Page 4 of Fight Me Daddy

Ama's eyes focused on mine and I ground my teeth together. Ever since Six had been kidnapped, he was more on edge than ever. I understood it, but I also wasn't a miracle worker. I couldn't try to find out who was against him, work the jobs I needed to work, and get to meetings on time when I was barely sleeping anymore. I snatched up the cup of coffee and took a sip, surprised that it was still so hot.

Darla to the rescue.

"Anyone find anything about the tattoos?" Amadeo asked, his eyes flicking between each of us. "We need to find something out sooner rather than later. Whoever is behind this shit isn't playing. I'm still having problems with warehouses and businesses being robbed, fires starting, and now people are going missing. We can't have this shit."

"I know," I said with a nod. "I've been tracking down every lead and as far as I can find no one knows that tattoo. That's all we have to go on right now and I'm hitting dead ends. Anyone else got anything?"

"Nope," Riccardo offered, as silent as ever.

"I haven't found anything as well," Dario said with a shake of his head. "I've been trying to help you out, Gabe, and put out feelers, but nothing so far."

We all looked at Nic. "I have shit," he said with a shrug before he saw the glare Amadeo leveled at him. "Chill. It's not like I'm not trying, but I'm guns, remember? No one I work with has an issue with us or they wouldn't have any guns."

Amadeo pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is a matter of life and death. Six is with me now. I can't take these things lightly. We either figure out what's going on or we end up like those assholes that tried to take us out. Which would you prefer?"

Anger rolled off of Amadeo in waves. If there was even a hint of inattentiveness or anyone being laid back before, it was gone now. Each of us understood what it was to be in danger and to get our shit together so we could smooth things out.

"We're on it," I said, trying to calm him down instead of riling him up. "Just give me a little more time and I'll shake something loose."

He grunted. "Yeah. Hurry up." Amadeo leaned back in his seat and waved a hand. "What's going on with the accounts? We have to keep a closer eye on everything now. I want exact figures."

Dario pulled out his tablet. "I have our accounts, but I'm sure Gabriele, Nic, and Riccardo have their own as well. Let's get started."

My cousin was all business as he rattled off numbers to Amado. I did my best to follow, fighting the exhaustion that kept trying to grip me as I wrote things down on my tablet. Damn, I'm tired. My body craved a hot shower and a good, long nap. This shit was killing me.

As I listened, my thoughts drifted back to Calix and his gym. His father had really taken off and left everything in his lap. I’ve seen it before, but it still took me by surprise. He seemed as if he was there to make things right and keep his son safe, and yet he had left him with his massive debt.

What was he thinking?

I drummed up the image of Calix's face when he saw me and Nic. There was fear there, but something else as well. Anger, determination, resolve? I wanted to find out exactly what it was and then I wanted to make Calix break and bend for me. He was a game, a challenge. And I was stuck on him.

"Gabriele," Amadeo called. "Your turn."

I cleared my throat and tried to drag my thoughts back to what we were doing. Amadeo's expectant eyes lingered on me along with everyone else's. I put any and all feelings aside and focused on getting words out of my mouth instead of clamming up and saying fuck off and let me go back to sleep.

As I rattled off the number of debts that had been collected on and those left delinquent, Amadeo and Dario nodded the most, marking down the figures, Dario on his tablet and Amadeo on a sheet of paper.

"The last thing I have is Gonzalez and Sons gym. I doubt Calix can come up with the money, so we need to take over it. He seems like he'll sign without problem and we can have it by-"

"No," Amadeo said, shaking his head. "That's the gym Six uses to train and he likes Calix. I won't take over or get rid of it."

I blinked at Amadeo. "Are you fucking joking?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" he asked, raising a brow. "Six loves it there and I'm not going to take it away from him. We both know it's not easy to please him." Amadeo shrugged. "Find another solution."

"Like what?" I scoffed, heat sweeping over my body as I gripped my tablet so hard I thought it would break. "This is the way we always do things."

"Not this time," Ama shot back before he began to smirk. "Like I said, figure something out."

I stared at my brother like he had lost his mind. Figure something out? How was I supposed to do that when we had been following the same protocols for decades? My jaw ticked and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Amadeo, this is the way we work. We're going to-"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "My boy likes what he likes and I won't take it away from him."

I groaned so hard my throat hurt. His boy. When I first heard the two of them talking that way, calling each other Daddy and boy, I didn't know what to make of it. After looking into it, I understood their dynamic more.

But that didn't mean I wanted their shit interfering with my business.

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