*Leo*
I felt like shit lying to my girl. It felt like acid dripping from my tongue every single ti I did it. And the hits just keep coming. After a while I was going to have to start lying about everyday life. The business seed to be catching up to my fast pace. I was worried it would follow ho soon.
I didn’t want to lose her. If I start telling her the truth, I was sure that was going to happen. She didn’t want so gang banger. I thought about the way she looked when she talked about Matteo. Would she see him when I told her the truth? Would she see soone who dean and brutalize her?
I wanted her to see only , the man, not the Don. If the truth of who I was ca to light, would she see that man. Or would she only see the monster I sotis had to play. I didn’t want her knowing about jobs like the ones I had to assign Franky to deal with n like Manny, who betrayed the family.
The lies kept piling up like firewood, waiting for accelerant and flint to ignite, leaving to burn in its aftermath. She was in danger and didn’t even know it. And how was I supposed to explain it to her?
Was I supposed to say sothing like, hey, sweetheart, the man you thought was just a real estate mogul just so happened to be exactly what you thought he was a gangster. Oh, but he’s not just any ol’ G. He’s the Don. I rubbed my hands over my face and blew out a harsh breath, feeling like such an ass.
How did Bianca and I get into this ss? One minute I was picking up a girl ready to start at UCLA for the upcoming sester, thinking it would be easy to house one of Al’s family mbers. No problem, I thought. The next thing I knew I was falling into bed with her. Then, I was falling in love with her. Now, I didn’t want to lose her.
If I wasn’t already going to hell, I’d be fast tracking my way there now, that’s for sure. Okay, maybe I was being a bit dramatic. I could admit it, but I was a bastard and I knew it. I wasn’t stealing her innocence or anything like that, but because of and my life choices, she was in danger.
I didn’t want to give her up. Nor did I want to give up the life and the family business. The business had been there for most of my life. I grew up in it. I worked and lived it, and now, I was the boss of it. Still, sohow, Bianca had beco my heartbeat. Now, there was a part of that felt a pervasive dread of losing what had beco the more precious of the two, Bianca.
As usual, I had shit to do other than thinking of the woman I’d grown to love in such a short amount of ti. Though, today was going to be a pretty light day for . I was going into the real estate office for once. We really did have a big client. The staff I’d put in place while I was handling the office for Elio were more than capable of handling anyone who ca into the office whether they were celebrities or politicians. They didn’t really need .
The staff could easily wine and dine a client. They could do showings, draft contracts, and most of them had their license, so they could sign contracts as well. Occasionally, I needed to check in to make sure there was nothing that they needed to sign off on like this newest deal that was for a developnt instead of an estate or house.
So, I strolled into the office. There were docunts I needed to check for clarification. My personal assistant handed over completed docunts that needed my signature. Instead of having to read the entire docunt, she’d placed a summary of each contract and the changes that were requested and made just in front of the signature page of each one.
She was a gem, and I adored her. She made life easier for in the office especially when I had to be out of it so much. She was the wife of one of my soldiers. She knew that I was the Don. She kept our secrets. She knew only enough to keep her out of trouble with the other gangs and to keep her safe. I liked her, and I depended on her discretion and efficient running of my office while I was there and when I was gone.
“Celine, I’ll be out of the office for a few days. Is there anything I should take care of now before I’m out for so long.”
“Nothing you can’t handle remotely,” she answered, while placing another contract that needed my signature in front of .
I looked at the summary and signed.
“Is there anything I should know?” I asked, handing the signed contract back to her and reading the next set of summaries.
“No, sir. I think this is good for now. If I need you to co in, I’ll call or text. Is there sothing else you need to do today.”
I looked up from reading the next set of summaries and smiled at her. I thought about telling her to buy herself so flowers, but she’d just glare at . It would be better to have them delivered, so she can’t give that mother look she often gave that made feel like a scolded school boy and wish for her to never give that look again.
“Not that I can think of,” I said, instead.
“Good enough. Here’s the last one,” she put the docunt down in front of and I read through the summary. I flipped back through the pages she noted I might want to take a closer look at, made notes in the margins and handed it back to her.
“Not signing this one.,” I said, packing my briefcase and standing.
“I figured you wouldn’t.”
“Have it redrafted by Cedrick Callihan and fax it to the house in two days.”
She nodded and handed my jacket from the back of my chair.
“I don’t need it,” I said, trying to get by her.
“Take the damn jacket, Leo. There’s no need to leave it behind.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said like a chastised boy.
Celine always got that way. She was organized, formidable, and maternal. I loved her for it.
“Have a good week,” I said, kissing her plump cheek.
”Sure, you too,” she said, her cheeks a pretty pink as I strolled back out the office as smoothly as I’d walked in.
Now, it was ti to go et Franky for lunch. I was tired of eting in the warehouse, and Franky needed to get out of there for a bit, too. So, we planned to et at an out of the way xican bar just on the outskirts of LA.
It was a bar with personality. Well, if you liked dark corners, soft Tahana music, and people who looked smarter than you. Well, at least everybody there would mind their own business, and the food was excellent.
Franky and I sat at one of the back tables in one of those dark corners. It was quiet, and there were no wandering eyes or listening ears nearby. We had privacy, or as much as we could have in a public place. The waiter was efficient. He brought out our drinks, took our orders, and left us alone.
“Everything was shipped out as planned. The guys have been combing the city, but they haven’t found anything so far.”
I took a sip of the xican Coke I ordered. I contemplated what Frankie was telling . I was glad that the goods had been shipped off to Italy as planned. That ant no more rchandise would be either destroyed or stolen.
Franky and the crew not finding a sign of Elijah or Michael was a little disturbing. While it was nice to think that people you were up against were dumber than you, it wasn’t true this ti. While they were assholes and bringing heat down on everybody, they weren’t stupid.
They knew enough to conceal themselves. They had patsies and pawns, but they were using people they didn’t care about in those situations. The people who got caught or jailed were the dumb ones.
Michael and Elijah knew exactly what they were doing and what the plans were. They talked in front of their n, but they didn’t talk about their plans in depth. All of a sudden everybody was deaf, dumb, and blind. I was tired of them drinking the sa Kool-Aid. I wanted sobody to slip up and hear, see, or say sothing useful
Then, there was what we’d found at Manuel’s place. We went to clean out his apartnt. It was standard operating procedure when we had to do for soone what we’d done for Manny. The thing was that his computer had been wiped as if it had self-destructed on command. The mory of the entire unit was destroyed.
“I’m trying to get to the bottom of this ss, but it’s going to take so ti to figure out what exactly happened with Manny’s computer.”
“Damn it, Franky,” I hissed. “We don’t have a while. We only have a couple days for this shit to be over.”
“I know we need to make it safe for everybody, Leo,” Franky said as if trying to remind without saying it that Bianca wasn’t the only person we were responsible for.
I just stared at him. He didn’t flinch.
I can’t be away from the house tonight. Bianca is already getting suspicious. For Christ’s sake, she was following like I wouldn’t notice her not that long ago. I’m getting in way too deep with Bianca. I’m risking too much with her, and I’d have an obligation to her whether I wasn’t in this ss with her or not, and you know that.” I said, thrusting my fingers through my hair.
“I get it. You don’t want to put her in any more danger than she already is. I’ll go do what it takes tonight. Get ho and keep the both of you safe.”
“Thanks, man, I can always count on you.”
“I got your back. Just don’t forget to watch your own six when I can’t.”
I nodded, threw so cash that would cover the als and drinks on the table and rushed to get ho on ti for once.
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