Page 68 of Crazed

My heart soars and dives at the same time.

I want the life he wants to give me.

But it will never be.

14

Massimo

"Spit it out, Tully,"I seethe, tired of his charades. My brothers and his sons look as equally annoyed as I am. For the last ten minutes, he's been the typical Tully, playing games and wasting our time.

Plus, I swear someone was following me on the way to the docks. I lost them on the expressway, but it's nagging me. When I got to Tully's warehouse, I told my brothers. They wanted to know who it was, but I didn't have any idea. The black SUV looked like one any of the families in New York would have, including ours. And the driver stayed far enough back that I couldn't get a good look at him.

The doorbell buzzes. Aidan glances out the peephole and opens the door.

Papà walks in with Luca in tow. He steps next to Tully and asks, "All set?"

Tully nods, lights up his cigar, takes a few puffs, then exhales. "I was about to tell our boys what they're going to be spending the day doing."

"I thought we were supposed to meet on Thursday night," Tristano points out.

Tully blows a ring of smoke in the air. "Plans change."

"Mind telling us what you're referring to? I don't have all day," Dante seethes.

"Cancel your plans. None of you are doing anything else today," Papà orders.

Aidan groans. "Dad, what's so important you're going to make all of us reschedule our day?"

Papà motions to Luca. "Tell them what you've been working on."

Luca opens a yellow envelope. He removes a stack of photographs and pins each one to the bulletin board. When he finishes, six men I've never seen stare back at us from the photos.

"Who are they?" Gianni demands.

"Your assignments," Tully replies.

Tristano mutters, "And we're back to guessing games."

"He must think we're mind readers," I add.

"Watch your mouths," Papà warns.

Luca taps each photo. "Agent Hopkins, Agent Michael, Agent Dominico, Agent Porter, Agent Rassmussen, and my personal favorite prick, Agent Baskin."

Brody crosses his arms over his chest. He locks eyes with Luca. "Do you have them in custody?"

"No. That's what all of you are doing today," Tully answers.

Dante looks at Papà. "And why are we kidnapping six federal agents?"

"All will be revealed in due time," Tully answers.

"Enough of the cryptic shit, Tully! I'm not kidnapping a federal agent without knowing why," I claim.

Papà points to me. "You'll do what we say. We run the families, not you."

I grind my molars, pissed off about the constant reminder that I'm never going to be the one in charge. It's why I didn't let anyone in my family invest in my new club. I wanted something they didn't have any control over.

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