Page 71 of Tesio
“But you were always going to have to go back to the Don?”
He shrugged, picking up the coffee nearest to him, and sniffing it warily, then he shrugged and tried a sip. It must have been too hot, because he grimaced and put it back down again.
“I looked up the Don, and two other names. Luca Vanotti and Tesio Agosti.” He winced as I spoke.
“Is… are you…”
Grease heaved a big sigh, dragging a hand down his face.
“Fuck. I’m Tesio Agosti, yeah.” Tesio. He wasn’t Grease at all. He was a mafia guy called Tesio.
“I… you’re Tesio…”
Grease shrugged. “I mean, not… not anymore, not inside. Inside, I’m Grease, and I feel like I was always someone else, stuck inside the uptight mafia prick I had to be. I was gonna tryto get out of it, to try and stay with the club, but I guess that’s all gone now.”
Because of me. If I’d just stayed out of his business, he’d have had that chance.
“I’m sorry I messed that up, Gr… Grease.”
I’d debated calling him the other name, but I knew he didn’t want to answer to that one. I could see it in him. When I’d hesitated, he flinched.
“You didn’t. I did. All I had to do was stay away from you. He kept warning me, but I was too much of an asshole, I just kept wanting you, and now I’ve probably cost you everything too. Even if we got to be together, you’d end up hating me for that.”
Laughter from the kitchen distracted me from the horror of this entire conversation. At least someone was enjoying this little interlude.
“What will happen to you?”
Grease shrugged. “I mean, if I were to show my face around the Don, I’d probably take a bullet in the head before I could even say hi. You don’t betray the Don and get to live. Ha… to think, last night, my biggest worry was him giving me just one more week before I had to return. One fucking week to pack a lifetime into, before I had to go back to hell.”
“I’m sorry. I messed up, and had to put myself on their radar to protect another officer. He was freaking out after he realised what I had him searching for.”
In trying to save Eddie, I’d potentially killed myself and Grease, or Tesio, as the Don knew him. And what about Micro and Torch? They didn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
“Are they staying here too?” I jerked my head toward the kitchen, and Grease nodded.
“They’re our backup for tonight. Chances are the Don will reach out, probably to Reacher, who’ll try and contact Micro,and I dunno… I guess we’ll figure it out. I didn’t have a plan for this. I wasn’t ready. For once, I wasn’t fully fucking prepared, and now it might kill us all.”
He dropped his head into his hands again, a frustrated growl rumbling from him.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
We fell silent afterthat chat, because what the fuck was left to say? Micro and Torch joined us, and we sipped our coffee for a few moments before Micro broke the silence.
“I’ve updated Reacher. Not on where we are, but that you guys are safe.”
Yeah, but for how long? The Don didn’t just have me with my skills, he had at least two others who could track me down, and even if he tried to draft Ice, who’d probably drag his heels and warn us first, there still wasn’t a chance in hell that he wouldn’t find us.
“I’ll head out in the morning and give myself up. Can you make sure she stays safe?”
They all spoke at once, but I slammed my fist down on the small table, and they shut up.
“I’m dead. That’s how it works. I betrayed the Don, and I attacked members of ourfamiglia. I’m fucked. Nothing we can do to fix that, but I’m not letting her die too.”
“You self sacrificing bastard!” She snapped, slamming her drink down and attempting to slap me. She hadn’t learned how fast my reflexes were yet, but I’d keep reminding her. Hell. For this one night before I died, at least.
“She’s not wrong, Grease. Look, let Reacher talk to the Don-”
“No. He’s not… he doesn’t have to speak for me. Hell, he’s not my dad talking to a bully’s dad or something. This isn’t a game. I betrayed the family, but you guys can still get out clean.”
