me.

The ravioli looks and smells amazing, but how can I eat when we have serious issues to sort out?

Uncle Tony seems to know what I’m thinking because he says, “Eat first, then we will get back to business.”

I nod and say, “Thanks for dinner,” before digging in.

AJ laughs from beside me and steals a garlic knot from my plate. “Family tax.”

“Family tax?” I ask with my mouth full.

He shrugs. “I could just say that I wasn’t hungry until I saw your food.”

Uncle Tony turns the television on and changes the channel, stopping on a comedy. He laughs at a funny moment before taking a bite of his meal.

My phone dings with a message as I take another bite of ravioli. Picking up my phone, I see a message from Rhett.

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