Page 140 of Don Caselli

The man gulped and looked around at all of us staring at him. “As much as you wanna be helpful like you’re just doing your job, you’re not. Jasper was your brother, so this is personal. Don, I need you and Corleon to do a sweep of my office, too.” Kora said.

“Dane, you staying out of trouble?”

“You already know, Gold.” He winked at Zoya, and she smiled.

Goon leaned over the rail. “Yo, Dane?”

“What up?”

“I’m shooting behind this one… keep that Gold shit to yourself.”

Dane let out a hearty laugh. “My bad, my bad… didn’t know that was all you.” All the men here had a high respect for each other. They could check each other and laugh, but the minute someone outside the circle tried that shit, they tasted bullets immediately.

Jasper was the special agent Menace killed at the dinner party Zoya was at with Capri and Blair. “Jasper was close to solving who Menace Caselli is… a ghost, but one we wanted to reveal.”

I could tell this was personal to him with how his voice changed as he spoke about how close he was to solving who Menace was, and that was impossible. Everyone that knew who Menace was, knew to keep their mouths shut. His fucking Social Security number never stayed the same. Corleon had it where the numbers changed frequently.

We all worked hard to make sure no one ever found out who he was. As I was being welcomed into the folds, I was realizing just how dangerous this job was, and how you had to be protected.

Kora walked around the table, and she looked at him. “Not him… never him.” She stepped away, walking toward a controlpanel. Everyone removed themselves from the table, and Goon moved Zoya back.

She hit the button, and a full panel of glass fell from the holder, ripping pieces of the man, as we sat there and watched. “Fuck… that was brutal.” Beans looked away, while I couldn’t look away.

Pieces of his skin hung off and shards penetrated all of his body. “I am my brother’s keeper. I take that oath more serious than the one I took to sit up on that bench. He put me in that position to protect this… us. Sigel can’t be touched because he has eyes on him from his own division. He’s safe for now… I’ll give you the greenlight when you can handle him, Gerald.”

“Heard you, Ms. Judge Lady.”

“As far as Kevin Robinson, I don’t trust him, Maverick. I let you handle your side, and I handle mine, but trust me on this. He’s playing both sides, and he has to go. That egg farming is far from over, and they are still building their case behind the scenes, and he’s been in a lot of those conversations. Case House has been mentioned as well, more than once.”

“A lot of people involved in that egg farming have been retaining counsel from my office,” Zoya said.

“Including your new client. Preston Vance… drop him, Zoya.”

“What?” she blurted.

Kora wasn’t going to do the back and forth with Zoya. She headed toward the exit, and Menace nodded for security to follow behind her.

“I don’t tell her what to do with her career… we all agreed we wouldn’t step on each other’s toes,” Zoya was pissed.

Her eyes were different.

“You heard her.”

“Y’all can kiss my ass,” Zoya snatched away from Goon, and headed down the steps. “Don, can you drive me home?”

“Yeah, I got you.”

“I’ll get up with you, Don,” Teflon told me, and I nodded, leaving with Zoya.

Beans got into the back, while I held the door open for my sister. Pulling away, she sat with her arms folded. “I’m sick of all of this shit.”

“Zoy, you good?”

“I wish everyone would stop asking me that. I am fine, damn, Don,” she snapped, and I left it alone.

I knew when to push and when not to push when it came to her. “Tell me if you not, right?”

She looked at me. “Yes, Don.”

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