My business waited for me in the warehouse on Clements Drive.
Elio filled me in on the drive over. “A representative of the Castillo cartel. I don’t know who the fuck he is, but he has enough men to make a mess.”
This confrontation had been a long time coming. I was starting to think that the head of the cartel had no interest whatsoever in how many of his men I killed, as we’d been cutting them down for nearly a year and there’d been no sign of repercussions.
It was almost a relief that something had finally rattled their cage enough to draw them out. There would be no eradicating them as long as those in power stayed hidden.
The man was wearing a suit, unlike those lower than him in the organization, and he clearly wasn’t a man who walked into a rival family’s territory lightly. His security detail, a force of nearly fifty men, communicated his awareness of that fact.
“What an unexpected surprise,” I said, entering the warehouse. My own entourage was only Elio, but my men who were stationed at the warehouse surrounded the Castillo thugs, and tensions were high.
“Renato De Sanctis, we finally meet in the flesh. I’ve heard a lot about you.” The Castillo spokesperson smiled broadly. He was a confident fucker, but he had to be to just show up here like this. “I’m Juan Ruiz Eduardo Castillo.”
“Well, Juan, I’m afraid I haven’t heard a thing about you.”
“Not all of us like the infamy that comes with running a large operation.”
“So, you’re here why?”
The air was full of unspoken violence, with men on both sides eyeing each other, sizing up the opposition’s defenses. The only kind of conversation that could take place between men like me and Juan was in this kind of circumstance. One where an aggressive action from one side was sure to be answered in kind. Our mutually assured destruction formed a fragile, temporary truce.
“Are you someone of importance to the Castillo family?” I wondered.
Juan laughed. “Forgive me if I don’t choose to pin a target on my forehead. I’m merely an objective party. An ambassador. You’re an intelligent man, De Sanctis, and you have a code. I come to you for information, and only that. I will make no aggressive move toward you at this moment, at this meeting.”
“Ask your question, then, Castillo.” I folded my arms across my chest and waited. I could predict what he had come for, but why exactly the cartel cared so much about a random initiate trying to be accepted into the family, I had no idea. But I intended to find out.
Castillo nodded. “A little bird told me that a new recruit disappeared in your territory the other night…a young guy, just getting his feet wet in the business.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “People who wander into the wrong territory, young or not, need to look after themselves.”
Castillo chuckled darkly. “Maybe so, but this guy was responsible for twenty-five grand of product that’s now missing.”
“Sounds like the cost of recruitment to me. The kid probably cut and run with the stuff. Surely this isn’t an issue worthy of your attention.”
Castillo inclined his regal head, seeming to agree with me. “I’d think that, too, if he wasn’t family to the boss. A cousin on his mother’s side. It’s a small connection, but family is family, after all.”
Fucker. My face was unmoved by the revelation. A poker face was the biggest asset you could have in tense negotiations, and mine was one of the best in the biz.
Juan studied me for a long moment, looking for a weakness. When he didn’t find one, he chuckled again. “Family can be a pain, and I barely know the kid, but that doesn’t mean his life was worthless. Blood is blood, as you know.”
I nodded. The Mexicans and Italians were united in that belief. La famiglia prima di tutto. Family above all else.
“Well, I wish I could help you, but I don’t know anything about the kid.”
Juan’s expression was unreadable for a beat, until he sighed. “Well, keep an eye out for me, will you, as a professional courtesy. He had a girlfriend, some little gutter rat. She might know something. She has a sister, too, a pretty thing.” Juan’s eyes fell meaningfully to the bandage wrapped around my hand.
His threat was clear. He knew about Lucy and Charlotte.
He knew that the idiot kid was dead, and he was going to do something about it, probably to the Burke sisters first, and then use their confessions to start something with me. Maybe he’d even force them to go to the police before they disappeared.
“But of course, what else for the capo dei capi of New Jersey?” His dry mocking scraped along my nerves, but I hadn’t gotten where I was by starting petty fights. I simply stood and nodded to him as he headed toward the doors, his men surrounding him in a shield of bristling weapons.
Elio stood beside me, and we watched the Mexicans leave. My men shifted restlessly, the lingering tension stinking up the air.
“You think he’s the boss?”
“Could be.”
Maybe, maybe not. It was impossible to tell, and moving too soon would spook them. I needed to root the Castillos out of the state completely, and that meant being patient. His less-than-subtle threat toward the Burkes was clear.
“That’s going to be a problem,” I muttered to Elio. Charlotte and the earlier feeling of her throat in my grip pulsed through me.
He shrugged. “Only if you care about what happens to the nurse and her sister.”
Right.
Elio could always read me better than anyone else. “It’s for the best, really. They can clean up the girls. We don’t have to do a thing about it. Win-win.”
His meaning was clear: Let the cartel take their pound of flesh from the Burkes.
I didn’t care if the Castillos knew my men killed their little thief. We were at war already; they just refused to face it. I already planned on wiping out every single one. Maybe a flat-out battle with them would achieve the objective sooner and flush out the leaders. Besides, Charlotte had spoken to the cops and broken our deal, no sooner than the very next day. She couldn’t be trusted. It really was a win-win. And yet, even as I nodded, I knew I wouldn’t let it happen.
I’d been bored for years. The last few days were in color, after a decade of monochrome. What was the point of all the wealth and power I’d amassed if life had become bland and boring?
Giada’s words came back to me as I stared off into space. “Watching you with her, I can’t decide if you’re going to kill her or marry her.”
Marry her.
Of course.
“What are you going to do?” Elio asked, his voice carefully devoid of emotion.
He never gave his opinion unless I asked for it. He was unreadable and stoic, just as mentally strong as he was physically, but I wondered if I might finally be able to shock him.
“I’m going to marry her,” I told him. As soon as I said the words, they fit inside me like the missing puzzle piece I’d been seeking.
To his credit, my sottocapo was only mildly surprised by the announcement.
I started toward the car, Elio at my shoulder. “I need a wife and an heir. She wants to live. It’s a simple solution.”
Elio nodded. “I’ll get the eyes on her to pick her up.”
“No.” The word left me before I could question it. “I’ll go myself, and you get the sister.” I don’t want anyone else touching her.
“Yes, boss,” Elio said.
“When you want something done right, do it yourself. This has turned into a delicate situation, and I don’t trust anyone else with it.” It was pure lies, but Elio wasn’t going to call me on it, if he knew what was good for him. “Let’s go.”
There was something dark and twisted in my belly as I got into the armored SUV and slammed the door. Something simmering and hot. Something new.
It felt a lot like excitement.
