I snorted and looked down licking my lips. “I’m back because of Family.”
“No.” Sergio sighed. “You’re back because of her.”
“Whatever.” I tried to push past him but he grabbed my arm and shook his head slightly.
“Not here.” He closed the door behind him. “We won’t discuss it here.”
Two hours later and I found myself wanting to get so drunk I couldn’t see straight.
“No!” I barked, self consciously tugging at the ends of my hair with my right hand. “I’m not doing it.”
“You are.” Sergio sat down next to me. “Look, I know it was bad but the De Langes have a new leader, a woman… believe me when I say she’s scary as hell but she’s related to us now… married to Chase, the boss’s right hand man. I had to come out of hiding. It’s time for you to come out as well.”
“No.” I clenched my jaw until the irritation eased. “Besides, what would I come out for?”
“Your brother.”
“My brother is dead to me… he sent my best friend into foster care when she had a family… me,” I spat. “Try again.”
Sergio cursed, his Rolex snapping my attention from the whiskey to the light flickering off it. “The money.”
“I have more than enough money.”
“The Family.”
“Our father is in prison, my closest cousin died that night, and even though I’m sure Nixon’s a stand up guy, he just made peace with the one family that tried to destroy us.”
“She’s a De Lange,” Sergio whispered. “You know you’d do anything for her regardless of her unfortunate bloodline.”
I cursed and tossed back the rest of the drink; it burned all the way down my throat. I’d dreamt of her every night. When I had thought I was dying I called for her. When I found out I was actually alive, I had searched for her.
And when I discovered talking to her would put her in more danger…
I stayed away.
Even when her foster family was less than kind to her.
I stayed away.
When I saw more bruises.
I stayed away.
But I always watched from a distance… I watched, and I died a little each time someone was cruel and I was unable to rescue her. Laughable, when the man who destroyed everything in her precious life — wanted to be the hero. When she turned eighteen and left Chicago, I’d lost track of her. Over the past four years I’d built a damn Jericho around my heart… convincing myself that just like my brother she was dead too. It was better that way. Easier. At least that’s what I told myself when my heart hurt too damn much to think otherwise.
Gripping the glass with my hand, I slammed it down onto the table and started to get up.
Strong hands gripped my shoulders slamming me back down into my chair.
Sergio looked over my head and scowled while simultaneously paling. “Campisi…”
“Sergio,” the smooth voice said from behind me.
Campisi. I knew who it was. You’d have to be dead not to know who the new young Cappo was. He was around twenty-six, killed his own father, took over the Campisi Family and left a trail of dead bodies in his wake. But it wasn’t fear that kept me nailed to that seat, more like morbid curiosity.
When he took the chair opposite me and ordered a beer I almost laughed.
He was young.
So freaking young.
And huge, let’s not forget huge. I wasn’t a small guy by any means, but he could seriously give me a run for my money. With cold blue eyes and a nose that looked like it had been broken and reset at least a dozen times, I knew he wasn’t the type of guy I wanted on my bad side.
Unfortunately, he was also best friends with Nixon, the boss of the Abandonato family — my family. It helped that he was married to Nixon’s sister.
The drama of their lives was not anything I wanted to be a part of.
I wanted freedom.
But freedom… always came at a cost.
And I was fresh out of that type of payment.
“You will come out of hiding.” Campisi spoke softly. “Or I’ll kill you. Those are your choices.”
I was silent for a minute… watching his expression, though he didn’t seem irritated, just mildly amused at my hesitation. “And if I choose the bullet?”
“Then I’d say you’re Abandonato, through and through.” He flashed me a grin. The bartender placed the beer in front of Campisi. He sipped for a few minutes then turned to me. “Come out of hiding and I’ll give you a prize.” His voice was so damn taunting I wanted to punch his teeth out.
“Found one in my Cracker Jack box this morning.” I shrugged. “Bad ass little yo-yo that doesn’t talk shit. So sorry, but I think I’ll pass.”
Sergio groaned into his hands.
I rolled my eyes.
And Campisi stood, gripping my shoulders with his hands, digging his fingers into the skin. “You come out of hiding. You work for your Family. You work in peace with the De Langes and I’ll give you more than a yo-yo.”
“Oh yeah?” I knew it was only a matter of time before I was pulled back in, before my past would come back to haunt me. “What’s that?”
“Amy.” Campisi said it so softly I almost didn’t hear. “I know where she is, and your very first job… to prove your worth and loyalty and all around excitement at being offered a position within the Family?” He chuckled. “You get to go get her.”
I gulped and stared hard at the glass still in my right hand. “Where is she?”
“If I tell you — that’s it. That’s your agreement, Ax.”
“I hate this life.”
“But you love her.” Campisi nodded slowly. “And because her father, a.k.a. shit-for-brains, is on the prowl you better hope you get to her before he does.”
“Why?”
Campisi picked up a trail of condensation with one finger and rubbed it off with his thumb. “She has something he wants.” He said as if we were discussing last nights game. “Something Nixon wants, something I want… something all of us want… and I highly doubt he’s going to let her live when he finds it. He’s lost his damn mind, gone rogue, refuses to report to any of us. He’s insane and he has a gun… but sure…” Campisi slapped me on the cheek twice. “You could always stay in hiding, cramped away from the world while she fights for her life to survive it. Good idea.”