Page 43 of Guarding her Gangster Girl

“What’s the situation with Sabatelli?” Brie asks, all business.

Larry slams a fist on the table, making the crystal glasses rattle. “That rat bastard isn’t talking. I’ve tried everything short ofactuallykilling him.”

Frank grumbles under his breath, but he takes a seat. “Fuck Sabatelli. At least with him out of the question, we have a default solution to the succession.”

I can’t help glancing at Larry Caruso when Frank says that. Was this Caruso’s plan all along?

I wonder.

Brie, on the other hand, doesn’t seem interested in the succession issues for now. “I want to see him.”

The room goes dead silent. After a long pause, Larry scoffs. “Absolutely not! It’s too dangerous. And not the kind of thing you should be seeing, Breezy. You’re not?—”

“I wasn’t asking for permission, Larry.” This is the Brie Colombo I saw during the poker game. The Brie Colombo who can command the attention of a room. Command attention frommen. “Frank, you’ll take me to Vince. Right now.”

Frank looks torn. “Listen, sweetheart, what Larry says—he’s not wrong. It ain’t pretty in there.”

“I don’t imagine it is. But if Vince Sabatelli killed my husband and took a shot at me, too, I don’t want it to be pretty. I want it to be very, very painful, in fact.” She stands. “Let’s go.”

Larry shoots to his feet as well, grabbing at Frank with a glower. “You can’t seriously be considering this. This is no business for a lady.”

“I’m nolady, Larry,” Brie says. She turns to him slowly, and I swear to God I see Caruso shrink back. “And I’m not some helpless widow. I was Salvatore Colombo’swife. I sat at his side for years, and I listened, and I learned. I will do whatever it takes to protect this Family.”

“This is bullshit,” Larry blusters. “She’s not even a Colombo!”

“What’s my name, Larry?” Brie asks, a dangerously soft note in her voice. “What. Is. My. Fucking. Name?”

Larry gapes, his voice rising high as he croaks, “But you’re just a—just a?—”

My hand darts to my holster. “Choose your next words very carefully, Mr. Caruso,” I tell him. He may be built like a brick wall, but I’ve taken down bigger men with less provocation for the Consortium.

And I will certainly do so again for Brie Colombo, unless she calls me off.

Which she hasn’t.

It’s up to Frank to hold up placating hands. “Let’s all take a breath, eh? Brie, are you sure about this?”

“I am. I need to look him in the eye, Frank. I need to know what he knows, what he’s hiding. For Terry’s sake—and for the Family’s.”

“Alright,” he says finally, his voice heavy. “But one wrong move from Sabatelli, and we shut him down permanently. Understand?”

Brie nods. And then she turns to me, and for a split second, I see a flicker of regret cross her face. “I need to do this alone,” she tells me. “This is Family business, Nik. Frank and Larry will escort me. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

I want to argue, to insist on staying by her side. But I think I understand that look in her eyes. This is a test. Not just for me, but for herself. A chance to prove that she’s more than just some gold-digging widow, or whatever insults Caruso was about to sling at her.

“Of course,” I agree. “Whatever you say, Mrs. Colombo.”

In the meantime, there’s a difficult conversation I need to have.

As I walk toward the entrance of the upscale Japanese restaurant where Eva has agreed to meet me for dinner at such short notice, I catch my reflection in the tinted glass doors. The woman staring back at me is a far cry from the scrappy kid my father started training all those years ago. Well-cut suit, steel in my eyes, an air of danger that keeps people at arm’s length. This is who I am. Who I’ve always wanted to be.

Right?

This meeting with Eva could put me well ahead in my career, if I choose to share everything I’ve learned. And how much difference would it really make, anyway, if Eva Novak did know what I’ve learned about the Colombos? Nothing can hurt them more than they’ve already been hit. And Eva’s desire for information is not to trade it, or even undermine. All she wants is a good deal, and information is often a way to make that happen.

But then Brie’s face flashes in my mind. Her real smile, not the megawatts that she turns on when she’s playing a part. The curiosity in her eyes when she looks at me. The way she makes me feel…

And I hear myself telling her that she can trust me to keep her safe.

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