Page 145 of The Spare
I take another drag, and flick the ash in the ashtray. "Shoot." His entire demeanor changes, making my body tighten up as his face darkens and his posture goes ramrod straight. It's such a difference from his attitude not even just three seconds ago that I pause bringing the cigarette to my lips and just stare. "What's wrong with your bipolar ass?"
Luca's mouth tightens, and even though the air suddenly becomes chilly, my aching thighs prevent me from taking this seriously. "My consigliere has betrayed me, leading me to need to replace him."
"Your concera whata?"My brow raises as I lower my hand and grip my thigh hard.
"Consigliere,"Luca enunciates slowly, as if I'm stupid. Which is actually how I feel because nothing is sinking into my brain at the moment.
"It still doesn't quite ring the bell you think you're hitting, friend," I say wearily, rubbing my jaw with my hand. "Besides, why's this any of my business?" I fight to roll my eyes, and clear my throat instead, looking over at Maximus who's staring between me and Luca quietly. "Max,every timeyour nephew calls me in here, it's for something that could have been an email. Did you know that?"
Maximus' lips twitch, and he brings up a hand to scrub along his jaw, trying yet failing to hold in his chuckle. His eyes glint with amusement as he tosses a wry look at Luca who's resumed tossing that pen back up in the air. I swear, this man can't take anything seriously. My thighs cramp, and I grimace.
"It's your businessbecause you're replacing him."
My brow rises as I flick my eyes to his and then to Maximus who just threads his fingers together and sits calmly. "I'mwhat?"
"Replacing him."
"I heard you, dumbass-"
"Then why did you ask-"
I hold up my hand, narrowing my eyes and blinking. "Luca, isn't the consigliere yourthird?"
He nods, getting an amused smile on his face. "Yes." His brows furrow as he tilts his head at me. "You do realize that you can only get away with calling me a dumbass because you're family,right?"
I roll my eyes. "What about my brother?"
He shrugs his shoulder. "That's above me, now." Meaning, in other words he couldn't give a fuck. It makes me smile. I love Hendrix and all, but he can eat grass.
Intrigued, I flick the ash before taking another drag, holding his stare the whole time. "How do you know I won't betray you?"
He chuckles, standing up swiftly from his chair and tugging the lapel of his blazer before rounding his desk. "Follow me," he says curtly.
As Maximus and I stand, I snatch up the ash tray, bringing it with me as we walk out of his office, winding through the halls of his home until we reach the stairs that lead to the basement. Reaching another door, a guard opens it, and I look inside seeing stone instead of the sheetrock of the basement. We descend those stairs, too, and the temperature plummets.
"Fuck," I complain. My thighs protest, and I grumble, taking another smoke and flicking the ash again before setting the little tray in a recessed hole in the wall of what looks to be a dungeon. This shouldn't shock me, but it does. I'll admit it.
The man has a real life dungeon with lanterns; seven stone rooms with iron bars and little prison toilets take up the dank space.
There are several men milling about down here. The usual mafia type: tatted, wearing all black, stone-faced, huge, menacing guys who seem to be in love with the idea of silence because no one here hardlytalks. Joey stands next to one of the rooms, the iron bars are open, and the sound of flesh pummeling flesh and agonized groans of pain sound out.
I stand silently next to a stoic Maximus, minding my own business, watching while Luca shrugs out of his blazer, unbuttons his cuffs, and then pushes the sleeves of his white button down shirt up his arms. He holds out his hand, his thick forearms flex as he crooks his fingers, and a guard steps forward and places a glock in it.
He checks it, racking the chamber, and waves me closer.
I frown, stepping forward and looking into the cell where his current consigliere sits in a wooden chair, face completely rearranged to the point I could only tell it was him based off his tattoos on his chest. With no last words, or any warning whatsoever, Luca points the gun at his head and shoots him point blank. No questions asked.
I take a drag of my cigarette, then flick it to the floor, crushing it with my foot. Point taken. "Hm."
That's interesting.
His head turns and he meets my eye. "You going to betray me?"
I frown. "Nope. Wouldn't even think about it, brother."
He smiles."Good. You start now."
He must see the look in my eyes because he gets an amused look on his face and turns, putting his arm around my shoulder and steers me back the way we came. "Well, maybe we can start after you fucking fix whatever my cousin did to your leg, eh?" He chuckles as we walk and then side-eyes me. "You know you're family now, right? That wasn't a joke. You're one of us."
