Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“Gambini and Roselli’s crew won’t shut up about this fundraiser at the Ritz, man. It’s in six days. Everybody will be in the lobby at first. Come midnight, when most people are gone, wise guys will be up on the roof, because they’re flying in some ballet troop, some dancers from Eastern Europe. Twelve of them. Roselli can’t wait for that party—those poor girls!”
We’d been searching for a time and a place where Roselli would be all alone. Instead, I’d discovered a venue where he would be surrounded by a bunch of mafia bosses and their lap dogs. Still, this was the only piece of information we had. Something told me Rocco and Julian wouldn’t like it. If I was being honest, I hated it, too. But it was the only lead we had.
Back at the cabin, Rocco and Julian had already broken out the whiskey. They were drinking on the couch with Maggie perched between them. From the big smile on her face and her mussed up hair, I assumed my friends had taken good care of her while I was gone.
That had been happening a lot lately, but the freshly fucked look worked for her. It certainly always made my cock come to attention. Except not tonight. There was too much on the line and only a few days to plan.
Maggie poured me a drink, but then she retired to the back bedroom. Multiple orgasms always made her sleepy.
As we drank, I shared what I’d learned.
As anticipated, Rocco wasn’t pleased. “That tip’s no good, man. We’ll be walking straight into the arms of every fucking mobster in New York. There’s no way in hell we’re getting out of the Ritz alive.”
“I don’t want to give those fucks the satisfaction, Slater,” Julian voiced his opinion. “They want to kill me? Let them hunt me down on the street. I won’t get caught in that mousetrap.”
“I hear you. Both,” I uttered in a calm tone, eyeing Julian first, and then Rocco. “You’re right. If we walk into that lobby, we’re dead in the water. Everybody knows our faces. But—and this is big but—this is the only thing we’ve got right now. I’m tired of all this back and forth out here to the middle of nowhere. We can’t keep it up. Sooner or later, we’re going to slip up, and then it’s game over.”
“So, you want to go after Roselli at that fundraiser, because you’re tired?” Rocco asked with a squint. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m sick and tired of knowing Roselli’s still alive and kicking,” I said. “And you know as well as I do that we can’t keep this up forever.”
“Then, what the hell are you suggesting?” Rocco snapped.
“We can make it work,” I insisted, turning to Julian. “Use that big brain of yours. There has to be some way to isolate Roselli at the party.”
“Without him seeing us,” Rocco said, but at least he wasn’t snapping at me now.
“We’ll think of something,” Julian finally said with a sigh.
“How do you know?” Rocco asked.
“Because we have to,” Julian said simply. Then he downed his whiskey, and we started planning.
31
ROCCO
Those five days felt like a goddamn eternity…
Waiting for that fundraiser was pure agony.
Five?
No.
Scratch that.
The first two days went by pretty quicky, since we were in full-on planning mode. One of us would pose an idea, and the other two would poke holes in it until it collapsed. Then we moved on.
The remaining three days were busy as hell. We enlisted Eddie, the hacker who’d been on board with helping us break into the bank in North Haven. He could get us into a hotel room, but he also had a bigger role to play. It was his job to lure Roselli there by posing as a bellboy. He was to hand Roselli a keycard for the room and say that one of the dancers was waiting for him up there.
There was no doubting Eddie’s loyalty, but that didn’t mean he was ready to do that. That kid was just twenty-two. He’d just graduated from college, but that was not really an issue.
His awkwardness? Yeah, it was.
Six feet tall, messy, blond hair, a few pimples scattered across his face, and a typical geek behavior would make him stand out. Even to an average onlooker, he would seem out of place. Eddie was one hundred-percent nerd.
Shy.
Withdrawn.
Stuttering, every time someone attractive addressed him.
The first couple of times he spoke with Maggie up at the cabin, it was fucking hilarious. And tragic. The whole plan would fall apart if he went weak at the knees every time he saw one of those dancers.
But Maggie was also the solution. While we coached him on the elements of the con, she teased him. Flirted, even. Eventually, he got more used to being around a beautiful woman. Or at least it cut down on his blushing by quite a bit.