Page 108 of War Within
Fists clenched at my side, my knuckles turned white. I did not want to commit an act of violence in front of Lily. I glowered in his direction as he disappeared behind a pillar near a staircase. Pivoting around, I took her hand in mine. She withdrew it immediately.
“Who the actual hell are you?”
“Get in, please.” I ignored her question, nodding my head toward my car. “I'll bring you back to your car tomorrow.”
Early that evening, I demanded a meeting in my home office. We were only waiting on Emilio now. Luca stood close by my desk, tapping on his phone, in his own world. Emir and Leo were in deep conversation across the room in the corner by a bookcase.
Carmine, however, sat in a chair in the middle of the office across from me, chewing on his thumbnail. It was evident he was bothered by many things. He had also picked up a file from our informant that would give me the information on who killed Jane’s father.
Emilio marched in closing the door behind him. Everyone perked up, closing in around Carmine and my desk. I leaned up, propping my elbows on the surface.
“Before we get started, Carmine has something to tell us.” I lifted my chin. “Go on.”
“We have two problems.” He held up two fingers. “I went to see Lily this afternoon. We were in the parking garage and someone from Xavier's crew interrupted us.”
Luca smiled. “What were you doing?”
Emilio’s lips twisted into a smirk. Emir and Leo remained stoic.
“Enough Luca.” I lifted my hand.
“Anyway,” Carmine rolled his eyes. “He gave me a heads up that Xavier is pissed about you and Jane.” I shrugged, shaking my head. “He's planning somethingbig. I pulled a gun on him, but he was unarmed and never attacked.”
Emir shifted his weight. “What do you want us to do?”
“No.” I shook my head. “You're not ready.”
“You need me to be ready.” Palms up, he spread his arms, arguing his case. “Familyfirst.”
I nodded. “Fi—”
The door swung open and in strutted Caprice, Emilio’s pre-teen daughter. “Hi uncle Gio!” She sped over, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Hi, Uncle Luca!” She skipped over to him, hugging him. “Hi, daddy.” She turned around embracing him next.
Caprice’s greetings and goodbyes always lasted a while. She was a social butterfly, unlike her father. I tried my best to wait patiently. While Emilio and Luca’s older sons were being groomed for the business, the younger kids in the family never understood what we did. It would have been mean to usher her from the room prematurely. There was no emergency at the time.
“Did your mother drop you off?” Emilio tilted his head.
She nodded. “And I'm supposed to tell you I'm not allowed to be around your whores.”
Luca snorted. It would have been poor taste for me to laugh, but even I, bit the inside of my bottom lip to hold in my laughter.
“Let me finish my meeting and we'll leave in a few.”
“Valentina is around here somewhere.” Emir chimed in, trying his best to speed along the process. “You should go say hi.”
“Definitely.” She exited hastily, leaving the door wide open.
Leo stepped over, shutting it.
“Her mom’s a stripper who’s turning tricks for money now, and she's concerned aboutmywomen?” He mocked. “She's been with all of New York by now.”
“Not surprised by that.” I muttered before returning my attention to Carmine. “And our second problem is Lily now knows what you do now because of that incident?”
“Not exactly. I avoided it…for now.”
Sitting up in my chair, I crossed my ankle over my knee, lacing my fingers together behind my head. “Now that you've put her in danger, you can watch after her as well until this shit finally ends.”
Leaning forward, I plucked the envelope off the desk that Carmine had brought with him. I am sure the wheels in Lily’s head were turning. There was no secret who I was, but Carmine had remained adamant that he was only my security guard when Lily grilled him.
