Page 2 of Secret Mafia Daddy

“Good to hear from you too, Nico,” I drawl, and he snorts.

“Sorry, it’s just I can’t do my job right now and it frustrates me that you have to pick up the slack,” he admits.

“Don’t worry about it. You have good reason,” I say, thinking of the time I brought him home bleeding and dying and the little one he has now. So, I have no problem ‘picking up the slack’ as he calls it, even if it has to be in New York, because we both owe a lot to Dante and I know that Nico is worried about this guy.

“So, any news?”

“I’ve located him and I’ve been tracking him,” I state. “I’ve also been hanging around that club he goes to, The Angel?”

“Your kind of place,” Nico cracks, making a joke about my name.

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter. “I’m getting a real insight on his routine. A week or two more and it will be done.”

“Have you approached him yet?” Nico asks.

“No,” I say firmly. “I’m keeping my eye on him but keeping a low profile. I want to catch him off guard.”

“All right, fair enough,” Nico mutters. “Let us know how it goes.”

He hangs up and I throw my phone in the bed.

I’m happy to have a job. It’s been a while since Dante’s asked me for help, and it’s always a blast when he does. I love the way the adrenaline makes me feel, high even when I’m sober, like everything’s moving too fast but it feels good in a way that’s hard to replicate. It also helps me quiet my mind of what has no business being there.

Booze can do it in a pinch, but I rather work and keep my head on my shoulders. Booze is dangerous because you lose some control of your faculties and in my line of work that can be fatal.

Women help with the not thinking too, but not as much lately. Especially since Dante and Nico became tamed men, giving my head ideas it has no business having.

I groan and then hiss as the water hits my back. That brunette has torn me up pretty good. I embrace the pinch and try to remember last night, but nothing comes, and I’m not sure how to feel about that. Shouldn’t I at least remember something about her other than her hair color?

I pull myself from this line of thought, reminding myself I have a job to do. A big job. Dante and Nico are counting on me to get this done.

Technically, I could be a guy like Dante, who hires others to do their dirty work. I sure have the pedigree and money for it. But that would mean having some sort of contact with my father. And I sure as hell don’t want that.

I hate him and don’t think about him, so I won’t do it now either. I have to focus on what I’m here to do.

Dante needs me to nix this guy. He has a wife and a daughter now and he can’t be in any kind of danger.

The guy is almost like a fucking ghost. He’d been in the wind ever since he stole from Dante, and it’s not exactly like New York City is a small town. I know this city like the back of my hand and I know the places that wiseguys frequent. I staked out all of them, several times, until I lucked out.

I overheard him say he is going to The Angel tonight, so, I’m going too, and this time, I’m not going to pick up a cute little brunette, or blonde, or redhead… This is not a fucking social outing, this is business and I have a man to watch. I have to learn all about him in order to do my damn job properly. The sooner I’m done, the faster I get out of this godforsaken town.

I dress in a black, silk shirt and a pair of gray slacks, slicking back my long hair. I don’t keep it short the way a lot of wiseguys do and it’s almost long enough to put in a little ponytail, but I like to keep it loose.

I look in the mirror and smile. I look good. Not that it matters tonight, but it feels good nonetheless.

Once again, my mind runs away from me, and I find myself wondering if I’m the kind of man that could one day have a wife and kids. The picture painted inside my head makes my heart swell and hurt at the same time. Because I know I would if I could, but I also know it’s probably not in the cards for me.

I’ve been through a lot. So much pain withheld and witnessed that the thought alone almost makes me want to run the other way. But the thought of finding someone that fits me perfectly, like Dante and Nico have, makes my chest hurt at the void that lives there now. Damn Dante and Nico for putting ideas in my head by being happily tamed.

I draw in a breath and walk to The Angel since it’s just a couple of blocks from where I’m staying.

It’s almost ten at night. Since I knew where he’d be tonight, I took the day for myself. I was up all night with the brunette and slept all day. Luckily, Claudio Abato is a bit of a night owl himself, so I knew he wouldn’t miss much.

I can relate.

When I walk into the bar, the lights are flashing, the music booming, and it gets my heart speeding up along with the beat. I start to feel better. I look around the club. My eyes scan across the group of people to try and find Abato’s face.

He has a scar on his eyebrow, a pretty distinctive one that runs up to his hairline, so I’m looking for it. Instead, my eyes land on a pair of silver eyes that make my heart jump up into my throat.

---