Page 37 of Labria

“You’re stalling and that’s a breach of contract.”

“Do you want to be choked out at this table in front of all these people?”

He was sitting there thinking about it. “You choking me? Could be fun. I’m not opposed to it.”

“You just don’t give up.”

“Agree to call me and make me your rebound. Then we can talk business.”

“Fine. On this day at this time at this restaurant, I enter into a verbal contract with the nagging persuasive Maurizio Bregoli to call him first and give him the first chance at being my certified rebound.”

“That works for me. Lift your glass.”

Zio lifted his wineglass and waited for me to do the same with my lemonade glass.

“What are you toasting to?”

“The contract. To one day get off the bench and getting to play in the game.”

I rolled my inner eyes because this man was nuts. He was also entertaining and a bit charming. I couldn’t deny that.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“Ha, well—‘”

“Wait, don’t answer that. You hired SPJ becauseeeeee—‘” I hang on this the last word hoping he would get back to business.

“Yes, I have a property I want to put in a trust.”

Finally, we could talk about something that wouldn’t make my armpits sweat.

The course of our conversation turned to business. We ate, and we talked and if I were picking my favorite Bregoli, Maurizio would definitely be my second favorite. Alexis was my favorite Bregoli, even though she hadn’t adopted the name.

I appreciated Zio. He was a true distraction from what I had in store when Lord finally decided to either talk to me or come home. I had gone two hours without thinking about our communication problems.

Chapter Twelve

LORDES

It was hours later when Nicco decided to go to room 2112 to interrogate the person believed to be Marie Ignacio. I learned that this was a torture technique widely used by this organization. After a few hours of not knowing your fate, a panic sets into the core of the kidnapped or detained person.

Hours of siting idle plays tricks on people. Marie was undeniably going stir crazy. She was tied to a chair for about six hours. That was long enough for her to realize this was real. Long enough for her to understand she didn’t have any options but to comply. It also was a sufficient time for whatever Jamal used to drug her to wear off.

Jamal had gone above and beyond. Since he killed Fredo’s son back in Chicago, I hadn’t thought of him as anything more than just a young hitman. He was more than that. Jamal was able to discreetly obtain information that we weren’t able to get with our plethora of resources.

Like a team, we all entered the room together. Nicco was taking point and Cenzo and I would just be silent witnesses. Jamal was sent on his way. He was rewarded with a room in the hotel. I’m sure Nicco or Cenzo made sure he had some cash. He drove across the country with a woman in the trunk of his rental car. Nicco had been giving money out all afternoon, so I’m sure Jamal got a sizeable amount of money.

The woman was sitting in complete darkness until Lefty turned on the lights. She was in the middle of a furniture-less bedroom, sitting in the lone chair in the center of the room. The floor was carpeted in plastic for easy cleanup and disposal of a body. I wondered who set the room up. There was so much I didn’t know.

There was a black pillowcase over her head so I couldn’t see her face, but Cenzo had confirmed that she looked like the pictures of Marie we had gathered from the private investigator that worked strictly for us.

Cenzo walked over to the chair that housed the woman. He pulled the pillowcase off of the woman’s head and tossed it to the floor. Her eyelids blinked rapidly to adjust to the bright light that instantly surrounded her. The duct tape on her mouth made it impossible for her to speak. It seemed she wasn’t trying to say anything to Nicco as she glared at all us.

Nicco paced only inches in front of her while Cenzo and I leaned against the wall directly in front of her chair. There was something so melodramatic about the way they approached things. This was second nature to these guys. The realization that I fit in well with this theatrical way of conducting business wasn’t lost on me. It was really similar to how I called women to my office just to break up with them and toss them a check. I wasn’t raised with these brothers, but we were definitely related.

Nicco stopped pacing to stand directly in front of the woman. Her dark eyes peered up at him. She was mentally getting ready for something. She just didn’t know what.

Nicco hitched one pant leg up and bent down on one knee in front of her so they could be on the same level. “Lady, I’m going to remove the tape from your mouth. I’m not going to tell you to not scream because I know you’re not stupid. I’m going to ask you questions and you’re not going to pretend you don’t speak English because you’re not stupid. I know you will answer every question honestly because you can guess what will happen if you don’t.” Nicco reaches into the small of his back and produces a gun that he calmly places it on the plastic sheeting underneath him. “Nod your head if you understand.”

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