Page 15 of Tainted Princess
“So, what’s this big score, and how is it gonna wind up in my lap?” As Amber’s lips started making their way over my neck, I stared at my hand holding the glass. My swollen knuckles were split and there was blood on my fingers, but whether it was mine or Harry’s, I couldn’t tell.
“I have a way for you to join the Outfit, my boy.”
That had me paying attention. Sitting up straighter, I pushed Amber off me and ignored her pout, watching as she left the booth, swaying her hips to try and entice me while she made her way out of the bar and to the office. She was so sure I’d follow, and two minutes ago, I was too. But my dick had no interest in her now that my father had dropped this bomb.
“What do you mean, join the Outfit? I thought there was no way?” One of the things about being a bastard was it meant that no matter how much my father loved me, there was no way for me to follow in his footsteps. Bullshit rules, if you asked me. Most of those fuckheads had kids who wouldn’t know their asshole from their elbow, but I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. If Giuseppe had a way, I was all ears.
“Just what I said, boy. There has been a major shakeup these last months. Things are in motion that we haven’t seen before. And when things are in flux, there is always room for someone to take advantage. I simply saw an opening and I took it.”
A major shake up was an understatement. I had seen the papers; the Underboss of the Family going away for thirty-five years was more of a fault line earthquake, but what the fuck did I know?
“Okay, Pops,” I said, finishing off my glass and pouring another. “How about you start at the beginning?”
“Don Carlo is desperate. After the fed was found in his own house, the Commission doesn’t trust him. He’s got his head on the chopping block and everyone knows it.”
“What do I have to do?” I had wanted to serve under my father, like all good mafia sons do, since I had turned fourteen and learned just what it was he did for a living. Growing up in Las Vegas, the influence of the Mob was everywhere, even if the actual mobsters were nowhere to be found these days. The very bones of this city were built on the backs of men whose blood flowed through my veins. I had done my best to emulate their example and uphold my own legacy, even if I was the only one willing to recognize it. I had my fingers in so many pies out here in the desert, I was practically a fucking baker.
“The Don is willing to open the books for you, Enzo.” Holy shit, that would be huge. It would also be completely against protocol to let a bastard like me in. “He’s going to make you aCapoand give you an official seat at his table. All you have to do is make your bones, and…” He hesitated. That wasn’t good.
“And what, Pop?” The hit I could do. It wouldn’t be the first life I had taken, and it sure as fuck wouldn’t be my last. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Enzo, there is one other thing you need to do, and I’m sorry. If there were any other way, I promise you, I’d have taken it.”
“Christ, Pop. You’re making it sound like I gotta cut off my dick or something.” I let out a laugh that was more than a bit nervous.
“Not quite, Enzo. But close.”
Forgoing the glass, I wrapped my hand around the neck of the bottle and took a swig. “How fuckin’ close are we talkin’?” I was rather fond of my dick.
“Don Carlo, he has a granddaughter.”
“The one who was fuckin’ the fed?”
“The very same. The Commission wanted her head. Don Carlo managed to talk them down, but not far. She is the last part of the deal, Enzo.”
“Fuck, Pop. I ain’t ever whacked a woman before.”
“No, Enzo. You don’t need to kill her,” my father said solemnly. “You have to marry her.”
I choked on the tequila, spraying my mouthful across the table in front of me. The back of my nose burned as if I had inhaled gasoline, and I coughed and sputtered like fuckin’ Harry in the basement not ten minutes ago.
“I’m sorry. What the fuck did you say?”
“You heard me, Enzo.” Giuseppe was not messing around now, and his voice was letting me know he was as serious as the heart attack I had just about had. “This is the only way. Carlo wants to save his granddaughter’s life, and you’re going to do it for him. None of the other Made Men had the balls to step up and claim her, so I offered your services.”
“Shit, Pop. Marriage? What the fuck am I gonna do with a wife?”
“The same thing we all do, Enzo. Fuck her a few times a month and keep her in pretty things. This doesn’t have to change a thing about your life, except for having some steady pussy.”
I wasn’t sure it’d be quite that easy, but my brain was swirling with so many thoughts, I couldn’t find one to grasp on to. How the fuck was I gonna swing this?
“Don Carlo wants you in New York as soon as possible. He’s set the wedding for Saturday.”
“ThisSaturday?” Holy shit. “And I’m just supposed to pack up and be ready to move to New York by Saturday.”
“That’s the best part, Enzo. Don Carlo wants you to stay in Las Vegas. You keep your life exactly as it is, plus you get the backing ofLa Famigliato help you out. It’s the best we could have hoped for, son.”
He sounded so pleased, and I could see why he would be. It was everything he had ever wanted. I was older than his two daughters, Lisa and Nina, and I was the only chance he had for a legacy in the Organization. But, while I was tempted by the offer, the added burden of a woman to tie me down was making me think twice.
