Page 11 of Sexting His Son's Ex
“Double?” I scoff, handing him over the money. I’ve always sucked at negotiations. “Fine.”
“Great. It should get there today.” He pauses, eyeing me over them. “And why are you sending him flowers?”
I smile as sweetly as I can. “Because men deserve flowers too, right?”
He thinks about that before tucking the money in his pocket. “Yeah, you might be right. I haven’t ever gotten flowers so I wouldn’t know. Now, I want flowers. See ya next time.”
When the bell rings again, I’m left alone with my thoughts and guilt.
This can’t end well, and yet; I still want to see how far I can take this plan.
If Luca ever found out about me sending his father flowers, it might send him to his grave.
I’ll send a beautiful bouquet as my condolences.
4
SANTINO
I’min one of my warehouses by the ocean where no bodies can be found. To the public, it’s a shipping and receiving center, but the truth is, this is where I bring everyone who has turned their backs on the oath they took when they pledged their loyalty to me.
For instance, one of my pushers on the street, Mark, told a cop where he got the drugs to sell. Luckily, the cop is on my payroll. I have my hand in manymanycookie jars in this city. All the important people, the governors, the senators, the cops, I pay them very well to turn their heads. I have a business to run and a city to regulate.
My business pushes so much money into the economy here. I do good things as well as bad, can’t have one without the other in my opinion.
Omar, my youngest son, punches Mark in the face again. His eye is swollen shut and has a fat lip. Lorenzo, my head of security, places the stun baton against Mark’s ribs, sending electrical currents through his system.
I roll my sleeves to my elbows, showing expensive artwork. “Enough,” I order them.
They take a step away.
Omar is good at this job. Unlike his brother, he has his head on straight. He knows what he wants. Luca is supposed to take my spot in a few years, but I don’t think he’s meant for a position like this. Running an entire organization takes a level head and Luca is too much of an uncertainty.
And he might very well lose his place to Omar at this rate.
Regardless, Mark was one of my top pushers. I’ve never had a problem with him, but something made him flip and I want to know what it was. No one crosses me and lives to tell the tale.
No one.
I take out a cigarette and light it, blowing the cloud in Mark’s face. His sweaty blond hair is messy and stained with blood. Omar’s knuckles are proof of the damage done. They are red, the skin busted and angry.
“He hasn’t spoken a word, Mr. Salvati,” Lorenzo announces, standing stoic with his hands clasped together next to Omar who wipes his mouth and begins to pace like a caged animal waiting to pounce.
“I see,” I say, calm and unbothered. “Mark, Mark, Mark,” I sigh. “I’m so disappointed in you. I was good to you, right? I paid you well. I even paid for your daughter’s private school, and this is how you thank me? You put a knife in my back?” I tsk. “That was a mistake.” I grip him by the roots of his hair and yank his head back, puffing another drag. “Tell me who you decided to pledge your loyalty to.”
“They’ll kill me,” he admits, his entire body shaking. “I had to. They threatened my family. I couldn’t?—”
He screams when I put the cigarette out on his lip, the flesh burning, smoke billowing like chimney on a cold winter day.
“I don’t give a fuck. You come tome. I would have done something. I could have kept you safe and your family, but instead of trusting me, you turn your back on me. I can’t have that, Mark.”
“Please,” he mumbles through his burned bottom lip. “I’ll do anything. Anything, Mr. Salvati.”
I light another cigarette, having no care in the world about his pleas to live. The moment Omar captured him; he was a dead man.
“Oh? Anything? Like what? What could you possible do for me now? I can’t trust you.”
“You can. You can. I… I will tell you who paid me and threatened my family. If I tell you, you can trust me because I won’t do it again.”
