Page 51 of The Woman in the Garage

“I want my attorney,” the kid demanded.

“You’re gonna need a dentist if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Lucky grumbled.

“You can’t hit me.”

“Kid, don’t try me,” Lucky said as we broke out of the row of containers to find several of the other guys had rounded up other kids dressed the same, some with green splotches of paint on their all-black clothing, others with bright pink.

“Here’s another idiot,” Lucky said, shoving the kid toward the group, all of whom were on their knees.

The other kids had the good sense to look scared.

“They can’t keep us here against our will,” the kid Lucky grabbed declared to the crew.

Two girls shushed him.

Another boy—much taller and wider—glared at him. “Shut the fuck up. Don’t you know who they are?”

“I don’t give a fuck who they are,” the kid declared, starting to get to his feet.

Until our cousin Domenico—fresh out of prisonandfucks—moved in, pressing the muzzle of his gun to the kid’s temple.

“Give a fuck now?” Dom snarled.

That was the moment I was pretty sure the kid legitimately pissed himself.

But he lowered back down to his knees.

Who could blame him? Even if you didn’t know Dom had been to prison, he was an intimidating guy. Tall, well-built, with a jaw of granite, unreadable black eyes, and an aura about him that suggested everyone give him a wide berth.

“Dom,” Luca said, his voice somehow firm and soft at the same time.

Dom stepped back, holding up his hands—one with the gun still in it—in a placating gesture.

Luca launched into it then. A speech that was half mafia boss, half understanding but annoyed dad.

“To sum it up,” Dom said when Luca finished speaking. “Don’t be a bunch of fucking dumbasses, and you won’t get shot. Now fuck off.”

Luca shook his head, but he was smiling as the kids quickly disbanded.

“Can I, uh, have my paintball gun back?” the kid asked, coming up to Milo. Up close, yep, he’d definitely pissed himself. I almost felt bad. Almost. But then I remembered the nice night he and his dumbass friends had ruined.

“Christ,” Matteo sighed as soon as the kids were all out of sight.

“I mean, that’s the kinda shit I’d have done as a teen,” Lucky admitted. “But I woulda been smart enough not to do it on fucking mob turf. Alright. I got a cold dinner at home,” he said, shaking his head as he lumbered off.

A couple of the other guys who’d arrived before us headed out, leaving me there with my brother, Luca, and Dom.

“Sorry to pull you guys away from what you were doing. Got a call from some of the guys here who said there were a dozen people closing in on the docks. It wasn’t until after I got here that they told me about the semi-automatics.”

“Eh, I was just at the gym,” Dante said. Built like a brick wall, Dante was always at the damn gym. “It’s still open now.”

“You know where I was,” Milo said with a shrug.

“I was at Famiglia,” I admitted, knowing Luca would be hearing about it by the morning anyway. “But I was heading out.”

“Me?” Dom asked when everyone looked at him. “I was sitting in the park.”

“The park?” Milo asked.

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