Luca: The Boston Syndicate, Book Two, page 9
I throw my head back in laughter. “I know. Let’s not be here when they get back.”
“Agreed,” she replies.
I turn toward where I last saw Luca standing and find the spot empty.
Jesus, for someone tasked with my protection, he’s doing a bang-up job already.
Bianca and I dance for another song sans the leeches that were attached to us, and Luca isn’t back yet. “Let’s go get another drink,” I suggest.
We get our cocktails, and as I turn toward the dance floor again, Luca comes from the direction of the bathrooms.
“We’re leaving,” he says when he approaches.
“Uh, no. We’re not. Bianca and I are waiting for a couple guys to come back from the bathroom.”
His eyes darken as he takes the drink from my hand and places it on the bar. “They aren’t coming back.” Luca turns to Bianca. “I’ve called you a car to take you home since you’ve been drinking.”
“Um, yeah.” Her eyes dart between Luca and me. “Okay, thanks.”
She never could stand up to him even when he was being an unreasonable Neanderthal.
“We’ll walk you out,” Luca tells her and holds his arm out, signaling for us to walk in front of him to the exit.
I give him a hard glare before turning my head toward where he came from and see the guy I was dancing with tumbling into the crowd with blood all over his crisp white button-down, holding his bloody nose.
My head whips to my asshole bodyguard. “Seriously, Luca?”
“Let’s go, Giada. Now.” His tone leaves no room for argument and since Bianca is already on her way out, I decide to follow rather than cause a scene.
When we get outside, the chilly night air cools my heated skin. Luca takes one look at me and takes his jacket off to cover me.
“I’m fine,” I grit out as he hands the valet his ticket.
He walks back over and leans in close, his lips nearly brushing my ear when he whispers, “That may be, but I’d rather not every person in downtown Boston see the shape of your hard nipples in that dress.”
I quickly look down and see my nipples poking through the dress that I’m not wearing a bra with before closing the jacket around myself.
“Thank you,” I reply with a tight voice.
Bianca’s car pulls up to the curb just before the valet returns with ours.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I tell my friend and unwitting partner in this little scheme to make Luca’s time guarding me as painful as possible before leaning in for a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she says, returning the embrace. “It’ll be like old times with both of us home.” When she pulls away, I give her a grateful smile. It will be nice to have someone to hang out with now that I’m back in the States for the next several months.
With Bianca safely in the car and on the way to her parents’ house, Luca directs me to ours and opens the door for me.
“Such a gentleman,” I say with a sarcastic bite.
“Get in the damn car.”
The second my feet are inside, he slams the door and stalks to the other side, opening his door and getting in. He puts the car in drive with an angry tug on the gear shifter and pulls out in traffic to take us back to my house. With his hands on the wheel, it’s then I notice the slightly swollen red knuckles across his fist and my anger spikes.
“What the hell is with you punching that guy? Just because he was dancing with me? That’s taking it a little far, even for you.” Honestly, I don’t know what would be considered too far for him since I haven’t been around him in years.
Luca shakes his head and lets out an exasperated sigh. “I swear to Christ, Giada. I don’t know how you do it, but you manage to find yourself surrounded by the worst possible men.”
“Present company included.”
Luca tilts his head side to side and cracks his neck but doesn’t comment.
“We were just dancing.” I let out a very mature huff of annoyance.
“What you think you were doing and what those assholes thought you were doing were two entirely different things.”
“Did you ask them before you decided to act like a caveman and break that guy’s nose?”
“I didn’t have to ask him shit, Giada. When they were in the bathroom, they were practically high-fiving each other, convinced that they were going to take you and Bianca home, regardless of whether or not you came consciously. At least that's what it sounded like they were saying. It was hard to tell between the lines of coke they were snorting up their noses off the fucking bathroom counter.”
I take a breath and stare out the window. It was a dumb idea to go to that club. The place is notorious for assholes like that hanging out and girls getting way more fucked up than the couple of drinks they remember consuming would be responsible for. But I knew Luca would be miserable standing there all night among the sweaty gym rats looking for a quick lay.
There isn’t anything for me to say. He’s right, but I’m far too stubborn to admit that to him.
The next twenty minutes are spent in silence on the way back to my house. When we pull into the long driveway, we’re confronted by a sea of police cruisers, some unmarked but all with their bright red and blue lights flashing.
“Luca,” I choke out, my panicked gaze colliding with his.
He parks behind one of the unmarked cars and turns to me. “Stay here.”
Just as he gets out of the car, several figures emerge from under the portico. I slowly emerge from the vehicle, my eyes never leaving the man the police have in handcuffs.
My father.
I look at Luca, whose jaw is tight, as my father is led to one of the cars, a hand going to his head before being shoved into the cruiser.
Luca turns to me, my eyes wide with disbelief. In all the years I’ve been alive, my father has never been arrested at our home. I hold Luca’s stare as thoughts race through my head. What are we supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? Does Carlo know our father is on his way to jail?
