Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
After speaking to my father again this morning, I knew Gabe wasn’t in any real danger. It didn’t make me feel any less uneasy that he’d been doing business with Dad, though. Giuseppe De Luca might think he had his children’s best interests at heart, but anything he was involved in came with a price, and I was sure whatever job Gabe was doing was no different. I wasn’t sure what any of it meant for Rosie. Every time I’d tried to find out who put those marks on her neck, she shot me down, and that bothered me more than I cared to admit. I thought about the conversation I overheard between her and her father and how she’d obviously told Gabe what was happening and something in my stomach twisted. I didn’t like thinking about how deep their relationship went or that he’d once been her boyfriend. I wondered if this was how Lorenzo felt when he’d been chasing Catalina, or how Gio felt when Isabel did stupid shit behind his back. I reminded myself that this was different. It was. I wasn’t in love with Rosie. I just didn’t want anyone else to have her. There was a difference.
Now I was on my way to case out her father’s businesses to see what I could get on the Costellos. It was yet another distraction I couldn’t afford, but this one could affect all of us and we needed to get to the bottom of whatever Tommy and Anthony were into. By the time Nico pulled up two blocks from the bodega where I was meeting Dean Russo and Rocco – Dean for information; Rocco for backup in case shit went south – I was practically bouncing off the walls. We’d parked a couple of blocks away because this was still Costello territory. As their namesake, Lorenzo may have been welcome once upon a time, but these days none of us really knew what would happen if we were caught lurking here. As I got out of the SUV and walked down the street where Dean was leaning against his car smoking a cigarette, I figured this was as good time as any to find out. Rocco was standing in front of him, nodding his head at whatever Dean was saying to him. They looked over when I reached them.
“Tell me you have something for me to work with.”
“Tommy’s back in town,” Dean said.
“Is he really trying to sell the club?” Rocco asked.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
“What’s up with this area now that Silvio’s gone?” I put up a finger and whirled it around.
“Everyone is still loyal to the Costellos. They revere Anthony like he’s some kind of second coming of Jesus and shit.” Dean flicked his cigarette.
Rocco looked around, jaw set as if he was trying to contain all of the thoughts running through his head. He’d made it clear that he was against starting a war, and this felt like the beginning of one. He thought that we should leave the past behind and hand Rosie over to his brother so he could put her in a safe house until further notice. I couldn’t argue that it was a bad plan, but the only way Rosie was going to a safe house with the feds was if I was bleeding out in the street. I had my men with her, and I knew we could take care of her better than anyone else. Besides, a safe house meant she’d have to stop doing ballet and that was out of the question.
“Who’s running the bodega while Santiago’s in jail?”
“He has a few kids working it, but Tommy’s the one pocketing the money.”
Dread sank slowly into my stomach as I processed that. The way we ran things in our gambling rings was fair. The owners of the bodegas or laundromats kept a large percentage of their earnings. It was the easiest way to keep things fair and ensure that no one stepped out of line. If Tommy was pocketing all of the money in his rings, it was just a matter of time before someone either slipped up or started to borrow money, which meant they’d be completely indebted to Tommy.
“Who’s running the bodegas?” Rocco asked again, trying to wrap his head around this as well. “Not the gambling ring.”
”Tommy’s in charge of both.” Dean flicked the last of his cigarette away. “Vega took the fall for him as a way to pay back some of what he owes Tommy.”
“Roselyn was working at Tommy’s club,” I said, trying to make sense of why.
“If I had to guess, she was probably there paying off some of her father’s debt.” Dean shrugged. “It makes sense, considering she never deposited one check in her bank account.”
“You went through her bank statements?” Rocco asked, sounding a little too concerned for my comfort. I shot him a look. “Dude, I’d expect you to be mad if he did it to the girl I was trying to fuck.”