Page 59 of Deception

“zzz-Good morning to you too.-zzz”

“It was…” I grumble.

“Aless, what the hell? I’ve tried to reach you three times.”

“I was sleeping.”

“Yeah, I bet you were.”

Slipping a spare robe off the coat rack in my office, I wrap myself, shivering. “What’s the news, little brother?”

“zzz-It's gonna be a few days before we can make it up the mountain. The storm is still going strong. But I wanted to check in on you. Power went out in town for a few hours last night.”

“Yeah. Here too. We started a fire in the fireplace, stayed in the den.”

There's a little pause on the other end of the line.

“Good idea, keep each other warm.”

“Shut the fuck up. I don’t need color commentary from you.”

If it were Ciro, he'd be busting up laughing right now, but Adriano is cool, dry.

“Touchy, touchy. I’ll chalk it up to the cold. You sure you know how to turn on the generator?”

“I’ll be fine. You don't have to ‘manage’ me all the time you know?”

“Fine, fine.” Pause. “But you do remember how to do it, right?”

“Yes, dammit. Turn the fuel valve on, put the choke on, ignition.”

“Right. But then you have to pull the recoil cord and set it to ‘run.’”

“Iknow.”

“I know you know. Just reminding you.” I hear the sly tone in his voice.

“Thanks, Nonna. We’ll manage just fine.”

“You know, I wouldn’t have to manage you if you just?—”

“Yeah yeah. Maybe you can manage to pull your head out of your ass before you come back,” I snap at him.

“You should try that yourself, unless it’s warm in there. Go get the generator running before you freeze to death. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Hey, great idea. I was craving a hot shower.” The idea of a hot shower with Isabella sends shivers down my back that have nothing to do with the cold.

“I don’t need the sordid details…”

“Ha, ha. Did you have a chance tocheck the mailyet?”

“Oh, yeah. The twins filled me in on what’s been brewing. Some gang called the Serpent’s Head is behind all of the hits on our turf. Sounds like?—”

“Like Domenico Vipera’s bad idea of a joke.” My best friend never could grasp the concept of subtlety.

“Well, whether it’s him or not, the group is targeting specific members of our organization. Heads of old families, allies. They’re putting pressure on them to break ties with us, but it’s not clear what the reasoning behind it is, yet. I should have more info for you in a few days.”

“Fuck. I hate this. What the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime? I’m guessing you took your laptop with you, so there’s nothing for me to look over numbers-wise.”

---