Page 64 of Clean Slade
“You need to go. You didn’t warn me,” King said, completely ignoring my remark.
“Neither did you, but I’m sure you don’t want to discuss this in front of your…boyfriend, I presume?” Ferraro said.
“Maybe. What’s it to you?” I answered.
Yeah, I’d lost my freaking mind. I was talking back to a crimelord. One that killed his enemies with a one hundred percent success rate.
“Fine. Come in,” King opened the door wide to let them in before he turned to me. “Would you…mind giving us a moment?”
I checked the two men and King and made sure I communicated with my eyes that no one messed with my boyfriend. Even if King wasn’t really my boyfriend. King hadn’t denied it, and I wasn’t about to do it either.
“I see you got yourself a new toy,” Tony said as I walked away slowly.
“Shut up,” King told him with a hiss.
He sounded different when he spoke to his father-in-law. The fear that was always prevalent when referring to his past was gone, sort of, and replaced by a certain strength I couldn’t quite define.
“Go now,” he told both of them.
I waited in the hallway, out of sight but well within range if things went south.
“I just want to have dinner with my granddaughter. Is that so terrible?”
“Yes. Get out—”
“Be careful…Kingston Moore! You don’t want your secret to come out, do you?”
What secret was he talking about? Was it the thing he was hiding from everyone, including his best friend? The thing he was hiding from me? And what was so awful he couldn’t entrust it to any of his inner circle.
“Fine. But you better behave, or I’ll blow both your heads off, consequences be damned.”
“Hey, look who grew some balls!” the younger guy said.
“He always had balls, Gianni. But they definitely got bigger.”
What an odd thing to say to your son-in-law. I didn’t even know why they’d have the conversation with him. King had run away with his daughter, hadn’t he? He was a strong man, no matter what they thought of him.
King let them in, and I had to rush into the living room before he brought them in and introduced them to everyone.
“This is…Tony and Nino,” he said.
“His name is Gianni,” Tony Ferraro said, but King threw daggers at him.
“To me, he’ll always be Nino.”
They must have grown up together. His girlfriend, her brother, and him. Maybe he was once a friend and confidant before he turned on him like everyone else.
“A puppy!” Mac focused on the important things in life, as usual.
“Yeah, his name is Lucky,” Nino said, and Mac turned to me.
“We met you before, didn’t we?” she asked.
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Nino didn’t look the least bit surprised that she remembered him, even though his voice had a dramatic flair which told me he was going for that effect.
“Mac, this…erm, this is your uncle and…grandfather,” King said.
Mac stopped cuddling the dog and looked up at the two men suspiciously.
