Page 14 of 10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace

At this rate, I was convinced I would be single, a virgin, and a pending cat mom for the rest of my life.

Menace

“I calledand double checked if the pasta is made from scratch. You hate that boxed mess, and I would rather know before you try and throw somebody through the window,” Jeffie informed me, never looking up from her iPad.

I pulled my eyes away from the window, wondering if she slept with that damn iPad. It was never away from her. Whenever you saw Jeffie, just know you saw that iPad right with her.

Duke, my armed guard and driver, looked into the rearview and nodded before he got out. In the back of my Rezvani Vengeance, I was untouchable. It wasn’t only bullet proof; the shit had a military armored package on it.

I’ve always known the Eaton name was powerful, and the amount of power my wicked ass uncle had was something I probably would never understand unless I was in his position. I was now in his position, and I realized that our family had our hands into everything.

That Eaton name made the entire world rotate, and when I took over, I held that power in my hands, and now the Caselli name made the world go ‘round. I couldn’t move like I used to,and I had to be ten times smarter because there were men who wanted my position.

Weirdos probably woke up thinking of the day that they could take out Menace Caselli. If I learned one thing about my uncle, it was to trust no one. That was easy for me because I was naturally fucking paranoid, which is why I stayed to myself.

Here I was wiping my uncle out because of the fuck shit he did to my parents, only to step into a role where there were men out there in the world that wanted to kill me. They would never admit it, and they would shake hands with me and make deals while seething on the inside. Added with the fact that I knew every government official’s dirty secrets. I wasn’t foolish enough to think because they spent money with me that they wouldn’t snake me.

You see how the fuck they did Malcolm X, and the founder of the Black Panthers. When it came to those bitches, they liked to hold shit overyourhead, not the other way around.

To make sure nobody decided to start feeling themselves, I had security with me at all times, and I drove around in this fucking tank. Duke knocked on the back window and Jeffie looked at me, as she checked her gun in her purse, and I leaned forward, and grabbed mine from the divider between us.

Hopping out, I put my gun in the back of my sweats, rounded the truck and went into the restaurant. There were thousands of restaurants within the city, however, this one was a special one. Any time I came to this restaurant meant I was meeting with the other founding families of Staten Island.

I made sure Jeffie was in front of me as she pulled her purse onto her arm, and Duke watched my back as we entered the restaurant. “What do you think this meeting is for? They don’t ever call a meeting randomly like this… you nervous?” she whispered as we entered the restaurant.

“The fuck I need to be nervous for… those niggas breathe the same as I do.” I looked around the dark restaurant with ambient lighting.

I usually hated coming here because you could barely see your food or the menu. They were so busy trying to create the ambiance that I was going blind trying to read the menu or examine my food.

Jeffie shook her head. “Aside from Karter, you are the youngest at the table. You should be at least a little worried about this meeting.”

I wasn’t nervous because I always played my part. The Caselli family didn’t make any noise unless noise needed to be made. We were quiet, and not too many people knew about us unless they were about to be dealt with. I ran shit peaceful and never made much noise because I didn’t have to.

The Eaton name was loud while the Caselli name was quiet. “You worry too much.”

She snorted. “My job is to worry about you, Maverick.”

Jeffie knew I hated whenever someone called me by my government name, and she was one of the only people that honor was extended to. Jeffie was my family, and at times I liked to call her my savior. She knew me better than anybody, and she often pulled me in when I felt myself slipping away. Aside from Corleon, she was someone who knew everything about me.

Even if Jeffie told me tomorrow she couldn’t work for me, she would always be taken care of. She had a loyalty that you didn’t find anywhere else in the world, and for the Caselli’s that meant everything.

Loyalty wasn’t something that was always extended to us.

From Kora to Zoya to Landon, she had a relationship with each of us. I knew we drove her ass crazy at times, too. We all had grown up together, and there was a bond between all of us that couldn’t be broken.

“You need to focus on your own life, too, feel me?”

She cut her eyes at me as we continued toward the back of the restaurant. “We both need to focus on our own lives. Kora, Zoya, and Landon are grown, and you need to worry about your own now.”

Waiters pulled the curtains back, and we entered the room with a dining table. Awaiting at the table was Ghost, Rahmeek, and Karter.

“Meeting in the middle of the day… dramatic much?” I stood at the top of the table, knowing that none of them would move to dap me up.

I was particular about people touching me. It took nearly five years for me and Corleon to embrace. They all understood and respected that it was love and nothing personal.

“You’re a busy man, Menace… plus, I got some other shit coming up, so this needed to be done now.” Ghost was the first one to speak.

“Who the fuck died?” I asked, as I slumped down in the chair on the other side of the table. Jeffie made her rounds hugging each man, as they asked how she was doing.

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