Page 94 of Contempt

That was a guarantee.

“I’ve heard that before, John.” Christian snapped his fingers, and several men from the other tables in the room stood up, ready to leave. “We’ll be on our way—keep in mind, the few that you see here … triple that, and you might come close to the number of people I have watching your family. It only seems like I work alone, John, but the truth is … I never fucking do.”

“I’ll be in contact,” John said.

“Good.”

Christian turned to leave the table, but not before asking, “I heard the Marcello leadership has changed a great deal—I look forward to seeing how that changes things for me.”

Lucia didn’t miss the way her brother’s brow furrowed, but John stayed quiet. He didn’t ask any questions, and he let Christian leave in peace with the rest of his men. Smart, probably. There was a good chance that if they attacked Christian here, then his men would counter attack. John wasn’t the type to be irrational on his good days—he wouldn’t put Lucia in that kind of danger, she knew.

“John, you okay?” she asked once it was just her, him, and the Marcello men left in the room.

John said nothing, but stood from his chair. Lucia felt the need to comfort him, even if she knew it wouldn’t help. “It’ll be okay, John. We’ll figure it out.”

Right, she would help him figure it out.

Sure.

“I want someone on her when she even thinks about leaving her hotel room,” came a dark voice from the doorway.

Lucia found Renzo standing there. It seemed he did make it inside the business to watch from afar. Maybe that was why she hadn’t felt unsafe during the meeting despite the threats that had been thrown around.

She just knew he was there.

John nodded, but didn’t look up from his phone. “Yeah, that’s the plan, Ren. Her, and everybody else.”

Renzo didn’t look away from Lucia as he said, “Make sure of it.”

Then, to Lucia, John said, “When you go with Dad for his final chemo later this week, do not tell him what happened here, Lucia. He’s sick—he doesn’t need to be in a state about this, all right? I’ve kept him mostly in the dark, a lot like the rest of them. We’re handling business; me and Andi, I mean. I don’t want Dad worrying about it. Got it?”

Lucia shrugged. “Okay, I got it.”

FIFTEEN

“Fuck,” Renzo snarled, his hand coming down to smack the steering wheel with probably more force than was necessary. Frankly, he didn’t care. He just needed to get some of this goddamn frustration out before he blew his top. Nothing ever ended well when he became angry, and reacted from it. At least, he’d learned that lesson before it was too late. “Where in the hell did he go?”

Pulling Lucia’s rental to the side of the street, he cut the engine. Thankfully, the dark tinted windows all the way around the vehicle kept him out of view, but that did nothing to help him right now.

Christian was getting smarter.

Or … more paranoid.

As soon as Renzo was sure that Lucia would be fine with her brother at the restaurant, he snatched her keys for the car, and headed after Christian. Maybe he hadn’t been doing such a good job at this whole … babysitter thing with the Savino prick. Renzo would knock it down to the fact that he didn’t know why he was following Christian, and he didn’t entirely trust whoever his boss was—M—for giving him this job without a clear reason.

Nonetheless, he hadn’t been keeping as close of an eye on Christian as he should. Renzo figured that since Christian was in New York anyway, and apparently doing business with the Marcellos, that they would have their eyes on the fool.

But that wasn’t the point of Renzo’s job.

He was supposed to watch, and report back.

The Marcellos likely kept an eye on Christian for a different reason.

Fuck.

Hindsight was always twenty-twenty.

Stepping out of the car, although that probably wasn’t the smartest thing, Renzo folded his hands behind his head, and turned one way, then the other. He glared at the empty street behind a bunch of warehouses down the left side, and then the right.