Page 11 of Alessio

“Sounds good to me.” Maybe this will get my mind off June and her instant attraction to my best friend. Smirking, I follow Enrico out to the vehicle. “I’ll drive to the restaurant while you ride in the back.” Enrico will be hidden from view so Coleman will believe I’m alone. With only one of us, he’ll be less likely to run.

I turn on the engine just as Dario steps outside. He walks up to us and then slides in beside me onto the passenger seat.

“I’ll be joining you tonight.” He reads my expression, which I’m not quick to hide. “You don’t approve?”

“No, of course not, but it’s not dark yet. We’ll be noticed, and you’ll be seen.” If Coleman sees Dario, he’ll run.

“Don’t worry about me.” He smirks, turning forward in the front passenger seat as we drive. Since it’s after rush hour, the ride is shorter than normal. We have a second car that lingers in the back should we need reinforcements, which is highly unlikely. The one thing about Coleman is that he’s on the verge of making enemies everywhere.

We pull up to the diner and it’s not as busy, which works in our favor, and we spot the prick’s car. Dario calls Luca, the driver behind us, and says, “Block his car in.”

“Let’s have a seat and enjoy a cup of coffee,” Dario says, stepping out of the vehicle.

We all follow behind, keeping an eye on our surroundings just in case the fucker made a deal with one of our enemies. The door chimes, getting the attention of several customers and the two servers at the counter. We take a table at the back of the diner and wait to be served. One of the women looks extremely familiar, but I’m not sure where I’ve seen her before. Her hair is light brown, but I don’t get to see her face again because she gets called by another customer, so the other waitress grabs our table.

Dario continues to watch the other waitress, but he doesn’t say anything to or about her as we order our coffee.

“We need three coffees, black,” I say when Dario doesn’t answer.

“That’s all?”

“Yes, miss,” Enrico tells her.

Dario’s still watching the other woman. It’s actually a bit amusing—I should inform June that Dario has a woman. “You should have demanded the other one serve us,” Enrico says.

“No, it’s better this way.”

“Hmm…” I smirk.

“What’s that, Alessio?” Dario says, daring me to say something.

“Nothing.”

We get our coffee, but we’re not giving two fucks about coffee. Our reason for being here just came out of the back. Richie nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees us. The color of his face drains, but he approaches before we make a scene in his establishment.

“May we have a word?” Dario asks politely, but it’s clear that he has no intention of accepting anything less than a positive response.

“Yes, gentlemen. In my office.” We stand and walk with him to his office.

Our conversation will be brief.

“Do you have my money, Coleman?” Dario asks, crowding his space.

“It’s not that simple.”

“It’s fairly fucking simple. Yes or no.” Dario’s getting a little carried away all of a sudden, especially since we have a bunch of witnesses outside.

“No, but…” Dari grabs his face roughly, squeezing it like he wants to pop off his head.

“Should I kill you right here, right now?” I sure as fuck hope he doesn’t do something that impulsive.

“No,” Coleman chokes out.

“See how easy of an answer that was?” Dario releases the coward, sending him falling backward.

“Come on, boys. We’ll leave Mr. Coleman here to clean up his pants.”

We exit the building and wait in our vehicle down the road. It’s not long until he sneaks off, trying to get away. Our guys outside had put a tracker on Coleman’s vehicle while we were in the restaurant so we’d know if he tries to run, which is what just happened.

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