Page 27 of Hidden Ties

She cleared her throat. “Not yet. But I’ve been lookin—”

“Don’t bother,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Sal will find a position for you here at the Casino Hotel.” He looked over at him. “Won’t you?”

Sal quickly sat up straight. “S-Sure.”

“And since I have such a sizable investment placed on you, Valerie”—Lucca glanced between the both of them—“I hope you don’t mind that Sal will follow your every move to ensure you are where you need to be?”

Both Valerie and Sal stood up from their chairs and spoke in loud unison, “What?”

“Do you mind giving us a minute?” Lucca asked, looking at just her.

“Sure,” Valerie said with a grumble, moving toward the door. She went for her bat that she had set beside the door during her speech, but he stopped her with a hand held up.

“That’s far enough,” he said, crossing around the desk so he and Sal could speak in hushed tones.

“I’ll wait, then.” She turned her back to them; it was only then that she felt safe enough to roll her eyes in front of Lucca.

In a desperate attempt to listen to them, she strained her ears. She could almost believe they sounded like brothers … bickering.

“I’m not fucking babysittingher crazy ass any longer!” Sal began in an aggressively hushed tone. “Give her over to Amo. I’m sure he’d love this psycho.”

Lucca sat on the edge of his desk with a shit-eating grin. “Nah, I don’t think so. It’s your turn to do some grunt work for a change.”

“No. No. No fucking way. I didn’t learn to use my brain and sit behind a computer all day to do this. I did it toavoidinstances like this.”

“And that’s why you’re perfect for this job, brother,” Lucca said, hitting his shoulder. “Who else in the family is capable to help her figure out who attacked the Horseshoe? Do you really think Amo, or anyone else for that matter, is going to be able to do that? I doubt my other men know the difference between a monitor and a computer.”

“Well, see, you do,” Sal huffed, hoping he might still be able to get out of this death sentence.

“Well, I’m not a fucking idiot,” Lucca told him. “My other men are useful for other things, but using their brains isn’t one. Why do you think I have yet to pick an underboss?”

Fuck!Lucca was right, and he knew it. It was a position Sal probably would have had, if the job he already did for Lucca wasn’t so important. His friend would eventually find an underboss who could handle the job in a few years, but replacing Sal would be impossible. Lucca already bent the family rules for his sister Maria to be his consigliere—that’s how little options he had currently in the family.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“So, you’ll do it, then …?”

Sal ran a rough hand through his hair. “I mean, are you asking or telling me, Lucca?”

Lucca gave him a sympathetic look. “I told you long ago I’d never ask you to do anything for me you didn’t want to do, and Imeant it. We’re brothers. Our bond is stronger than my brothers whom I share blood with, and you know I haven’t even given Nero a promise like that. In fact, I purposefully give him the shitty jobs. Plus, are you really going to let an innocent woman go down for this?”

Ugh. Sal hated when Lucca pulled that card, even though he was truthful in the fact he wouldn’t make him do anything he didn’t want. But how was he supposed to say no after a speech like that?

“Fine, I’ll do it,” he finally agreed while making one thing clear. However, it was uncertain if he was making it clear to Lucca or himself. “But only for you, not for her.”

“Damn.” He couldn’t believe the savage statement. “You don’t care if she ends up in prison? That’s harsh for you.”

“Nope.” Sal shook his head violently. “I have practically dreamed of her going to prison every single night I spent in my home.”

“Really?” Surprised at his deep distaste for her, Lucca peered over at the woman in question. “Did you look her up and find something?”

Even though he hated to admit it … “No, she’s clean. Her search history is boringly PG, unlike the video games she plays. The only things against her are some parking and speeding tickets. She’s also behind a couple of months on her mortgage payments and bills, but I’m sure she is considering she was recently fired, not like we care about that stuff, anyway.”

“So, what’s the issue?” Lucca asked, looking back at him. “I’ve only seen you act like this if you know they’ve done something rancid.”

It was scary to wield the power to know about a person’s full digital Internet history. It was like being able to read people’s minds or know a person’s deepest, darkest secret. It regretfully made you weary of people and have an aversion to humans.Eventually, he had to quit looking so deeply into any woman he came into contact with who he found attractive; otherwise, he would never ever get laid.

“You really have to ask?” he said, looking back at her with her bat back in her hand.

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