The moment that last thought crosses my frazzled mind, I see my brother standing on the steps that lead into the house, a small smile ghosting his lips. I know that smile, remember it quite well from our childhood, and I know damn well it doesn’t mean anything good.
Before anyone can stop me, I’m running toward my brother. A few officers shout, but I pay them no mind.
“Carlo, What the hell is going on?”
My brother gives me his signature bland look. The good thing about being in Italy nearly half the year is I don’t have to deal with the asshole standing in front of me.
“Oh, you’re back.”
“Yes Carlo,” I begin with a bite to my voice. “I got back this morning. Are you going to tell me why our father is being shoved into a police cruiser?”
“I would think it’s obvious, Giada. He’s being arrested.” He looks back toward the driveway where the cars are pulling out as though the fact that I’m standing here hardly registers in his thick skull.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Carlo. I’m not an idiot. Where are they taking him? Have you called his lawyers?”
He lets out an annoyed sigh and looks behind me. I turn briefly and find Luca at my back, his gaze flicking between Carlo and me. “You couldn’t have kept her in the car?” he asks my bodyguard.
“She ran off before I could stop her. Do we know anything?”
“They’re taking him to the station. The feds showed up about thirty minutes ago with a warrant. I’ll know more when I talk to his lawyers.”
The fact that Carlo is answering Luca’s questions and treats me like an annoying fly buzzing around sends rage coursing through my body.
“Talk to me, Carlo. Tell me what’s going on. I’m his daughter, goddamnit.”
He finally looks back at me. There’s still annoyance in his cold gaze, but something else, too. Something darker. “What’s going on is our father has been arrested, most likely never to see freedom again. What that means for you is I’m now in charge of the family. What I say goes, and right now, you need to go to your room and stay there until you can calm the hell down. I don’t need your grating voice in my ear.”
He turns and walks back into the house, effectively dismissing me like he always did when we were growing up. To say Carlo and I have a strained relationship is putting it mildly. Even when I was a kid, he never had patience for me, often screaming at me to get out of his way or physically pushing me away. I never understood why he seemed to hate me, but there was never a time when he didn’t treat me like the gum on the bottom of his shoe. Now, he expects me to ask how high when he tells me to jump?
Well, screw that and screw him. I refuse to lie down and let my brother dictate my future.
Chapter eight
Luca
Giada is left standing under the portico after her brother unceremoniously dismisses her by turning his back and walking away. If the furious look in her eyes is anything to go by, I’d say Carlo is pretty damn lucky there are no sharp objects within his sister’s reach. She looks about five seconds away from stabbing him in the back.
“Maybe you should let me take you up to your room,” I offer.
Her angry gaze swings to me. “Well, looks like you have a new master to bow to, Luca. Please don’t let me keep you waiting. Run along after my brother.” She waves her hand in the direction of where her brother walked off.
Why the hell I thought this girl was going to accept any form of help from me is anyone’s guess. When I saw her face as they were putting her father into the police cruiser, the devastation written in her amber eyes, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy. I know damn well what it’s like to have your world turned upside down. Different circumstances, sure, but for a brief moment I saw a side of Giada I’d never witnessed before and I wanted to help, to be here for her. I certainly won’t make that mistake again.
“Whatever, princess. Have it your way.”
Turning on my heels, I leave her standing outside and go in search of Carlo. I find him sitting in his office with a glass of scotch in his hand and his phone to his ear. He motions for me to have a seat while he listens to the person on the other end, humming his agreement a few times before thanking whoever he’s talking to and disconnecting the call.
“Scotch?” he offers as though this is simply a friendly little chat and we didn’t just witness his father being hauled away in handcuffs. I’m not particularly surprised. I’ve come to know Carlo as an ice-cold asshole. I don’t know if the man feels any emotion whatsoever or if there’s just a black hole in the center of his chest that craves to be filled with power and other people’s pain. It seems to me the latter rings true for most, if not all, days.
Playing along with his relaxed attitude, I nod and he pours another drink from the bottle sitting on his desk.
“Is my sister in her room?”
“Yeah.” At least, that’s where I’m assuming she stormed off to.
“There’s going to be some changes around here happening a hell of a lot sooner than I planned,” Carlo tells me while taking a drink of his scotch.
“I’ll say. Did the lawyer give you any insight?”
“Nah. He won’t know much more than what the warrant says until the arraignment on Monday. It’s a hell of a thing. I was hoping we still had some sway in the US attorney’s office. We should have known something.”
The fact they had any sway at all is news to me. Though not surprising. Considering all the shit Francesco’s been responsible for, I’m shocked the man wasn’t put away years ago.
“Giada being here is gonna be a headache,” Carlo tells me. “Too bad the old man didn’t marry her off years ago. Now I’ll have to deal with that shit, and let me tell you, finding anyone that wants to take her on is going to be a pain in my ass. Who’s going to want a wife with a father in jail and what looks to be a crumbling organization?” The way he sighs and looks into his glass of scotch, as though somehow the liquid will hold the answers to his question, is laughable. He truly expects me to sit here and feel sorry for him that he’s going to be the one to deal with it.
