Page 11 of Blood & Loyalties
Retaliation on my uncle and Johnny would be a fucking bitch, but no worse than anyone else. Handing everything to Remeo on a silver platter was not something I would take lightly, but like Vino had said, we would reevaluate.
“Are we bringing Zan in?” I asked.
“Not yet. We don’t want to tip him off,” Sal said, steepling his fingers and placing his index fingers to his lips.
I nodded in understanding. We would need to catch him in the act before taking retribution.
“We have eyes on Johnny, but so far, it just looks like he wants a dig with us and is using Zan to do it. I’ll have some guys on him and get it taken care of,” Sal concluded.
“That’s enough of this shit. We can’t do anything else until we get the proof, and I’ve got a team on it. You coming tonight?” Vino asked, pointing his finger in my direction, the personable gleam coming back to his eyes.
“Yep, I’ll be there.”
Vino was having some high-priced party for his business associates while I was in town. He wanted me to meet them personally, which I didn’t balk at. I was even putting a suit on for that shit.
“Jag, I want to thank you for taking care of the Antonio situation.” Sal sighed deeply in exasperation. “I told my Catarina that he was no good, but she is stubborn like all of us Lambardoni’s.” A small smile played on his lips. “She’s a good girl—a good woman. Smart, so damn smart. That’s why I don’t know why she picks these men who are not fit for her. She needs a good, solid man.”
I nodded at Sal, not quite knowing what to say. Yes, she had picked a dick, but the fire in her was like nothing I’d seen before. The way she stood toe-to-toe with her brother and didn’t back down was admirable. It showed her grit and strength, that she wouldn’t take anyone’s shit, but growing up in this life, I would expect nothing less.
Chapter Three
I WOKE TO the penetrating,annoying ring of my damn phone singing the same song, over and over again. Only for the assault to stop and start up all over again a few seconds later. I moaned and rolled to my back. Even with my eyes still closed, the brightness of the room came through my lids.
The place I shared with Kiera was anything but small. Our fathers had the bright idea to put two four-bedroom, full-sized houses together and connect them in the middle with a large, open living area and kitchen that we shared. One of the things they had wanted was the big connection between the two to be full of light. In order to do that, windows were put on every possible surface of the living room, including some in the ceiling. The sad thing for me was I had crashed in it. It was beautiful, but when you had a hangover from hell, not so much.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved the house and so did Kiera, but it was a bit much. Overindulgent. Our fathers wanted us to be together yet have our own space. We both knew they loved us and were protecting us in their own way, so we didn’t put up any resistance.
I cracked my left eye open and tried to adjust it to the light before opening the other. I squeezed the bridge of my nose as the throbbing in my head kicked up a thousand notches. I should have drunk water before I fell asleep and taken some damn medicine.
I rolled my body until I was sitting up on the couch and searched for my phone, finding it on the coffee table in front of me. Reaching for it, I glanced down at the screen, seeing six missed calls: two from Val, one from D, and three from Mom. Shit. That was never a good combination. It meant they were searching for me, and the fact that I hadn’t answered was probably sending my mother into a fit.
In my family, there really wasn’t a safe route to follow when everyone was looking for you, but I went to Mom first. She answered on the first ring like she was sitting by her phone, willing it to ring.
“Where have you been, young lady?” she scolded, just like when I was a child.
I stood up slowly and headed to the kitchen. I needed a Gatorade, food and pills. I didn’t give a shit in what order.
Opening the fridge door, I grabbed the lone bottle of purple liquid and cracked it open, gulping it down. The coolness floated down my insides.
“Asleep. What’s going on?” I grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen from the cabinet above the sink and gulped four tablets down with the Gatorade.
“You have a meeting with your dad and brothers.”
I groaned. Why so fast? What was the rush? It was definitely common for my family to pull together when something happened, but they usually gave me a day or two before putting me up against the firing squad.
“Is this about last night?” Stupid question, considering I knew the answer. I guess part of me simply wanted that slight confirmation.
“What do you think? I’m proud of you for kicking his ass,cara mia, but I think it has more to do with the conversation you had with your brother afterward.”
I grabbed some eggs and bacon, placing the bacon in the pan and scrambled up some eggs. Then I popped some bread in the toaster to sop up all the booze.
“Great. Mom, you know I’m right. They shield every move I make. That you know of, how many guys have they beat the hell out of when they showed the least bit of interest in me or paid off to leave me alone?”
“They are trying to keep you safe.” She completely ignored either question, which was her way. If she didn’t like where you were going with something, she steered the conversation in a different direction.
“I know that, but how am I ever going to meet someone? I’ll never give you grandkids. They won’t allow it.” Low blow, but Mom had groaned on and on about how she couldn’t wait for little babies running around again. I was so not ready for that, but using it just might help my case.
“That’s absurd. There just hasn’t been anyone good enough.” The seriousness in her voice didn’t soothe me. She was totally on their side in this, even with the baby thrown in. Damn.
