Page 162 of Carnal

"Do you think you could come in here and not smoke that shit in front of me?" I hurl, pissed off. Tully has no business being here right now.

Papà barks, "Do not disrespect Tully!"

I glare at Tully, shaking my head.

He chuckles. "Well, you'll be happy when I tell you what I've done."

My gut drops. I snarl, "What have you done?"

Arrogance washes over his expression. "Oh, I made a little phone call to our friends at the police station."

"You did what?" I hurl. The last thing I need is the police and Tully interfering. I add, "Why the hell would you ask the police to come?"

He takes another puff and then blows a circle above his head. "You guys need a diversion. I've instructed the captain to have his men come inside the front."

"Why in God's name would you do that?" I fume.

Papà states, "Tristano, take a breather."

I shoot him a dirty look then refocus on Tully.

He declares, "They'll take the attention off the kitchen and attempt to arrest Biagio."

"For what?" Luca asks.

Tully's lips curl and his eyes light up. "Murder."

"No! You're going to put Pina in more danger. You could get her killed."

"Calm down, calm down," he orders.

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

Tully steps closer. "Either they'll arrest Biagio, and Pina will be left on her own, or he'll try to flee with her toward the back. Either way, it's a win-win."

More rage fills me. "I don't want them to arrest Biagio. I want him in our custody, held hostage in our dungeon while I torture the motherfucker until he dies."

"If he gets arrested, we'll just have to pick him up another time," Tully says nonchalantly. He shakes his head and looks at Papà. "Angelo, tell him I know what I'm talking about."

I hurl, "What, so I can owe you another favor? Well, guess what? I'm sick of your favors. I'll be damned if you use Pina's situation to get ahead."

He holds his hands in the air, claiming, "There are no favors here."

I grunt. "Sure there aren't. You're just going to do this out of the kindness of your heart. Stop playing me for a fool, Tully. There's always favors with you."

He shakes his head. "Not this time, kid. The Abruzzos crossed another line when they kidnapped Pina. So I'm going to help you get her out of there. And I promise there are no favors owed on this."

I still don't trust him. I look at Papà. "You should have consulted me. We don't need him involved in this."

Papà hesitates, glancing between the three of us. He finally states, "There will be a lot of Abruzzos there."

"No shit. Luca and I have this handled."

Luca steps between us. "Tristano, it's a good idea. Let's just let them do it."

"What do you mean let them do it? Since when do we need the police to interfere? Are you on my side or his?" I bark.

Luca glares at me. "Tristano, stop being a bitch. Now, come on. It's a good idea. Tully's right. It'll create a diversion away from where we need to enter the premises."

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