Page 155 of Forbidden Romeo

The two lackeys stood up straighter, their beefy hands hovering in front of their open jackets.

Jimmy just smiled, creasing the skin around his dark, beady eyes. “A bit arrogant of you, don’t you think, Dom?”

The guy was just asking to die. “My family and my friends call me Dom. You’re neither.”

“My apologies, Mister Luca.” An insincere apology if ever I’d heard one. No fucking respect.

“The money, Jimmy. Now.”

“Of course.” He tossed the briefcase, and it landed just inches from my shoes, forcing Bullet to scamper out of its way.

Leo leaned down to pick it up.

“Don’t bother, Leo,” I told him, keeping my eyes on Jimmy.

“What’s the problem, Mister Luca?”Theproblem was that a briefcase holding twenty-five thousand $100 bills—the exact price of the merchandise in the two trucks in the warehouse—weighed about fifty pounds. By the light thud this briefcase made when it hit the ground, it weighed about fifteen. “You’re a little light, Jimmy,” I said, kicking the shitty leather case back at him.

“Am I?” He smirked, stopping the case with his worn black loafer.

“I’d say about one-point-five million light.”

His beady eyes widened in surprise, but he recovered quickly. “I’ve got a message for you from Mr. Belemonte himself. Word around town is you’ve been planning to encroach on our territory.” Jimmy swung his arms out, gesturing around the docks. “Did you think he wouldn’t notice?”

“You heard wrong. I have no interest in your pathetic back alleys. Belemonte knows what we’ve got our eyes on. Looks like you’re trying to fuck that up,” I said, nodding toward the briefcase.

“A bit ballsy, don’t you think? Passing up my fine offer when we’ve got a lot more guns here than you do?”

I laughed. “Is that supposed to scare me, Jimmy?”

The men behind him drew their guns.

I shook my head. “Not smart, Jimmy. Betraying a Luca is a big mistake. I’d think twice if I were you.”

He scoffed. “You’ll be dead before you can run to Daddy and tell him the news.”

“What the hell happened to you, Jimmy?” Leo said, with a look in my direction and a slight nod. It was time. Leo was just stalling with his little speech. “You’ll pay for this, man, you know that, don’t you? You can’t fuck with the Lucas and keep breathing air. We just can’t let that happen. Walk away now, Jimmy. Tell your boss to hand over what he promised, and this doesn’t have to happen.”

I’d underestimated my little brother. He might be new to fieldwork, but he was a good talker, and even I could barely see the way he was moving into position while he spoke. Well done.

“I ain’t got no beef with you, Leo, but things are the way they are. You got five seconds, and then nobody in front of me is walking away today.”

The glint in his eyes told me all I needed to know. We were done. No more talking.

“Now!” I barked at Leo.

We fired two shots before Jimmy could even pull the trigger—one in each of his kneecaps. Because no one who fucked with the Lucas died easy.

Jimmy screamed as his legs collapsed out from under him. The gun fell from his fingers and clattered across the floor.

“Call off your goons, Jimmy.”

“Kill the motherfuckers!” Jimmy shouted.

But he wasn’t fast enough.

I fired at the lackeys, making them duck for cover as Leo did hightailed it behind the car.

Two seconds later, he laid down cover fire, and I dashed back to join him. Bullets zipped past me, not one of them hitting their mark.

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