Page 22 of Duke of Ruin

“You think you’re so smart, kid,” Rossi laughs, and I growl at him, my teeth bared. “Your emotions are going to get the best of you,” he warns, and I notice that he’s holding his sidearm beneath the notebook in his lap.

“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to figure out how to not get shot in this fucking car.

“Keeping tabs on my assets,” Rossi says, moving so that the gun is in plain sight. “You go trying to switch sides on me and I’ll make sure Gianni knows all about you and your little gay sex nest.”

“You wouldn’t,” I say, but even I don’t believe it.

“Oh, I would. And how do you think he’s going to react when he learns that his precious nephew is keeping secrets like this?”

“What the fuck does it matter to you, anyway?” I hiss.

“If I can’t put his ass behind bars, I’ll find another way to make him suffer,” Rossi says with a shrug. “Who do you think tipped him off about you two?”

“You did that?” My jaw drops.

“Damn right I did, and that gay-boy was supposed to come tell you to fuck off so that you can get back to the op, not spend the night screwing each other,” Rossi says. I swing at him. My fist grazes his jaw and I grab his arm to try to wrestle the gun away from him, but he manages to get the upper hand and put the gun to my temple. I freeze in my seat, fighting to keep my breathing under control. “I’m really disappointed in you, son,” Rossi says with a shake of his head.

“I’m not your fucking son,” I growl. I knew when I took on this operation that I was putting my life on the line, but I thought the threat would be coming from the fucking gangsters, not law enforcement.

“You’re right. If you were my son, I’d have put you down a long time ago,” Rossi says. “But if you even think about trying to come clean to your lover-boy, this won’t end well for either of you.” He presses the barrel of this pistol into my temple. “Are we clear?”

I grind my teeth in frustration. I want to kill this man.

“Answer me!” he shouts, shoving the gun harder against my head.

“Crystal,” I grind out.

“Good. Now get the fuck out of my car,” Rossi barks, and I take a deep breath before I grab the door handle. I hear him muttering something under his breath as I climb out, probably another slur, but I need him gone. He peels out of the parking lot and I pray he’ll get into a fatal wreck on the way back to wherever he’s going. I know I won’t get that lucky, though.

I get into my Camry and release a long, shuddering breath. Then I pound my fists against the steering wheel in frustration and let out a feral yell. Rossi played his hand, but it was a good one. It’s obvious that he must have put trackers or bugs on me, something that would have been nice to fucking know since it’s my life on the line working undercover. Fire fills my veins as I wonder just how much Rossi heard, what he might have on us. When I get back to my apartment I’ll figure out where all the bugs are, but I can’t just remove them or Rossi will leak to the Carbones exactly what’s going on. I scrub my hand down my face. There has to be something I can do to get out of this. Hiding out from the Carbones once this is over was going to be challenging enough, but hiding from the police, too? Impossible.

I want to call Eli and tell him everything, but I can’t do that, either. I yell and smash my fists against the steering wheel again. There has to be something I can do,anything. But Rossi knows just how to hurt me. Even if I run, Eli will still be in danger. I’m trapped, but I’m too fucking pissed off to accept defeat.

8

ELI

Listening to my father and uncle drone on about shipments and contracts is my own personal version of hell. But I have to keep my composure. They’ve already been looking too closely at me and Noah, and I can’t give them any reason to doubt the lies I’ve told them.

I met with Noah last night with every intention of ending things between us, but instead I just pulled him in deeper. I knew I wouldn’t be able to just let him go, though. Even if he’d agreed to stop seeing me, I doubt I would have been able to keep my distance. Thankfully, he feels the same as I do, so the question is, what do we do now? Our hidden trysts can only last so long before I want more, and that’s not something that can happen while I’m this invested in my family. Despite how toxic they are, I can’t just turn my back on them.

Yesterday I thought about running away and just living on the run with Noah by my side, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I’m sure Noah is better at living without money than I am, but how fast would it all unravel if we were always under that much pressure? No. I can’t do that to him. He’ll just have to accept this for what it is, and if he doesn’t, well…I don’t know. I’ll just keep him locked in my closet or something.

In a fit of wild fantasy I imagine Noah chained to my bed naked and hard, just waiting for me, his only purpose to please me. My dick stiffens and I try to shut down that line of thought before the others notice my distraction. I look up to find them both looking at me, expecting…something. I backtrack my thoughts and try to gather what I’m supposed to be responding to right now.

“Well, did you notice anything unusual about the last shipment?” Uncle Gianni asks again.

“No,” I say quickly. “Everything was in the shipment. I compared the manifest to yours and everything was correct. Wherever we’re losing product it’s not with our international partners, so it has to be in-house.”

“Well, that’s disappointing. You’d think the family would be loyal,” my father mutters, shaking his head.

“Do you think they’re stealing the actual product or just skimming cash from the transactions?” I ask, feigning interest.

“I don’t know,” Uncle Gianni says, “but I want you to head down to Reese’s shop today and see what you can find out.”

I nod, though it won’t help. Reese is just as unlikely to talk to me as he is Gianni himself.

“Your presence will be intimidating enough to shake something out of him,” Uncle Gianni says like he’s reading my thoughts. “If he’s skimming he’ll either slip up or stop, and either way I’ll know where the leak is.”

---