Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
She, again, being raised around so many guys, also wasn’t shy to let you know you fucked up with your gift.
So you had to at least try to get it right.
Maybe Dante was right in using Smush. She was the family’s best gift-giver.
The problem there was, if I used her, and the gift was too good, Valley would know that too, and I would get never-ending shit about not knowing my sister well enough even to get her a decent birthday gift.
Which, yeah, was fair.
Maybe I could drop in on my mother to ask her for some ideas after I had a meeting with Luca about this whole Colin and Cammie thing.
I had no idea what he was going to say about it. As a whole, the Grassi Family were big advocates for helping women in need. We were the biggest donors to the women’s shelter in Navesink Bank. Anytime they needed an upgrade or addition, one of us was happy to open our checkbook.
Aside from that, the guys had been known for finding their wives by helping them through a difficult situation.
They would understand why I felt pulled to help a woman stuck in an impossible situation with some shithead guy.
Though a part of me was worried what Luca would think about me feeling any sort of guilt or obligation to a loved one of someone I had killed.
Either way, though, I had to bring it to him. That was how shit worked. We didn’t get to handle a situation on our own without first running shit past the boss.
“I have to go talk to Luca,” I said, waving my brothers out of my office.
“Fine fine,” Santo said, shrugging. “Hey, that girl gardener,” he said, making me exhale hard. “Is she new?”
“She is. And she’s off-fucking-limits,” I told him, making my way through the front of the winery that was bustling with the afternoon crowd.
“Oh, come on. It’s not mixing business with pleasure since this isn’t my business.”
“No, but I’m not losing another employee because she feels weird about sleeping with the boss’s brother and catching feelings that weren’t returned.”
“I’ve always been up-front about wanting things to be casual.”
“Regardless. Stay the fuck away from the landscaper. She’s good. I don’t want to lose her.”
“Killjoy,” Santo grumbled, but was quickly distracted by an attractive customer instead.
“Any idea where I can find Luca right now?” I asked Dante.
“He’s at Lucky’s pizza place. The one in Navesink Bank.”
“Thanks,” I said, looking back at Santo. “That woman was divorced just three months ago. She’s going to eat him alive.”
“I’m sure he’ll love every minute of it,” Dante said, smirking.
With that, I made my way out, heading back down to Navesink Bank to see if I could catch Luca at Lucky’s place.
“So, out of curiosity,” Luca said an hour or so after I got there and explained the situation, “exactly what is your motivation here? Just seeing a woman in need? Guilt? Worry about this Colin fuck expanding and getting more power?”
“Honestly,” I said, exhaling hard, giving him the truth because I owed it to him, “all three. But more so the first two.”
“Alright,” Luca said, nodding. “I didn’t even see the woman, but I feel a little guilt about her situation too. But I am more concerned about Colin getting power if he is as twisted as you say. It sounds like he has already cornered the market in the area.
“I imagine someone like him will be looking to keep expanding. It wouldn’t be long until he started either fucking with our business directly, or making connections that would be a threat.”
“So am I hearing that you want me to have a talk with Colin?” I asked.
“I want you to get that girl and her brothers safe,” he clarified. “Sounds like they’ve suffered enough because of us. Once that is handled, though, yeah. You know what to do.”
“Okay, thanks, Luca. I appreciate it.”
“You’re going to want to drag at least one of your brothers with you in case you need it.”
“I can do that,” I agreed. I didn’t like the idea of trying to pull off an extraction of any sort without backup.
“Nino, for experience. And August. Because, quite frankly, he’s pissing everyone off,” Luca said, smirking.
“Not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to being his boss.”
“Humble his ass,” Lucky said, getting up and making his way out of the room.
“Keep me updated. Are you planning on staying over there, or driving home each night?”
“Depends on how complicated shit is looking. But I have to be back this weekend for Valley’s birthday.”
“That works. We can talk about any issues you guys might be seeing.”
“I am going to head down myself today. Depending on their schedules, Nino and August will likely head out today or tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. Keep me in the loop,” Luca said, rapping a hand on my shoulder as he moved out of the office in front of me.