“No matter,” he says, straightening. “When we have more details after Monday, I’ll see if I can persuade the attorney in the case to lose some evidence. Shouldn’t be too hard. Usually, a little threatening goes a long way with those guys. Fucking pricks.” He sips his drink again, and I take a healthy swallow of my own.
“What do you need from me?” I ask.
Carlo tilts his head back and forth, considering my question. “I want you to keep an eye on Giada. Make sure she doesn’t get herself into trouble.”
“Any trouble in particular you’re concerned with?”
He shrugs. “She’s too headstrong. Did you see the way she demanded answers from me? She would’ve never dared with our father, especially with cops all over the place. I need her to stay out of my way. If the wrong people see her mouthing off to me, they’re going to think I’m not fit to lead if I can’t even handle my own sister. The truth is, Luca, my father wasn’t going to be head of the organization for much longer as it was. This moves up the timeline and actually may work in our favor when all is said and done.”
“I didn’t know the boss was retiring.”
Looking like the cat that ate the canary, Carlo leans in with a grin on his face. “My father is dying, Luca. No one knows except me, him, and his doctors. So if he gets convicted, the feds will think that’s the end of the Cataldi organization. And he won’t be in prison long before the cancer finishes him off. If he doesn’t get convicted, then he’s dead in the next year anyways. And the feds will think the same thing, at least for the next few years. He’s always been the face of the family, and they’ll assume we’ll be in shambles. It buys us time for me to take the organization in the direction I’ve been working on without raising any red flags with the law.”
There’s no way to hide the surprised look on my face at Carlo’s admission. The old man is dying. It also makes sense now why Carlo isn’t worried about him being in prison. He knew he was going to be taking over sooner rather than later. Too bad it won’t be my bullet that wipes his father from this earth.
“I had no idea he was sick.”
“No one did.”
“Not even Giada?”
“He was going to tell her after he secured a marriage contract, though that plan has been put on hold until we see what side he falls on after his trial. There are a few things up in the air until we see whether or not he beats the charges.”
I consider everything Carlo’s just told me, but he seems to take my silence as disappointment that I’m not more involved.
“Don’t worry, Luca. I’ll make sure to bring you in once everything is set up. We’re doing this how my dad wants, for now, so keep your mouth shut about the cancer, yeah?”
“Of course, Carlo. My lips are sealed.”
He nods and finishes his scotch. “Think I’ll head out for a while. Work off some of this stress.” His lascivious grin tells me he’s going to visit one of the brothels. “I’d like for you to stay on the property until shit gets sorted. It’ll make it easier for you to keep an eye on Giada. If she needs to leave the estate, I want you on her at all times.”
“Is there some sort of threat we should be worried about?”
“Not yet. But the last thing I need is the feds trying to talk to her or another organization vying for power and trying to use my sister to do it.”
That would certainly ruin his plans to do the same shit. I suppose, in his mind, he has the right since she’s now going to be his property, along with everything else his father is sure to give him control over.
Taking that control may be a bit more difficult than Carlo realizes. Part of my job for my cousin is to keep my eyes and ears peeled for anything he can use. I’ve heard the whispers from other capos about Carlo. I’ve seen the eye rolls behind his back. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on the other capos wanting to take over in the power vacuum that’s sure to come with Francesco no longer heading the organization. They’d never dare with the old man at the helm, but Carlo? Yeah, I’m damn sure he’s in for a fight.
“Alright. I’ll head over in the morning and grab a few things before Giada gets up.”
I stand to leave, but Carlo stops me before I make it to the door. “Things are going to be changing around here, Luca. All the assholes that thought we were dying out are in for a rude fucking awakening.” His smile is so damn smug I wish I could punch it off his face.
“Can’t wait.” Things are going to change, and I, for one, am looking forward to watching the entire Cataldi organization crumble from the inside out.
I wake before the sun and head to my shitty little apartment in Boston. The only reason I like this place is because no one asks questions. This isn’t the type of building where anyone is interested in getting to know their neighbors, which suits me fine.
The first thing I do is grab my burner phone from the crawl space I cut into the ceiling of my closet. It’s as good a hiding spot as I could figure out in the small one-bedroom apartment.
It’s early as shit to be calling Finn, but I don’t know the next time I’ll have a chance. I don’t think it’s safe to bring the phone to the estate. It’s not as though there’s reason to believe Carlo is suspicious of me, but on the off chance that he or someone else goes through my things when I’m not around, it’d be pretty damn hard to explain away a phone with only two numbers on it belonging to my cousin and his lieutenant, Cillian.
When I dial Finn’s number, he answers in a groggy voice, “Luca. Everything good?”
“Yeah. Did you see the news yet?”
“Fuck no. I just went to bed two hours ago. What’s going on?”
“Francesco Cataldi has been arrested on RICO charges.”
Finn releases a low whistle. “Well, that’s something. What’s Carlo saying?”
“A lot of talk about him being in charge now and things changing, but he hasn’t told me anything specific. Just said when the time is right he’ll pull me in. He also confided that the old man has cancer and doesn’t expect to make it more than a year.”
